Report: Assateague visitor spending tops $90M

Visitors to Assateague Island National Seashore contributed more than $90 million to the local economy in 2014, a 7 percent gain over 2013, according to a new report.

Hotels reaped the biggest windfall, raking in $25 million of the total, economists with the National Park Service and U.S. Geological Survey said in their annual Park Service-wide spending report. Next were restaurants at $20 million.

The park also supported 1,200 full- or part-time jobs.

Assateague drew 2.1 million visits. Of those, 70 percent originated from at least 60 miles away.

"This new report shows that national park tourism is a significant driver in the national economy — returning $10 for every $1 invested in the National Park Service — and a big factor in Maryland's economy as well," said Bob Vogel, the Park Service's regional director.

Two-thirds of the visits occurred at the Virginia side of the barrier island. That part of the island hosts the famed Chincoteague pony swim every summer, drawing throngs of visitors.

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