Visitor Spending Rises in All North Carolina Counties in 2012

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).
 
For more information about the travel impact numbers, contact the Department of Commerce’s Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development.