Spending in Graham County increased by two percent in 2023, according to an annual study released by VisitNC.
A recent news release from Graham County Travel & Tourism reported $55.98 million was transacted by local and visiting individuals inside the borders, which is up from $54,860,400 in 2022.
“Our board members and staff have worked diligently to promote Graham County in ways that effectively attract visitors to Graham County, and increase the number of days these visitors stay here overnight,” said Graham County Travel & Tourism Board Chair Connie Orr. “I’m pleased with this year’s increase (in) visitor spending, continuing our trend of year-over-year increases.”
Orr added that due to the influx of tourism spending, each local taxpayer will save $547.44 in state and local taxes.
The release also notes that:
* Travel & tourism directly employs 347 people in Graham County;
* Tourism generated $12.6 million in payroll for the county;
* State-tax revenue in the county equated $1.8 million;
* Occupancy, sales and property-tax revenue generated by local tourism reached $2.6 million.
Reported figures were pulled from “Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2023,” a report which was compiled for VisitNC by Tourism Economics.
Graham County’s announcement later announced that statewide visitor spending was up 6.9 percent amassing a whopping $35.6 billion for North Carolina – a new record.
“The new study underscores the importance of tourism to every county in North Carolina,” said VisitNC Executive Director Wit Tuttell. “There’s a lot of competition for travelers’ time and money, and we owe our success to everything from the state’s scenic beauty and outdoor adventure to our mix of tradition and innovation and our welcoming spirit. Those qualities might be hard to measure, but we can follow the trail to a measurable impact on our workforce, our businesses and our tax base.
“We look forward to continued success.”
Park spending
With Graham County included on the southwestern border of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a release from the park’s public affairs office earlier this month illustrates that the scenery does indeed have a legitimate claim in the tourism increase.
The park reported 13,297,647 visitors spent $2.2 billion in nearby communities. The impact helped support 33,748 jobs and injected $3.4 billion to the surrounding economy.
“People come to Great Smoky Mountains National Park to enjoy the scenic beauty and end up supporting local economies along the way,” said park superintendent Cassius Cash. “We’re proud to care for a national park that provides incredible opportunities for recreation but also creates jobs and positively contributes to local economies.”
Data for the National Park Service was assembled as part of “2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects.” Nationwide, an estimated 325.5 million visitors spent $26.4 billion at communities surrounding national parks.
“I’m so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on more than 300 million visitors a year,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Rams. “And I’m just as proud to see those visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies and jobs in every state in the country.”