This summer, high prices have kept some tourists local

Rising expenses like gas and airfare have impacted the travel plans of 75% of Americans this summer, according to a Lending Tree survey of 2,000 consumers.

About a third of them are choosing destinations closer to home as a result, and it turns out they have options. There are more than 400 national parks, in all 50 states.

Mary Ann Herron and her two daughters went to Shenandoah National Park’s Skyline Drive in Virginia. They’re from Chestertown, Maryland, and usually vacation in Maine. But Herron did a little math.

“That would probably be about $300 worth of gas, going up and back in Maine,” Herron said. “So yeah – it definitely was a big factor in my decision to stay closer to home.”

Herron figured they’d spend about half as much for gas on their trip to Shenandoah.

High school buddies Will Rosen and Dan Casazza also went on a Shenandoah road trip.

“I mean the original plan – I was like, ‘you want to go to Ireland?’ And you were like, ‘absolutely not,’” Casazza said.

“There’s no way I could afford Ireland,” Rosen replied. “No airfare for me for a long time.”

Rosen lost his job in agricultural engineering recently. He said he had to dip into his savings to cover the rising cost of groceries and gas.

“My fun money went from something to nothing,” he said.

So, Casazza drove down from New York, where he lives, to pick up Rosen at his house in Philadelphia. They made their way down to Shenandoah, stopping in Washington, D.C. on the way.

“Marketplace’s” Nancy Marshall-Genzer talked to 15 tourists altogether. A few said the high price of gas and plane tickets didn’t affect their plans. But most said they were driving because flying was too expensive. And the majority were a day’s drive from home, or less.

When they got tired or hungry, they headed to Front Royal, Virginia — the gateway town at Shenandoah’s northern entrance.

Lizi Lewis, Front Royal’s Community Development and Tourism director, walked down Main Street, pointing out the options for visitors.

“So we’ve got hair salons and ice cream shops,” she explained. “We have retail spaces and, of course, restaurants.”

Inside one of those stores, Lewis said she’s seen more visitors from farther afield over the past year and a half, from states including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and North Carolina. She thought those visitors were avoiding flying and looking for a mountain vacation within driving distance.

“So it’s a very reasonable ride to take with the kids as opposed to flying to somewhere out west,” she said. “Or even driving as far as like the Smokies, for example.”

Scott Turnmeyer owns a gift shop on Main Street. He said he’s seen tourists from as far north as Massachusetts and Maine. He estimated that 90 to 95% of the customers walking in are visitors — which is a good thing, because foot traffic from locals is way down.

“I have to have those visitors to stay in business,” he said. “For sure. 100%.”

Even before the boost in regional visitors, Shenandoah was having an economic impact. According to the National Park Service, in 2024 — the most recent year of data available — more than 1.5 million tourists spent $132 million in communities near the park.