Economic Impacts of National Park Tourism on Gateway Communities: The Case of Kosciuszko National Park

Abstract

Kosciuszko National Park (KNP) is a major tourist attraction for Australians, featuring the highest mountain on the Australian mainland (Mount Kosciuszko) and including popular ski resorts and wilderness. The region adjoining KNP includes townships with a total population of some 25,000 people, whose economic welfare is increasingly affected by tourism to KNP. This paper reports research that surveyed expenditure by visitors to KNP, which injects new activity into the adjoining regional economy. The paper uses the first round of an input–output process to model the impacts of such expenditure on the region, and also develops a spreadsheet model for allocating visitor expenditure between businesses within the park and businesses within the adjoining regional economy.