Virginia State Park sees new attendance record

Published January 9, 2015 by Veronica Garabelli

Virginia State Parks saw record visitor numbers in 2014. Last year 8.9 million people visited the state’s parks, a 1.4 increase since 2013’s record of 8.8 million visitors.

According to a news release issued by Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s office, Virginia State Parks had an economic impact of $208 million in 2014, an increase over the previous record of $206 million in 2013.

“State parks help local economies generate more than $12 for every $1 of general fund money allocated to state parks in the state budget,” McAuliffe said in a statement.“Tourism is a major economic stimulus in Virginia, and our state parks provide jobs and help spur spending in rural areas of the state.”

For the first time in 2014, half of all state park cabin and campsite reservations were made online, Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Molly Ward said in a statement .Day use attendance in 2014 also reached a record level, increasing to 7.9 million visitors from 7.7 million attendees in 2013.