County Spending by Domestic Visitors Increases by 5.47 Percent to $496.32 Million

By Frank Williams | August 12, 2015 | Comments Off on County Spending by Domestic Visitors Increases by 5.47 Percent to $496.32 Million

Sea TrailSUPPLY, N.C. — Visit North Carolina recently announced that domestic visitors to and within Brunswick County spent $496.32 million in 2014, an increase of 5.47 percent from 2013. Brunswick County ranks 9th out of the state’s 100 counties in visitor spending, up from 10th in 2013.

“Tourism is now more than ever a vital part of our county’s economy impacting every facet of our community,” said Bonnie Cox, Chairman of the Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority.  “The Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority works diligently to market and promote Brunswick County in an increasingly competitive environment.”

Tourism impact highlights for 2014, according to the Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority:

  • The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 5,190 people in Brunswick County.
  • Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Brunswick County was $91.36 million.
  • State tax revenue generated in Brunswick County totaled $22.19 million through state sales and excise taxes and taxes on personal and corporate income. Approximately $29.75 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced in May that visitors to North Carolina spent a record $21.3 billion in 2014, an increase of 5.5 percent from 2013. These statistics are from the 2014 Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties, study, which was prepared for Visit North Carolina by the U.S. Travel Association.

“All eight regions of the state had spending growth of 4 percent or more and 90 percent of the state’s counties saw direct tourism employment growth from 2013 to 2014,” said Wit Tuttell, executive director of Visit North Carolina. “As the sixth most visited state in the country, tourism continues to be major driver of economic development across North Carolina.”

Statewide highlights include:

  • State tax receipts as a result of visitor spending neared the $1.1 billion mark in 2014. The figure represents 4 percent in growth over 2013’s $1.0 billion.
  • Visitors spend more than $58 million per day in North Carolina. That spending adds more than $4.6 million per day to state and local tax revenues (about $2.9 million in state taxes and $1.7 million in local taxes).
  • The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 200,000 North Carolinians.

 * Source:  Brunswick County Tourism Development Authority

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