Elizabethtown, N.C. — Domestic and international visitors to and within Bladen County spent 51.57 million in 2022. The data comes from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.

According to Terri Dennison, Executive Director of the Elizabethtown – White Lake Area Chamber of Commerce, while this amount is 9.4% lower that expenditures from 2021, when Bladen County saw a drastic 54% increase from the prior year; it still represents a 14% increase over pre-pandemic numbers.

“The state saw a trend of people returning to the big cities for their lodging and vacations. Several rural areas saw decreases as well,” Dennison said, adding that Bladen County was experiencing some shifts in lodging availability in 2022. She expects the numbers to rebound in 2023.

Tourism impact highlights for 2022:

· The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 257 in Bladen County.

· Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Bladen County was $10.6 million.

· State tax revenue generated in Bladen County totaled $2.2 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About $1.70 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses.

These statistics come from the “Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2022,” which can be accessed at partners.visitnc.com/economic-impact-studies. The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by Tourism Economics in collaboration with the U.S. Travel Association.

Statewide, visitor spending in 2022 rose 15.2 percent to reach a record $33.3 billion. Direct tourism employment increased 9.8 percent to 216,900.

“North Carolina’s tourism industry draws its success from the authentic culture and experiences that flourish across a spectrum of settings,” said Wit Tuttell, Visit NC’s executive director. “The new report from Tourism Economics shows growth beyond our celebrated mountains and beaches to our urban centers and surrounding suburban and rural counties. Tourism’s strength across the state underscores the industry’s role as an anchor of economic development. The money visitors spend benefits everyone by sustaining jobs and reducing the tax burden for every resident.”

Highlights from the 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 202