Increased Tourist Spending Good Sign

Editorial by Wilmington Star-News, August 16, 2013.

North Carolina is lucky to have physical features to suit just about every preference – from breathtaking mountains in the west to the rolling hills and green landscape of the Piedmont, to the beaches, wetlands and waters of its expansive coastline. From populous cities to charming small towns, our state is a magnet for visitors. And many of us choose to vacation right here in the state.

Our economy depends heavily on these resident and out-of-state tourists. Last year, they delivered big.

According to the N.C. Division of Tourism, visitors spent a record $19.4 billion last year. The total marked an increase of 5 percent from the previous year and represents a healthy rebound from the tourism slump that went along with the Great Recession. Spending in 2007 was $16.5 billion, and even as the recession set in during 2008, total spending inched up ever so slightly before dipping to $15.6 billion in 2009 as the state began to feel the recession's full impact.

Since then, revenue has been climbing, and last year's figures are good reason for some optimism about the local economy.

Locally, tourists and other visitors spent $460 million in New Hanover County, $445.9 million in Brunswick, $80.6 million in Pender and $40.9 million in Columbus. For New Hanover County, the total represents an 8 percent increase over 2011.

That spending translates into sales tax revenue for the state and for the counties, but the tourism industry also provides jobs – most of them relatively low-wage and many of them part time, but jobs nonetheless. A look at the tourism division's numbers quantifies the value of those jobs. Statewide, more than 193,000 people work in tourism-related jobs with a total payroll of almost $4.4 billion.

While tourism is a major industry, however, it is not our only one, and some sectors have been rebounding more slowly than others. Sometimes it takes years to fully recover from a severe economic downturn like the one we experienced. North Carolina was hit especially hard, and in June the state still had the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the nation, so we have a way to go.

The state has no current comparison on tourism spending for the first half of 2013. But according to the convention and visitors bureau serving Wilmington and New Hanover County, rain and cooler weather in the spring led to a slight drop in room occupancy tax collections – one of many predictors of the tourism season. However, hotel and motel operators were reporting a strong July and August, and officials are optimistic for another good season.

So if as you pass cars, vans or SUVs sporting cargo boxes and filled with luggage, beach chairs and other telltale signs of folks on vacation, offer a friendly nod. Those vehicles are also carrying dollars that will remain in the local economy long after the tourists inside head home.