August 19: Flock cameras debated at KDH Commissioners meeting/ Currituck Board designates Boswood-Morris House as historic landmark/ State lifts Swim Advisory for Colington site.
Visitor spending continued to break records for North Carolina in 2023, according to data released Tuesday, Aug. 13 by the N.C. Department of Commerce. Travel spending statewide rose 6.9 percent to $35.6 billion in 2023 to set a record in visitor spending. That growth followed a record-breaking increase of 15 percent in 2022. Direct tourism employment also increased statewide by 4.8 percent to 227,000.
Locally, Dare County had the fourth highest visitor spending of North Carolina’s 100 counties, at roughly $2.1 billion in 2023. It ranked 10th among counties in percentage growth in spending in 2023, at 8.8%.
Currituck County was 14th in visitor spending in 2023, at about $573 million. It’s rate of growth in visitor spending was 4.3% in 2023.
Hyde County was 67th in visitor spending in 2023, with about $62 million. It’s rate of growth in 2023 was 6.1%.
Mecklenburg received $5.8 billion (up 9.6 percent) in traveler expenditures to lead all counties. Wake ranked second with $3.3 billion (up 11.4 percent), followed by Buncombe ($3.0 billion, up 3.0 percent).
Mecklenburg had the largest number of direct tourism employees (36,310), an increase of 8.0 percent from 2022. Four other counties had more than 10,000 direct tourism employees: Wake (25,984, up 5.7 percent), Buncombe (19,862, up 2.9 percent), Dare (12,564, up 4.4 percent) and Guilford (11,580, up 5.5 percent)
Mecklenburg County Population: 1.15 million and 5.8 billion in visitor spending
Dare County Population: 38,000 and 2.1 billion in visitor spending
They have 40 times the population of Dare County yet we generate about 1/3rd of their visitor spending.
All this grief you hear from the local business community about having to pay higher salaries is utter trash. When you have one tourist-industry employee helping generate 40 times the spending of their counterpart in Charlotte, you have nothing to complain about. Pay the people.
Has anyone looked at that Outer Banks Promise thing? Mark, I hope you cover it somehow…
While their heart is in the right place, asking locals to make a promise to keep things nice while also actively supporting a system where the vast majority of the money produced by their labor goes to out of area homeowners is off the rails.
It’s like a fealty pledge to the very thing that makes every day harder and harder on them.
I will submit “yay for greed” has it 180 degrees wrong. Out of State homeowners invest their money in our community. The homes thst are built by the hardworking trades people of this community are a huge source of initial and ongoing employment and hence income for the people of Dare County. The tax revenue from these homes in both property and occupancy fund all of what is necessary and more here. I am continuing in carpentry here and now in my 49th year.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news – but the increase isn’t due to more visitor or occupants, it’s because of the out of control inflation! Everything costs more – food, gas, products, clothing – everything a vacationer or local for that matter, buys just costs more. So don’t put too much weight on those numbers as they don’t teel the whole story.
How much of that increase is attributed to higher prices and inflation as opposed to increased visitors? I only ask because it seems as though traffic, shopping and restaurant crowds do not seem to be not as bad as in the past,
Yay for greed
Put a number on it Mark. What is the gross number of dollars out-of-state homeowners suck off our sandbar each summer? That money is not staying here.
Travis
Mecklenburg County Population: 1.15 million and 5.8 billion in visitor spending
Dare County Population: 38,000 and 2.1 billion in visitor spending
They have 40 times the population of Dare County yet we generate about 1/3rd of their visitor spending.
All this grief you hear from the local business community about having to pay higher salaries is utter trash. When you have one tourist-industry employee helping generate 40 times the spending of their counterpart in Charlotte, you have nothing to complain about. Pay the people.
Jon
Maybe, but how many of the visitors to Charlotte actually left their (terrible) airport?
Ed
Has anyone looked at that Outer Banks Promise thing? Mark, I hope you cover it somehow…
While their heart is in the right place, asking locals to make a promise to keep things nice while also actively supporting a system where the vast majority of the money produced by their labor goes to out of area homeowners is off the rails.
It’s like a fealty pledge to the very thing that makes every day harder and harder on them.
Greg
I will submit “yay for greed” has it 180 degrees wrong. Out of State homeowners invest their money in our community. The homes thst are built by the hardworking trades people of this community are a huge source of initial and ongoing employment and hence income for the people of Dare County. The tax revenue from these homes in both property and occupancy fund all of what is necessary and more here. I am continuing in carpentry here and now in my 49th year.
Part Time OBX'r
Hate to be the bearer of bad news – but the increase isn’t due to more visitor or occupants, it’s because of the out of control inflation! Everything costs more – food, gas, products, clothing – everything a vacationer or local for that matter, buys just costs more. So don’t put too much weight on those numbers as they don’t teel the whole story.
Bill Barry
How much of that increase is attributed to higher prices and inflation as opposed to increased visitors? I only ask because it seems as though traffic, shopping and restaurant crowds do not seem to be not as bad as in the past,