Tourism brings dollars to county
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on August 24, 2015 1:46 PM
Visitors to Wayne County in 2014 had a staggering impact on the local economy, bringing in more than $151 million to the area.
In a recent release from the office of Governor Pat McCrory, the governor's office announced that revenue from travel and tourism in Wayne County increased 2.6 percent from 2013.
Goldsboro tourism Director Betsy Rosemann said when she took over in 2005, money brought in from travel and tourism to Wayne County was much less.
In 2007, Wayne County brought in $113 million from domestic visitors. Each successive year has seen steady growth between 2 and 5 percent, Mrs. Rosemann said.
"We've been lucky," she said.
Growth in 2014 was due to a new hotel opening and seeing the city host several large sports tournaments and events, Mrs. Rosemann said.
"We've had a number of hotels open. We've hosted several major sporting events and, of course, you have the revenue brought in from events at Busco Beach," she said.
And when the results roll in for 2015, they are expected to be at least as impressive as the numbers from 2014.
"With the (Wings over Wayne) air show and a new hotel opening, we're hoping to see even greater growth in 2015," Mrs. Rosemann said. "We've got three new projects that should reflect well in 2016 as well. Those are the Events Center (Goldsboro Country Club), the Agricultural Center and the Multi-Sports Complex we're planning on building. All of those should have a very positive impact."
To round out this year's tourism income, Goldsboro will host three major sporting events: The Heroes Cup for cornhole on Sept. 19 at the end of this year's Beak Week, the U.S. Tennis Association North Carolina Singles League State Championship Oct. 9-11 and a Powerman North America event Oct. 30-31, which is a duathlon in a run, bike, run format.
"The USTA tournament had 450 players last year when we hosted it," Mrs. Rosemann said.
Event coordinators expect 350 to 400 participants to compete in North Carolina's first-ever Powerman duathlon in Goldsboro, and for more than 500 participants to compete in the USTA championships.
The majority of 2014's tourism revenue went to the private sector, Mrs. Rosemann said, but the occupancy tax gleaned from tourists will continue to beef up funding for the Travel and Tourism department to continue to host events and to market the area.
Nearly every county in North Carolina -- 97 of 100 -- saw growth in their travel and tourism industries in 2014.
North Carolina is among the top 10 most visited states in the nation.
"Nothing compares with our state's diverse natural beauty and rewarding experiences at every turn," state Department of Commerce Secretary John Skvarla III said. "We can take pride in North Carolina's position as the sixth most-visited state in the nation with nearly 50 million overnight visitors in 2014."