The local economic impacts of national park tourism remain largely unknown, for no generally accepted, standardised method for measuring them yet exists. In a Finnish case study, national park visitor spending was examined using two methods: a standard visitor survey and an expenditure diary. Together with the park's annual attendance information, the spending figures from the latter were used for assessing the local economic impacts applying a U.S. visitor survey/input-output method. To construct a local input-output table, a location quotient method was utilised. This study shows that visitor spending may impact the local economy considerably, and that the diary method is well suited for measuring national park visitor spending. It appears that the visitor survey/input-output method can also be applied in Finland, with a few modifications. However, a standardised assessment of recreation tourism's local economic impacts will require more research.