Domestic and international visitors to and within Wayne County spent $141.8 million in 2020, a decrease of 24.2% from 2019. The data comes from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.

“It comes as no surprise that visitor spending was down in 2020, due to the impacts of the pandemic. As the report highlights, the decrease in visitor spending is not unique to Wayne County, since destinations across the state and country suffered greatly. Goldsboro-Wayne County is already bouncing back, as the 2021 data is showing. With events, sports, and business travel coming back online, we are showing a faster recovery than many of our larger North Carolina destinations. Our tourism department is completing its master plan this year, which is perfect timing as this document will set goals for making Wayne County a more appealing destination and more resilient tourism economy than ever before,” said Ashlin Glatthar, director of travel and tourism for Goldsboro-Wayne County. 

Tourism impact highlights for 2020

• The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 1,120 in Wayne County.
• Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Wayne County was $38.5 million.
• State tax revenue generated in Wayne County totaled $7.2 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About $4.5 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses, which saved each Wayne County resident an average of $92.71 per year due to visitor expenditures.

These statistics come from the “Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2020,” which can be accessed at partners.visitnc.com/economic-impact-studies. The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by Tourism Economics in collaboration with the U.S. Travel Association.

Statewide, visitor spending was down 32 percent to $19.96 billion compared to 2019. Tourism employment fell 26 percent to 178,685. The losses were most acutely felt in urban areas.

“We are extremely gratified that tourism thrived in 20 counties in the face of pandemic shutdowns and other impediments to travel,” said Visit NC Director Wit Tuttell. “And despite the bad news for North Carolina as a whole, our ranking at No. 5 among states for visitation is a position of strength for rebuilding our tourism economy. Given the state’s resilience and vast appeal of its natural beauty, our creative cities and our authentic experiences at every turn, we’re confident that we’ll regain what has been lost and exceed the spending records of the recent past.”

Statewide highlights include:

• Domestic and international travelers spent $19.96 billion in North Carolina in 2020. The spending marks a 32 percent decrease from the $29.22 billion spent in 2019.
• Fourteen of the state’s 100 counties saw gains in visitor spending: Warren, Greene, Yancey, Clay, Stokes, Polk, Northampton, Pender, Ashe, Alleghany, Rutherford, Jones, Currituck  and Tyrrell.
• Visitors to North Carolina generated nearly $3.0 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2020. The total represents a 26.6 percent decrease from 2019.
• State tax receipts as a result of domestic visitor spending decreased 26.4 percent to more than $891.6 million in 2020.
• Local tax receipts from domestic visitor spending dropped 21 percent to $906.4 million.
• Direct tourism employment in North Carolina decreased 26 percent to 178,685.
• Twenty counties had increases in employment related to visitor spending in 2020: Warren, Greene, Clay, Stokes, Ashe, Yancey, Alleghany, Pender, Macon, Northampton, Jones, Polk, Rutherford, Montgomery, Tyrrell, Dare, Carteret, Madison, Currituck and Swain.
• Direct tourism payroll decreased 24.5 percent to $6.4 billion.
• Visitors spend more than $54 million per day in North Carolina. That spending adds $4.9 million per day to state and local tax revenues (about $2.4 million in state taxes and $2.5 million in local taxes).
• Each North Carolina resident saves on average $170 in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending in the state. 
• North Carolina hosted 37 million visitors in 2020.