PENDER COUNTY — More visitors are coming through Pender County, accounting for another record-breaking year in tourist spending.
Domestic and international visitors spent $189.7 million in 2022, a 14.7% spike from 2021, according to an annual study by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
“The tourism industry in Pender County continues to grow and once again, visitor spending hit an all-time high in our county,” Pender County Tourism Director Tammy Proctor said in a press release. “Tourism is driven by natural resources and outdoor recreation, history, agriculture and aquaculture, and film. Pender County offers
visitors all these attractions.”
Proctor added Pender County has seen new visitor spending records for the last five years, which has also increased jobs in the county.
More than 1,000 employees work directly in the tourism and travel industry in the county, generating a payroll of more than $39.6 million.
State tax revenue totaled $6.2 million in Pender County in 2022, through state sales and excise taxes, as well as personal and corporate income taxes. Local taxes incurred $8.9 million from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses alone.
Taxes generated by tourists to the county saves each resident $231.98.
Statewide, visitor spending increased 15.2% in 2022, with a record $33.3 billion. Urban areas, which saw a decline in visitation during the pandemic, are rebounding.
“North Carolina’s tourism industry draws its success from the authentic culture and experiences that flourish across a spectrum of settings,” Visit NC’s executive director Wit Tuttell said in the release. “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.”
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