Americans spend $887 billion annually on outdoor recreation according to the Outdoor Recreation Economy Report released by the OIA Outdoor Industry Association.
In the U.S. outdoor recreation supports more than 7.6 million jobs and contributes $125 billion to federal, state and local government coffers. The topline spending number includes $185 billion on products such as gear, apparel, footwear, equipment, services and vehicle purchases and $702 million on travel.
The top outdoor activities by total spent were trail sports, with $25 billion spent on products and $176 billion on travel and camping.
Click here to download the full Outdoor Recreation Economy Report.
This story first appeared in the blog, The Sport Intern. The editor is Karl-Heinz Huba of Lorsch, Germany. He can be reached at ISMG@aol.com. The article is reprinted here with permission of Huba.