(The Center Square) – In the Raleigh area, 64 conventions drawing 100,050 room nights in 2022 officially marked a full comeback from the pandemic, generating what officials estimate as $70 million in economic impact from conventions alone.
An uptick that began in 2021 continued in 2022 with sporting events like the NCAA Division II College World Series; both of the NCAA’s College Cups – men and women, soccer’s Final Four; and numerous youth soccer, lacrosse, and baseball tournaments.
“We also saw a new market for us, and that’s esports,” or competition using video games, Dennis Edwards, CEO of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, told The Center Square.
About 10,000 visitors converged for a Fortnight Championship, while two dozen of the world’s best Apex Legends teams brought in visitors from around the world, he said.
Another 50,000 came in for Galaxy Con, a comic con type event in the summer, while 60,000 converged for Dreamville Music Festival in April and another 150,000 attended the International Bluegrass Festival last September.
The resurgence of conventions, sports events and festivals were the primary drivers behind a 12.9% increase in visitation in Wake County last year that drove spending up from $2.3 billion in 2021 to $3 billion in 2022.
“That generated $280 million for state and local tax revenues,” Edwards said. “Those dollars go right back in the general fund to pay for things for schools” and other public services and infrastructure.
A local 6% lodging tax and 1% prepared food tax generated an additional $73.8 million, record funding that will likely go toward renovations to PNC Arena, expanding the Raleigh Convention Center, and a new 500-room convention hotel, Edwards said.
The roaring comeback also contributed to a record $33.3 billion in visitor spending statewide in 2022, along with a shift toward urban counties leading the surge after a few years of rural counties topping visitor spending since the pandemic.
“As we celebrate a record $33.3 billion in visitor spending statewide, we’re pleased that counties that rely on business travel as well as leisure trips are doing well,” state Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders said. “Tourism has long been one of North Carolina’s most vital industries, and we can take pride in the hospitality and authentic experiences that appeal to the needs and interests of millions of visitors who come to our state each year.”
In new data from the Commerce Department released Friday, urban counties benefited the most in 2022, leading the overall 15.2% in visitor spending growth. Wake, Mecklenburg and Durham counties topped the list, though 45 of the state’s 100 counties had double-digit increases.
Writing in an email to The Center Square, Karen Brand of the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority noted records were set for visitors (30.6 million), overnight visitors (13.5 million), and daytime visitors (17.1 million). The traffic was helped, she wrote, by the 2021 completion of a $127 million expansion to the Charlotte Convention Center.
Brand said internal research indicates the visitors authority reaps $71 in local business and attractions for each dollar spent in paid media, and $4 in incremental taxes.
Mecklenburg County posted $5.3 billion, or a 31% increase, in travel expenditures; Wake County $3 billion, 26% increase; Buncombe $2.9 billion, 9%; Dare, $2 billion, 8%; Guilford, $1.5 billion, 20%; and Brunswick, $1.1 billion, 12%. Buncombe is home to Asheville; Dare is along the Outer Banks; Brunswick is southern-most along the Atlantic Ocean.
Rounding out the top counties were New Hanover up 14% to $1.1 billion, Durham up 31% to $1 billion, Forsyth up 19% to $988 million, and Moore up 11% to $750 million.
Durham led all counties with a 23% increase in tourism employment, while Mecklenburg led with the largest number of direct tourism employees at 33,627, up 18% from 2021. Wake, Buncombe, Dare and Guilford counties all also reported more than 10,000 direct tourism employees last year.
Overall, tourism brought in $4.2 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022, up 7.9% from 2021 and 2.2% since 2019.
— Victor Skinner, The Center Square contributor