Gov. Pat McCrory has teamed with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam to reopen the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which has been closed due to the partial federal shutdown. North Carolina will spend $75,000 and the state of Tennessee and two counties will allocate $305,000 to reopen the national park for five days — through this Sunday — during the peak fall tourism season. Gov. McCrory is also exploring options to open other national parks in North Carolina.
“This is about jobs and the economy,” Gov. McCrory said. “Many North Carolina communities depend on tourism generated by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It’s critical that we get the gates reopened during the fall season.”
Professor Steve Morse, with Western Carolina University’s Hospitality and Tourism Program, estimates nearly $1 million of consumer spending is lost in North Carolina each day the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is closed. His analysis also found the closure is potentially costing North Carolina workers $343,354 in lost wages per day. Morse calculates that North Carolina state government could be losing up to $50,776 a day in taxes and local government $28,679 per day in tax revenue.
The news was reported by numerous media including USA Today, The Examiner, Business Journal, and NBC News.