A new independent economic study has suggested that California’s Disneyland resort is responsible for more than US$5.7bn (€5bn, £3.6bn) in economic activity across the south of the state, supporting more than 28,000 regional jobs in the process.

Estimated economic impact for 2013 has increased 21 per cent over a similar study dating back to 2009. The report by Arduin, Laffer & Moore Econometrics also gives a glimpse into the effect of the US$1.1bn (€980m, £704m) expansion of California Adventure Park in 2012, which included the addition of Cars Land and helped to generate more than US$370m (€330m, £237m) in state and local taxes in 2013.

According to the analysis, spending attributed to Disneyland and its visitors accounted for around a third of the US$9.6bn (€8.6bn, £6.1bn) generated by tourism in Orange County in 2013, with spending by Disneyland visitors at businesses outside of the resort totalling US$1.4bn (€1.2bn, £896m).

With Disneyland closing in on its 60th anniversary, large crowds have meant the park has been regularly reaching capacity, with employees having to redirect visitors to California Adventure. One solution to the problem of overcrowding is the introduction of a new surge pricing payment system for peak times of year, which has been touted by Disney.