BEAUMONT, Texas — The COVID-19 pandemic brought more people outdoors, and it led to a boost in visitors at the Big Thicket National Preserve. The positive trend started several years ago.
Over the last couple of years, the Big Thicket National Preserve has become an increasingly-popular destination for Texans and out-of-state visitors as well.
"From 2019 to 2020, we saw almost a 40 percent increase. We went from 255,000 visitors up to 310,000 visitors," said Megan Urban, Big Thicket chief of interpretation and education.
The more than 100,000-acre preserve has seen an increase in visitors every year for the past five years.
Urban said the pandemic produced its own influx.
"We saw people who just needed to take a time away from social media or from the news, and gosh, the Big Thicket's a great place to do that,” Urban said.
More visitors to Big Thicket means more people spending their money in nearby towns like right here in Kountze, which is a huge boost to these local economies.
"This past year we had about $20 million that we brought into the local economy and then on top of that with job growth and everything we saw a cumulative effort of about $28 million," Urban said.
President of Kountze Economic Development Corp. Barry Mitchael said when he and others helped create the visitors center in the late 90s, they hoped the Big Thicket would bring in people from around the world.
Their dream has become a reality, he said.
"If you go look at the visitor book up there, you'll see they literally come from all over the world over here to see this," Mitchael said.
People from around the world are visiting the Big Thicket and in turn spending their money and bringing much-needed revenue to Hardin County.
"We've seen a lot,” Mitchael said. “It has helped a lot, and like I said, it's just not us, I mean it's helped Silsbee. It's helped Lumberton."