County, city sees increase in tourism spending in 2022
The beautiful place of Burke County that many call home, has been the destination spot for many resulting in an increase in tourism spending.
A report from the Burke County Tourism Development Authority, said “Domestic and international visitors to and within Burke County spent $133.75 million in 2022, an increase of 10.3 percent from 2021. The data comes from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.”
Several factors have helped with the increase in tourism spending including the efforts of the Main Street program’s events in downtown Morganton. Since the return to full capacity after the COVID pandemic and the addition of the new courthouse square renovations, there has been an increase in the number of events occurring which adds to the total number of visitors, resulting in a conservative estimate of $2.6 million dollars spent by visitors.
Sally Sandy, Morganton City Manager, said “Nature’s Playground has been a draw for visitors looking for a great adventure for some time. These numbers show that the hard work of many to create an inviting and vibrant atmosphere, a focus on business development and efforts to showcase our cultural diversity are paying off. It is exciting to see these results.”
The following information is from the annual study by Visit North Carolina.
Tourism impact highlights for 2022:
- The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 850 in Burke County.
- Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Burke County was $29.4 million.
- State tax revenue generated in Burke County totaled $5.3 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About $4.1 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses.
Highlights from statewide report include:
Total spending by domestic and international visitors in North Carolina reached $33.3 billion in 2022.That sum represents a 15.2 percent increase over 2021 expenditures. The figure falls 14 percent above the record $29.22 billion spent in 2019.
- Domestic travelers spent a record $32.4 billion in 2022. Spending was up 13.4 percent from $28.6 billion in 2021.
- International travelers spent $910 million in 2022, up 170 percent from the previous year.
- Visitors to North Carolina generated $4.2 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. The total represents a 7.9 percent increase from 2020.
- State tax receipts from visitor spending rose 6.5 percent to nearly $1.3 billion in 2022.
- Local tax receipts grew 3.5 percent to nearly $1.2 billion.
- Direct tourism employment in North Carolina increased 9.8 percent to 216,900.
- Direct tourism payroll increased 13.5 percent to $8.7 billion.
- Visitors spend more than $91 million per day in North Carolina. That spending adds $6.7 million per day to state and local tax revenues (about $3.5 million in state taxes and $3.2 million in local taxes).
- Each North Carolina household saved $512 on average in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending in the state. Savings per capita averaged $230.
- North Carolina hosted approximately 43 million visitors in 2022.
