The government says COVID cost the outdoor recreation industry $156 billion in 2020. But did it really? – By Jason Blevins (Colorado Sun) / Nov 10 2021
The annual Bureau of Economic Analysis shows the outdoor recreation economy fell 19.5% in 2020, but that includes big declines outside the recreation industry.
The collapse of travel and public gatherings during the pandemic last year cost America’s surging outdoor recreation industry $156 billion.
But that’s according to federal accounting.
In a more traditional accounting of outdoor recreation that measures the economic contributions from people going camping, hiking, skiing, fishing, boating and hunting, the outdoor economy weathered the pandemic with aplomb.
“Really, this is a tale of two stories,” said Jess Turner, the executive director of the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, which works in Washington, D.C., for 35 outdoor recreation trade groups that represent 110,000 businesses.
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