Visitor Spending Rises in All North Carolina | Eastern North Carolina Now

    For Immediate Release:

Domestic Visitor Spending Jumps to Record $19.4 Billion

    RALEIGH, N.C.     Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced today that all of the state's 100 counties saw increases in visitor spending in 2012. Data from the North Carolina Department of Commerce's Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development showed that three counties (Mecklenburg, Wake and Guilford) had more than $1 billion in visitor spending in 2012 while Dare, Buncombe, Forsyth and Durham all had more than half a billion in spending.

    Domestic visitors to and within North Carolina spent a record $19.4 billion in 2012, an increase of five percent from 2011. State tax receipts as a result of visitor spending neared $1 billion in 2012 and local tax revenues directly resulting from visitor spending totaled more than $579 million. Visitor expenditures directly generated 193,610 jobs and more than $4.3 billion in payroll income within North Carolina in 2012.

    "Tourism is a key tenet of our economic development strategy for North Carolina, and it means jobs for our citizens - nearly 200,000 of them across North Carolina," said Governor McCrory. "It's encouraging that every corner of North Carolina is benefitting from tourism. More than 45 million people experienced our state's beauty, from our famous mountains to our incredible coast and our vibrant cities and fascinating towns in between."

    The visitor spending figures come from an annual study commissioned by the Division of Tourism and conducted by the U.S. Travel Association. The study uses sales and tax revenue data plus employment figures to determine the overall impact of visitor spending in North Carolina. Highlights include:

  • Mecklenburg County received more than $4.4 billion in domestic travelers' expenditures, tops in the state. Wake County ranked second with nearly $1.8 billion, followed by Guilford County with nearly $1.2 billion.

  • Currituck and New Hanover Counties had the largest percentage increases at 8.1 percent and 8.0 percent respectively. Macon County followed with a 7.6 percent increase, followed by Union (+7.3 percent), Warren (+7.0 percent) and Mecklenburg (+7.0 percent).

  • Mecklenburg County directly employs the most tourism employees with more than 45,000 and has the largest payroll at $1.4 billion. Wake (19,710), Guilford (12,190) and Dare (11,590) each have more than 10,000 direct tourism employees.

  • The same counties that led growth in visitor spending also had the largest increases in direct tourism employment from 2011 to 2012. They were Currituck (+5.4 percent), New Hanover (+5.0 percent), Macon (+4.6 percent), Union (+4.5 percent), Warren (+4.3 percent) and Mecklenburg (+4.3 percent).

    Full tables are here. For more information about the travel impact numbers, contact the Department of Commerce's Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development.


    Contact: Crystal Feldman
      govpress@nc.gov
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Atkinson: Health of Public Schools More Important Than Student Welfare Statewide, Government, State and Federal Governor McCrory Announces Appointments


HbAD0

Latest State and Federal

Former President Donald Trump suggested this week that if he becomes president again, he might allow Prince Harry to be deported.
Vice President Kamala Harris will visit a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic, reportedly the first time a president or vice president has visited an abortion facility.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said this week that the only campaign promise President Joe Biden has delivered on as president is the complete dismantling of the U.S. southern border.
Hamas is reeling after losing two of their most cherished leaders on the same day: military commander Saleh al-Arouri, and Harvard President Claudine Gay.
President Joe Biden’s brother told the Internal Revenue Service that Hunter Biden told him he was in business with a “protege of President Xi,” referring to the leader of China, according to notes by an IRS investigator that were divulged during a congressional interview of Jim Biden.
That’s the question Marguerite Roza of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab sought to answer in a recent webinar on the topic.
The University of Florida has fired all of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) employees and shut down its DEI office.
Glenn Beck: 'When the United States government can come after individuals, that's when you know our republic is crumbling.'
Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) reportedly blasted Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for “stonewalling” details about the illegal immigrant accused of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia college student.

HbAD1

“The Biden administration's plan in the Middle East is to hand over power to the Palestinian Authority, which literally pays the families of terrorists who murder Jews.”
Two Democratic members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation are ranked among the most likely to be picked off in 2024, according to a new analysis from Roll Call.
Former President Donald Trump dominated the North Dakota Republican Caucus on Monday as he continues to inch closer to officially securing the party’s presidential nomination.
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is launching a Community Partner Engagement Plan to ensure the voices of North Carolina communities and families continue to be at the center of the department’s work.
The Pentagon official helped lead an organization that pushed 'transgender day of visibility' in the military
Former President Donald Trump filed an appeal to overturn a Democrat judge’s decision to remove him from the presidential ballot in Illinois.
Republican officials continued their probe of BlackRock this week, saying that the financial giant has not been forthcoming about how climate activists are shaping its policies, according to a letter first obtained by The Daily Wire.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top