IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/toueco/v15y2009i4p709-733.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Economic Contributions of Human-Powered Outdoor Recreation to the US Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Rob Southwick

    (Southwick Associates, Inc, Fernandina Beach, FL, USA)

  • John Bergstrom

    (Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 208 Conner Hall, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA)

  • Clint Wall

    (Outdoor Industry Association, Boulder, CO, USA)

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of the economic contributions of the major forms of human-powered outdoor recreation, including trail-based recreation, bicycle-based recreation, paddle-based recreation, snow-based recreation and camp-based recreation. The results show that the combined economic contributions of human-powered recreation to the US economy exceed US$590 billion annually in total gross output, supporting over five million jobs. Other studies estimate that wildlife-based recreation contributes another US$140 billion annually in total gross output to the US economy, making a total contribution of US$730 billion from both human-powered and wildlife-based recreation. Active outdoor recreation not only strengthens the US economy but also improves the quality of life for participants.

Suggested Citation

  • Rob Southwick & John Bergstrom & Clint Wall, 2009. "The Economic Contributions of Human-Powered Outdoor Recreation to the US Economy," Tourism Economics, , vol. 15(4), pages 709-733, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:15:y:2009:i:4:p:709-733
    DOI: 10.5367/000000009789955198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5367/000000009789955198
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5367/000000009789955198?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Loomis, 2007. "Correcting for On-Site Visitor Sampling Bias When Estimating the Regional Economic Effects of Tourism," Tourism Economics, , vol. 13(1), pages 41-47, March.
    2. Pucher, J. & Dijkstra, L., 2003. "Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons from The Netherlands and Germany," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1509-1516.
    3. Trevor Mules, 2005. "Economic Impacts of National Park Tourism on Gateway Communities: The Case of Kosciuszko National Park," Tourism Economics, , vol. 11(2), pages 247-259, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dae-Kwan Kim & Hak-Jun Kim & Sang-Min Lee & Yeongbae Choe & Soo-Yeop Song, 2015. "An Estimation of the Contribution of the International Meeting Industry to the Korean National Economy Based on Input—Output Analysis," Tourism Economics, , vol. 21(3), pages 649-667, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ellison, Richard B. & Ellison, Adrian B. & Greaves, Stephen P. & Sampaio, Breno, 2017. "Electronic ticketing systems as a mechanism for travel behaviour change? Evidence from Sydney’s Opal card," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 80-93.
    2. Spielman, Seth E. & Yoo, Eun-hye, 2009. "The spatial dimensions of neighborhood effects," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1098-1105, March.
    3. Vandenbulcke, Grégory & Dujardin, Claire & Thomas, Isabelle & Geus, Bas de & Degraeuwe, Bart & Meeusen, Romain & Panis, Luc Int, 2011. "Cycle commuting in Belgium: Spatial determinants and 're-cycling' strategies," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 118-137, February.
    4. Paul Downward & Simona Rasciute, 2011. "An Economic Analysis of the Subjective Health and Well-being of Physical Activity," Chapters, in: Plácido Rodríguez & Stefan Késenne & Brad R. Humphreys (ed.), The Economics of Sport, Health and Happiness, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Daley, Michelle & Rissel, Chris, 2011. "Perspectives and images of cycling as a barrier or facilitator of cycling," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 211-216, January.
    6. McDonald, Noreen C., 2005. "Children’s Travel: Patterns and Influences," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt51c9m01c, University of California Transportation Center.
    7. Neatt, Kevin & Millward, Hugh & Spinney, Jamie, 2017. "Neighborhood walking densities: A multivariate analysis in Halifax, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 9-16.
    8. Frater, Jillian & Kingham, Simon, 2020. "Adolescents and bicycling to school: Does behaviour setting/place make a difference?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Massingue, Suzanna Allen & Oviedo, Daniel, 2021. "Walkability and the Right to the city: A snapshot critique of pedestrian space in Maputo, Mozambique," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    10. Duncan, Michael & Christensen, Robert K., 2013. "An analysis of park-and-ride provision at light rail stations across the US," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 148-157.
    11. Filip Filipović & Dušan Mladenović & Krsto Lipovac & Dillip Kumar Das & Bojana Todosijević, 2022. "Determining Risk Factors That Influence Cycling Crash Severity, for the Purpose of Setting Sustainable Cycling Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-15, October.
    12. Elizabeth Delmelle & Jean-Claude Thill & Hoe-Hun Ha, 2012. "Spatial epidemiologic analysis of relative collision risk factors among urban bicyclists and pedestrians," Transportation, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 433-448, March.
    13. Pucher, John & Buehler, Ralph, 2006. "Why Canadians cycle more than Americans: A comparative analysis of bicycling trends and policies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 265-279, May.
    14. Duncan, Michael, 2019. "Would the replacement of park-and-ride facilities with transit-oriented development reduce vehicle kilometers traveled in an auto-oriented US region?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 293-301.
    15. Shaheen, Susan & Guzman, Stacey & Zhang, Hua, 2012. "Bikesharing across the Globe," Institute of Transportation Studies, Research Reports, Working Papers, Proceedings qt0qm296pf, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Berkeley.
    16. Simona Rasciute & Paul Downward, 2010. "Health or Happiness? What Is the Impact of Physical Activity on the Individual?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 256-270, May.
    17. Millward, Hugh & Spinney, Jamie & Scott, Darren, 2013. "Active-transport walking behavior: destinations, durations, distances," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 101-110.
    18. Vandenbulcke, Grégory & Thomas, Isabelle & de Geus, Bas & Degraeuwe, Bart & Torfs, Rudi & Meeusen, Romain & Int Panis, Luc, 2009. "Mapping bicycle use and the risk of accidents for commuters who cycle to work in Belgium," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 77-87, March.
    19. Miguel Santolino & Catalina Bolancé & Manuela Alcañiz, 2011. "Factors affecting hospital admission and recovery stay duration of in-patient motor victims in Spain," IREA Working Papers 201119, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Oct 2011.
    20. Meder, Björn & Fleischhut, Nadine & Osman, Magda, 2018. "Beyond the confines of choice architecture: A critical analysis," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 36-44.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:15:y:2009:i:4:p:709-733. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.