Today, Governor Roy Cooper and First Lady Kristin Cooper visited Chimney Rock State Park and local shops to highlight North Carolina’s record-breaking tourism industry including our beautiful state parks and thriving small businesses ahead of Labor Day. The Governor and First Lady were joined by park leadership and local officials as he visited the summit of Chimney Rock and Chimney Rock Village, emphasizing the importance of protecting North Carolina’s natural environment and supporting the tourism economy.
In August, Governor Cooper announced North Carolina broke tourism spending records in 2023, seeing an increase in visitor spending to $35.6 billion.
“North Carolina’s growing tourism industry plays a critical role in our state’s economy and we are excited to welcome people from all over this Labor Day,” said Governor Cooper. “With beautiful mountain views, amazing state parks, vibrant city life and scenic beaches, North Carolina has something to offer everyone.”
“Outdoor recreation is a $30 billion industry in our state,” said N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Reid Wilson. “North Carolina’s spectacular natural areas, including our state parks, help drive tourism and contribute to local and regional economies.”
Located in Rutherford County, Chimney Rock State Park offers some of North Carolina's most dramatic mountain scenery, overlooking Hickory Nut Gorge and Lake Lure. The park includes hiking trails, riverside areas, interpretive exhibits and gift shops.
North Carolina State Parks, a division of NC DNCR, manages more than 262,000 acres of iconic landscape within North Carolina’s state parks, state recreation areas and state natural areas. It administers the N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, including its local grants program, as well as a state trails program, North Carolina Natural and Scenic Rivers and more, all with a mission dedicated to conservation, recreation and education. The state parks system welcomes more than 19 million visitors annually.
Visitor spending continued to break records for North Carolina in 2023, according to data released by the N.C. Department of Commerce. Travel spending statewide rose 6.9 percent to $35.6 billion in 2023 to set a record in visitor spending. That growth followed a record-breaking increase of 15 percent in 2022. Direct tourism employment also increased statewide by 4.8 percent to 227,000.
- 2023 saw growth in visitor spending for both urban and rural counties with 98 of North Carolina’s 100 counties seeing increases in spending compared with 2022. Orange, Wake, Camden and Warren were among the counties that led the state’s 6.9 percent growth in visitor spending, which reached a record $35.6 billion.
- Growth in direct tourism employment was also seen among rural and urban counties with nearly 20 percent of counties seeing higher than average growth. Camden led all counties with a 10 percent increase. Other counties with top increases in tourism employment were Orange (up 9.8 percent), Cabarrus (up 9.3 percent), Forsyth (up 8.3 percent), Durham (up 8.1 percent) and Mecklenburg (up 8.0 percent).
- Mecklenburg received $5.8 billion (up 9.6 percent) in traveler expenditures to lead all counties. Wake ranked second with $3.3 billion (up 11.4 percent), followed by Buncombe ($3.0 billion, up 3.0 percent), and Dare ($2.1 billion, up 8.8 percent).
- Mecklenburg had the largest number of direct tourism employees (36,310), an increase of 8.0 percent from 2022. Four other counties had more than 10,000 direct tourism employees: Wake (25,984, up 5.7 percent), Buncombe (19,862, up 2.9 percent), Dare (12,564, up 4.4 percent) and Guilford (11,580, up 5.5 percent).
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