Topics Related to Tourism

In the 12 months since Hurricane Helene damaged Western North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein’s Commerce Department has launched a new division to put $1.4 billion of federal recovery dollars to work, accepted more than 3,400 applications from homeowners seeking recovery help, encouraged tourists to return to the mountains, and paid more than $96 million in disaster-related unemployment insurance benefits to people in need. These key milestones in the state’s ongoing recovery efforts reaffirm North Carolina’s commitment to help families, workers, and businesses rebuild stronger than ever.

Visitor spending increased for 71 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in 2024, contributing to a statewide record total of $36.7 billion in visitor spending, according to county-level data released today by the N.C. Department of Commerce. The preliminary findings from an annual study commissioned by Visit NC, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina reflect the economic impact of tourism on local economies across the state.

Governor Josh Stein announced today that the overall North Carolina tourism economy held strong against the headwinds of Hurricane Helene. Travelers spent more than $36.7 billion on trips to and within the state in 2024. The previous record of $35.6 billion was set in 2023. 

Visitor spending continued to break records for North Carolina in 2023, according to data released Tuesday 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.

North Carolina set a record for visitor spending in 2022, according to county-level data released today by the North Carolina Department of Commerce. North Carolina’s urban counties registered the largest gains in 2022 visitor spending, following a few years of rural counties leading visitor spending post-pandemic.The preliminary findings from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, reflect the economic impact of tourism on local economies across the state.

Governor Roy Cooper announced today that the North Carolina tourism economy reached its highest level ever with travelers spending more than $33.3 billion on trips to and within the state. The previous record of $29.22 billion was set in pre-pandemic 2019.“Tourism is a vital economic force in our state supporting thousands of small businesses and hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Governor Cooper said. “We can take pride that visitors see North Carolina as a diverse, inclusive and welcoming place and we all need to work to keep it that way.”

The North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division has selected 34 local governments from across the state to participate in the Creating Outdoor Recreation Economies (CORE) program.

Visitor spending in North Carolina for 2021, with numbers broken out at the county level. All 100 counties saw increases.

Governor Roy Cooper announced today that the North Carolina tourism industry saw a major recovery in 2021 with $28.9 billion in visitor spending. With domestic travel reaching new heights as international visitation lagged, the total falls just 1 percent below the record set in 2019 and represents a 45 percent increase from pandemic-stricken 2020.

North Carolina was awarded $6.4 million to establish a new tourism-focused economic recovery initiative. The new program, Supporting and Strengthening Resiliency in North Carolina’s Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Sectors Initiative, will help develop and implement economic-building strategies for the recovery of North Carolina’s travel and tourism industries that suffered economic losses due to the pandemic.