Domestic visitors to and within Swain County spent $232.01 million in 2019, an increase of 7.8% from 2018. The data comes from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
“Visitation to Swain County is vital to our local community that employs over 2,300 people in the tourism industry,” said Mary Anne Baker, executive director for the Swain County Tourism Development Authority. “We look forward to continuing this success by marketing Swain County as a outdoor adventure destination using a combination of social media, digital, public relations and other promotions, such as hosting bloggers, Instagram travel influencers and travel writers.”
Tourism impact highlights for 2019:
• Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Swain County was $69.82 million.
• The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 2,340 in Swain County.
• State tax revenue generated in Swain County totaled $14.27 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About 5.11 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses.
Visitors to North Carolina set a record for spending in 2019. The $26.7 billion in total spending represented an increase of 5.6 percent from 2018.
These statistics are from the “Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2019,” which can be accessed at partners.visitnc.com/economic-impact-studies. The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by the U.S. Travel Association.
“The numbers confirm the strength of North Carolina’s tourism industry as an anchor of economic development,” said Wit Tuttell, director of Visit North Carolina. “As the No. 6 state in the country for overnight visitation, we can attribute our success to the natural beauty and authenticity that visitors experience, and to a passionate effort to inform and inspire travelers. The money they spend benefits everyone by sustaining jobs and reducing our residents’ tax burden.”
Statewide highlights include:
• State tax receipts as a result of visitor spending rose 5.0 percent to more than $1.3 billion in 2019.
• Visitors spend more than $73 million per day in North Carolina. That spending adds $5.92 million per day to state and local tax revenues (about $3.7 million in state taxes and $2.2 million in local taxes).
• The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 235,000 North Carolinians.
• Each North Carolina household saves on average $551 in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending in the state.