North Carolina visitor spending jumps to $17B

Visitors to North Carolina spent a record $17 billion in 2010, up 9 percent from 2009.
State tax revenue from visitor spending jumped 12.6 percent last year over 2009.

“North Carolina’s natural and cultural treasures bring people and dollars into our state,” Gov. Beverly Perdue said during a meeting in Asheville. “It’s a consistently growing part of our economy.”

Nearly 37 million people visited North Carolina last year, up 2.5 percent from 2009, making the state the sixth most visited among the 50 states. State tax revenue totaled more than $947 million and local tax revenues were $546 million as a direct result of visitor spending, according to Perdue’s office and the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Click Here to play video