James R. Houston, 2024. “The economic value of America’s beaches,” Shore & Beach, 92(2), 33-43.
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https://doi.org/10.34237/1009225
The economic value of America’s beaches
James R. Houston
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, MS 39180
james.r.houston@usace.army.mil
Travel and Tourism (T&T) is among America’s largest industries, its largest employer, and its largest producer of a trade surplus. It is also one of America’s healthiest industries and is projected to grow at twice the rate of the U.S. economy over the next 10 years. The U.S. is the world’s most competitive country in tourism, attracting more than three times the number of international tourists as any other country. Surveys have repeatedly shown that beaches are by far the most popular U.S. tourist destination. There are about 3.4 billion visits to U.S. beaches annually. This is an enormous number of visits — more than 225% times greater than the combined annual attendance at all National Park properties from the Washington Monument to the Grand Canyon; state parks; all amusement-park attractions such as Disney World; all professional and collegiate football, basketball, and baseball games; cruises; and events of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. Beach tourists spend $240 billion annually, more than the value of all crops grown in America or oil exported by Saudi Arabia. They generate an economic output of $520 billion. U.S. tourism was hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic. However, unlike other tourism, beach tourism boomed during the pandemic, showing remarkable resilience as tourists flocked to beaches that they thought were safe because they were in the open air with plenty of sunshine. Since then, science confirmed the safety of beaches during the pandemic. Beach nourishment provides unprecedented economic return, sustainable employment, and storm-damage protection. It has an extremely high return-on- investment, with U.S. beach tourists generating annually about $3,000 in economic output, $1,400 in direct spending, and $200 in taxes for every $1 spent on nourishment. The $36 billion in taxes that U.S. beach tourists generate each year is over four times the total spent on all beach nourishment during the 100 years from the first beach nourishment in 1923 through 2022. Tourism jobs have boomed, providing one of every four new jobs in 2022. Moreover, tourism jobs in America cannot be outsourced and will not be impacted much by artificial intelligence. In addition to producing a booming economy by being a magnet for tourists, wide beaches and high dunes have been documented to provide billions of dollars in protection to land infrastructure during storms. However, beaches are threatened by erosion caused primarily by dams and navigation projects that greatly impact sand flowing to the coast and remaining in the littoral system. Beach nourishment is needed to mitigate this environmental impact and restore the balance.