Total Solar Eclipse Makes $15 Million Economic Impact At Oklahoma State Parks

The Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department says it saw a $15 million economic impact at the state parks during the eclipse.

Director of Communications Chase Horn said there were more than 122,000 people in the seven nearby state parks for the total solar eclipse.

"There's just no way to describe how awesome it is when you hit that totality, it gets dark outside, we're in nature, so all of these animal sounds start coming up of animals that are usually only out at night," Horn said.

There was an economic impact of about $2.5 million per day, and from Thursday to Monday in the entire area, they project a $42 million impact.

He says he really doesn't think the overcast weather had much effect on the turnout.

"I think that might have hurt our day traffic a little bit, as far as people coming in, but Beaver's Bend State Park especially was completely booked out," he said.

Horn says tourism is the state's third largest industry, and the eclipse helped highlight all that people can do when they come to visit Oklahoma.

"We have so much going on, you don't need an eclipse to go visit a state park or come to Oklahoma, we are a destination state for visitors around the country and world," he said.

The Broken Bow Chamber of Commerce says more than 50,000 people came to Broken Bow for the eclipse and the Idabel Chamber of Commerce says it should have its numbers next week.

For more stories on the 2024 total solar eclipse in Oklahoma, CLICK HERE.