Fact Sheet
The Economic Benefits of Beaches—Part 1

Foreign Tourism
The most compelling economic argument for beach nourishment is the importance of foreign tourism in the United States. The tourism/travel industry is the nation’s largest employer and foreign revenue earner. While tourism is beneficial at the local and regional levels, it clearly also provides national benefits. Foreign travelers spend over $80 billion (1995) in the United States, which creates a $26 billion dollar tourism surplus. The most popular destinations among foreign visitors are beaches. More foreign tourists visit Miami Beach alone than to any National Park, and three times more than our three most popular Parks combined. The amount of money spent by these beach tourists creates a huge tax boon, most of which goes to the Federal government. The tax revenue that Federal
government receives each year from beach related spending is more than 180 times the amount it spends on beach replenishment annually. Increased foreign competitions could endanger US dominance is the foreign beach tourism market. Nations such as Spain and Australia have dedicated vast amounts of money (far
more than the US) to replenish their beaches, in hopes of drawing European and Japanese tourists, respectively. If our beaches disappear from erosion, these tourists will go elsewhere, reducing our tax revenue and endangering the 1.4 million tourism related small business in the United States.

Property Values
Beach nourishment is already used when it is deemed necessary to protect property from damage resulting from floods and other weather events. It is only natural that it also be used to protect property value. Beachfront location is a major factor in increasing property value. If after the time of purchase, the quality of the beach decreases, the value of the property will also decrease. This leads
to a loss of tax revenue and a loss in the economy. However, if the beach is maintained the property value will also remain steady or even increase. This creates more tax revenue and stimulates the economy.

Far Reaching Economic Impact
The economic benefits of beach nourishment are not limited to the local or regional area businesses. Better beaches lead to more travel and tourism. The benefit begins at the local level and then expands outward. For example, tourists spend more money at local businesses that in turn expand and purchase new equipment from manufacturers, whose employees benefit and spend their money etc etc. This results in a national economic benefit.

Storm Damage Mitigation
The current Army Corp of Engineers methodology for determining the need for beach nourishment considers only storm damage mitigation. The Corp compares the cost of the beach project with the estimated cost of damage that would be caused by a storm to property behind an unprotected beach. If the cost benefit analysis determines that it would be less expensive to nourish the beach
than to pay for damage caused by storms, then the Corp can proceed with the project. This is the only economic factor that is currently given consideration.

Data and evidence for this fact sheet from:

Houston, James R. “International Tourism and U.S. Beaches” in Journal of the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association Volume 64, Number 2. April
1996
Parsons, George R. and Michael Powell. “Measuring the Cost of Beach Retreat”. Coastal Management, 29:91-103, 2001.