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Tourists spent $7.1M in area
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · September 11, 2014
Tourists visiting national parks spent $11.4 million in Iowa last year, with more than $7.1 million — or more than 62 percent — of that spent in West Branch or within 60 miles of the city, according to a National Park Service report.
Also, the report states the national parks supported 172 jobs in Iowa, with 105 of those jobs — more than 61 percent — in the same region in and around West Branch.
The NPS, which oversees the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, issued in the spring a report showing tourists in 2012 spent $6.93 million. The 2013 figures, released in late summer, show an increase of $176,000, or more than 2.5 percent. Inflation in 2013 was about 1.5 percent, according to the U.S. Inflation Calculator.
Despite being shut down for 17 days by Congress last October, park service visitors are up from more than 128,800 in 2012 to more than 128,900 in 2013. That is an increase of about 100 visitors, or a little less than 1 percent. And average spending per visitor increased from $53.81 in 2012 to $55.12 in 2013, or 2.4 percent.
Hoover Site Superintendent Pete Swisher said he is glad to see the park service has had a positive impact on the area’s economy over the years. The Hoover Site in 2015 will mark 50 years in West Branch; the property was given to the federal government on Aug. 12, 1965.
“West Branch would look a lot different today if it didn’t have the presence of the park or National Archives,” he said, referring to the Hoover Presidential Library-Museum.
Thomas Schwartz, director of the Library-Museum, said that while “many people tend to be negative about the U.S. government,” that does not seem to include national parks or presidential libraries.
“I think people really like presidential libraries and people love national parks,” he said. “West Branch is lucky. They have a two-fer.”
Main Street West Branch Program Director Mackenzie Krob said “regional vacationing” is growing in popularity and the West Branch is benefitting.
“I think it’s no surprise that more people are coming and spending time at the Hoover Complex,” she said.
Matt Muckler, city administrator for West Branch, said he sees a draw in the exhibits and programs in the Hoover Complex, which are “a great thing for West Branch.”
“They are putting on programs that people want to see,” he said.
Muckler said tourists spending more money and time in this area is “a move in the right direction.”
“All we can do to increase tourism only helps our downtown businesses,” he said. “It’s a great benefit for us.”
Krob said that since tourists spend most of their money on lodging, food and fuel, MSWB wants to leverage what West Branch has to increase spending on shopping as well.
“We want to create an atmosphere downtown so people will take the time to do more shopping,” she said.
Krob said that means working with businesses to improve storefronts and working with the city to improve Heritage Square to make it more eye-catching and welcoming to park visitors.
“We want it to have a new look, a bigger plan with benches and planters,” she said.
Muckler said he is “excited” to see how the Hoover Presidential Foundation’s World War I exhibit, which will utilize both Library-Museum and park space, will fare with visitors.
“I think the numbers will grow at a higher rate,” he said.
The $7.1 million spent in and around West Branch is more than five times the Hoover Site’s $1.3 million operating budget, Swisher pointed out.
The dollars counted in that spending figure include the site’s budget — from salaries to maintenance to repairs — as well as tourists buying gasoline, eating at restaurants and shopping. Swisher notes that the park service does not charge an entrance fee like some other parks.
The Hoover Site employs the equivalent of 20 full-time workers, which figures into the total jobs created. The rest comes from the number of tourism industry workers — from wait staff to gas station attendants to store clerks — employed to meet demand, Swisher said.
Schwartz said the formula used in the National Park Service report is probably “imprecise,” but it does seem to coincide with an increase in attendance and gift shop receipts at the Library-Museum.
“People who come here think we’re part of the national park and the park is part of the library-museum, but it really doesn’t matter,” he said. “What’s important is that their experience is a memorable one.”
He then pointed to positive comments left on Web sites like TripAdvisor.com and how they encourage other vacationers to stop in West Branch.
Swisher said the Hoover Library-Museum’s changing exhibits probably should get a lot of credit for drawing new visitors. In July, the Hoover Site saw attendance rise 2.3 percent over last year, counting 18,124 visitors compared to 17,711 in July 2013. The park service does not take specific counts, but estimated the crowd at Hoover’s Hometown Days in August to bring in about 6,000 people.
“Visitors are up a bit here, but not as much as the Hoover Library-Museum,” he said. “Attendance at the (America’s) First Ladies’ exhibit has been very good. … When (the Library-Museum) does very well, we do very well.”
Muckler agreed the First Ladies’ exhibit seems to draw a lot of people, and Schwartz said exhibits about presidential wives tend to be successful. The current exhibit will wrap up Oct. 26 and then the Library-Museum will release attendance figures.
As far as the Hoover Complex’s impact on regional spending, one thing that changes every year is money the park service gets for special projects, above and beyond their annual budget, Swisher said.
There are parks that charge admission, and a percentage of that income goes into a fund from which every national park can make a request. The NPS prioritizes the projects and funds as many as it can afford.
This year, for example, the Hoover Site was awarded from this fund about $165,000 for work at the Thompson farm, which is on the far west end of park property, near West Branch High School.
The work will razing a hog house/corn crib, re-roofing some structures, painting, upgrading electrical service and tuckpointing. RB Construction of Fairview Heights, Ill., won the contract.
GETTING INVOLVED
For a look at some of the floor plans and exterior drawings, visit westbranchiowa.org/departments/reports and click on "September 5, 2014"
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