The government shutdown resulting in the closure of national parks across the country is a problem for not only tourists planning trips to see attractions that are now closed, but to the small business owners who run shops that depend on the tourists visiting the parks for their business, according to NBC News.
"It's a horrifying proposition," Ohwnn, who runs Tours in the Glades in Florida City, told NBC News. The tour company employs four seasonal guides and one year-round, but will suffer costs near $20,000 in losses if the government shut-down lasts longer than a week, leaving Everglades National Park closed.
"If the park stays closed, its bankruptcy," Ohwnn said.
There are hundreds of small businesses in the same situation. There are 278 million people that visit 401 areas in the National Park System throughout the country. While each business may only have a few employees, without tourists, those employees will nonetheless be out of jobs.
"We're a small business," Fred Pagles, who owns Zion cycles in Springdale, Utah, said. For us it's a lot." He has had to cancel reservations and turn away walk-ups. He projects several thousand dollars in losses resulting from the park closures.
"Twenty percent of my yearly income comes from October and May," Julie Fox, the owner of Eklecticafe, near Arches National Park, said. "If it's anything like last time - 21 days - I'll lay off eight out of 12 people."
"It'll be like the dead of winter here," Fox continued.
Yosemite Miners Inn in Mariposa, California, received ten cancellations within the first hour of the official announcement of the government shutdown.
"It's only going to grow from there," Ceslie Brandon, the general manager, said. It's the hotel's busy season, and the inn relies on the seasonal business to get through the winter, when business is much slower. "If this is any indication of what's to come, we won't survive," Brandon added.
Small business owners said the economic impact would expand farther than government agencies, hurting small businesses throughout the nation.
A breakdown of the numbers resulting from the government shutdown from the New York Times.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
