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Tourism Numbers Trend Upward
Written by Bruce Ferrell   
Monday, 02 May 2016 00:00

RALEIGH --  North Carolina tourism generated record visitor spending in 2015 with a total of $21.9 billion, a 2.7 percent increase over 2014 which outpaced the national average for growth last year of only 2.1 percent. Additionally, tourism industry-supported employment topped 211,000 jobs to set another record for the state.

“Nearly 50 million people from across the United States visited North Carolina destinations last year,” Governor Pat McCrory said in a press release.  “The money they spend supports 211,400 jobs and more than 45,000 businesses.”

Governor McCrory, who proclaimed May 1-7, 2016, as Tourism Week in North Carolina, applauded the growth in direct tourism employment, which was up 3.2 percent over 2014. Payroll income grew even more, increasing 6.5 percent to top $5 billion for the first time.

The figures are from research conducted by the U.S. Travel Association on behalf of Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. Other findings from the study showed state tax receipts as a result of visitor spending rose 6.1 percent to more than $1.1 billion. Visitors spent nearly $60 million per day in North Carolina last year and contributed about $4.9 million per day in state and local tax revenues as a result of that spending. An overview of the research findings can be found online here.

“The tourism industry’s success is shared across North Carolina,” said John E. Skvarla III, North Carolina Commerce Secretary. “Tourism means jobs in all of the state’s 100 counties. In addition, each North Carolina household saves $475 annually in state and local taxes as a result of taxes generated by visitor expenditures.”

Tourism Week in North Carolina is part of National Travel & Tourism Week, which also runs May 1-7. The state’s nine Welcome Centers will host events throughout the week.

 
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