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Halifax and more North Carolina counties draw US tourists with coast, mountains and powerful new travel experiences, turning diverse destinations into major tourism and visitor economy hotspots.
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Halifax and more North Carolina counties draw US tourists with coast, mountains and powerful new travel experiences. From Halifax’s local attractions to the coast’s beaches and the mountains’ outdoor escapes, travellers are finding more reasons to explore the state. Moreover, these destinations offer powerful experiences across culture, food, heritage, recreation and accommodation. As a result, tourism spending supports jobs, businesses and local communities county by county. Halifax and other counties now compete for travellers seeking new travel experiences beyond traditional holidays. Therefore, North Carolina’s diverse coast, mountains and destinations continue to attract US tourists and strengthen the state’s expanding visitor economy.
North Carolina’s visitor economy is built county by county, with Mecklenburg, Wake, Buncombe, Dare and Guilford leading the state in total visitor spending, while coastal, mountain, urban and rural destinations collectively support tourism businesses, jobs, personal income and tax revenues across all 100 counties. The latest complete official county-level dataset available from Visit North Carolina is for 2024, while 2025 statewide spending reached a record $37.2 billion and the state’s 2025 county-level figures are released on a later schedule.
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Halifax County’s tourism economy continued to demonstrate resilience in 2025, with domestic and international visitors spending $132.83 million across the North Carolina county. The figure represented a 0.8% increase compared with 2024, reinforcing tourism’s role as a significant driver of local employment, income and public revenue despite uneven growth across the wider region.
The latest results place Halifax County fifth among the 17 counties in North Carolina’s Northeast Prosperity Zone for total visitor spending. Importantly, Halifax was among only nine counties in the region to record growth, while eight experienced declines during the year.
The figures were released as part of The Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2025, a study prepared for Visit North Carolina by Tourism Economics.
Tourism directly supported 756 jobs in Halifax County during 2025, placing the county fifth in the Northeast Prosperity Zone for travel and tourism employment. Visitor activity also generated $32.04 million in personal income, the fourth-highest total among the region’s 17 counties.
The economic contribution extended beyond hotels, restaurants and attractions. Visitor spending flowed into businesses and communities through accommodation, food services, transportation, recreation and retail, supporting employment and generating wider economic activity.
Halifax County Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Lori Medlin described the results as evidence of the destination’s strength during a year when visitor spending declined in many neighbouring counties.
Mecklenburg County remained North Carolina’s largest tourism and travel economy, with visitors spending $6.47 billion in 2025, followed by Wake County with $3.63 billion, while Buncombe County recorded $2.59 billion, Dare County reached $2.09 billion and Guilford County generated $1.85 billion. These five counties alone illustrate the different foundations of the state’s visitor economy, combining major cities, business travel, conventions, cultural attractions, mountain holidays and long-stay coastal tourism.
The next group of major county markets included Brunswick County at $1.25 billion, New Hanover County at $1.21 billion, Durham County at $1.17 billion, Forsyth County at $1.08 billion and Moore County at $901.41 million, confirming that tourism activity is distributed across both metropolitan and destination-led communities. Carteret County, with $763.93 million, and Cabarrus County, with $682.81 million, also remained significant contributors, while Cumberland recorded $682.60 million and Currituck generated $577.62 million.
Several counties delivered particularly strong growth during 2025, demonstrating that the benefits of travel were not limited to North Carolina’s biggest destinations, with Macon County recording an 11.1% increase in visitor spending, Richmond County rising 9.7%, Johnston County increasing 7.2% and Moore County growing by 4.9%. New Hanover County also posted a notable 5.8% rise, while Jackson increased 5.1%, showing continued momentum across coastal, mountain and regional tourism markets.
At the same time, some major destinations experienced lower visitor spending than in 2024, including Buncombe, Dare and Forsyth, while Rutherford saw an 8.2% decline, proving that annual tourism performance can be influenced by recovery conditions, travel patterns, visitor demand and destination-specific circumstances. The statewide result nevertheless remained positive, with total visitor spending rising 1.3% year-on-year to a new record, meaning the broader North Carolina travel economy continued to expand even as growth was uneven at county level.
The official county-level research breaks visitor spending into lodging, food and beverage, recreation, retail and transport, making lodging expenditure an important indicator of the economic value associated with overnight travel, although the study does not publish a county-by-county total for overnight stays or room nights. Mecklenburg led lodging spending with $1.54 billion, followed by Wake at $903.17 million and Buncombe at $755.68 million, while Dare generated $556.12 million and Brunswick reached $306.29 million.
Coastal counties demonstrate the substantial importance of overnight tourism, with Dare, Currituck, Brunswick, Carteret and New Hanover benefiting from accommodation spending alongside food, recreation and transport, while mountain destinations such as Buncombe, Watauga, Jackson, Henderson, Macon and Swain rely heavily on visitors staying longer to explore natural landscapes and local attractions. This mix means North Carolina’s tourism economy is not dependent on one travel model, because urban short breaks, business trips, beach holidays, outdoor adventures and overnight leisure stays all create separate but connected streams of visitor expenditure.
County-level tourism spending translated directly into employment and personal income, with Mecklenburg supporting 38,380 direct tourism jobs, Wake supporting 27,470 and Buncombe supporting 17,211, while Dare sustained 12,073 and Guilford supported 12,080 jobs. These figures underline that the visitor economy extends beyond hotels and attractions, because tourism spending supports restaurants, transport providers, recreation businesses, retailers and other companies serving travellers.
Across North Carolina, direct tourism employment reached 230,997 jobs in 2025 and direct tourism payroll increased to approximately $9.85 billion, while state taxes generated through visitor activity reached $1.39 billion and local taxes totalled $1.33 billion. The county results therefore provide a wider picture of how travel spending circulates through local economies, with even smaller destinations generating employment, personal income and tax revenues that support their broader communities.
Halifax County generated $132.83 million in visitor spending in 2025, ranking it 46th among North Carolina’s 100 counties, while the county supported 756 direct tourism jobs and generated $32.04 million in personal income from visitor activity. Its visitor spending increased by 0.8% over 2024, according to the official local results, placing Halifax among the counties that maintained growth despite a mixed year for several destinations across the Northeast Prosperity Zone.
Food and beverage spending formed Halifax County’s largest visitor category at $45.09 million, followed by lodging at $30.42 million, transport at $29.38 million, recreation at $17.19 million and retail at $10.74 million, highlighting the broad economic reach of tourism across local businesses. Visitor activity also generated $5.54 million in state taxes and $4.40 million in local taxes, producing average state and local tax savings of $215.38 per resident and demonstrating why the visitor economy remains economically important for the county.Ident County Visitor Spending Growth Jobs Labour Income State Tax Local Tax Tourism Economy Indicator 1 Mecklenburg 6,371.52 8.9% 37,969 2,087.25 219.29 200.13 Largest visitor economy 2 Wake 3,541.11 7.6% 27,055 948.47 161.87 173.92 Major urban/business tourism 3 Buncombe 2,646.24 -10.8% 18,362 608.67 116.29 103.16 Leading mountain destination 4 Dare 2,099.31 -2.3% 12,260 462.72 68.24 78.87 Coastal and overnight tourism leader 5 Guilford 1,794.28 6.6% 11,916 542.38 65.61 52.39 Major urban visitor economy 6 Brunswick 1,229.92 4.8% 5,838 240.97 36.68 51.41 Coastal leisure and stays 7 Durham 1,160.04 3.0% 7,737 317.19 40.79 40.63 Business, events and leisure 8 New Hanover 1,139.78 1.5% 7,003 290.59 37.54 41.80 Wilmington/coastal tourism 9 Forsyth 1,091.10 — 6,779 275.81 44.72 29.85 Urban and events tourism 10 Moore 859.25 6.7% 6,287 253.39 32.21 28.14 Golf and resort economy 11 Carteret 743.38 1.5% 3,819 147.01 22.08 29.57 Strong coastal overnight market 12 Cumberland 697.76 0.0% 4,797 176.48 26.89 20.43 Military, business and visitor travel 13 Cabarrus 679.41 8.7% 5,014 180.22 26.17 17.77 Attractions and events 14 Currituck 580.74 1.2% 2,507 106.86 16.25 22.32 Coastal overnight tourism 15 Watauga 515.85 -0.4% 3,016 129.11 17.15 18.95 Mountain and leisure travel 16 Jackson 463.14 -1.1% 2,464 118.40 14.94 15.53 Mountain tourism 17 Henderson 437.45 2.4% 2,707 115.79 15.40 17.13 Mountain visitor economy 18 Iredell 429.35 11.9% 2,561 96.80 15.64 13.81 Fast-growing tourism spending 19 Onslow 415.23 0.7% 2,464 94.85 14.51 14.75 Coastal and military travel 20 Gaston 389.10 10.3% 2,471 92.24 15.30 9.65 Strong growth market 21 Haywood 357.11 1.9% 2,223 92.36 13.01 12.18 Mountain and outdoor tourism 22 Catawba 351.03 0.8% 2,531 88.10 14.08 12.31 Regional visitor economy 23 Macon 347.44 -0.8% 1,731 82.52 11.31 17.93 Mountain and leisure stays 24 Swain 341.81 -3.5% 2,027 94.03 13.49 9.00 Outdoor and national park tourism 25 Nash 340.69 -2.2% 2,522 89.70 12.97 11.14 Regional tourism market 26 Pitt 320.11 2.3% 2,108 74.91 11.92 9.66 Urban and university travel 27 Davidson 316.16 3.3% 1,667 73.24 12.24 9.91 Regional visitor spending 28 Johnston 314.59 5.2% 2,071 80.31 12.83 9.76 Growing visitor economy 29 Alamance 282.90 4.2% 1,871 63.83 11.27 7.17 Interstate and regional travel 30 Orange 280.04 4.9% 2,039 76.26 10.60 8.65 University and visitor travel 31 Rutherford 278.81 -3.9% 1,632 67.15 11.22 9.48 Outdoor and regional tourism 32 Avery 251.46 -3.1% 1,494 66.42 8.25 9.17 High-value mountain stays 33 Rowan 234.92 7.7% 1,525 54.90 9.02 8.25 Strong growth 34 Union 220.68 11.1% 1,375 49.21 8.42 5.53 Rapid growth 35 Wayne 207.30 2.3% 1,273 46.53 8.68 5.12 Regional visitor economy 36 Randolph 199.86 5.4% 1,164 44.83 8.60 5.21 Growing tourism activity 37 Transylvania 187.02 -4.2% 1,156 48.16 5.58 7.41 Outdoor and overnight tourism 38 Robeson 167.84 -0.2% 1,087 39.60 6.83 4.91 Regional visitor economy 39 Wilson 156.04 8.5% 997 35.20 6.25 4.22 Strong annual growth 40 Surry 160.93 6.2% 920 39.77 6.44 4.66 Wine and regional tourism 41 Rockingham 93.31 -0.6% 694 24.12 3.74 3.12 Regional visitor market 42 Stanly 115.79 6.9% 683 24.64 4.58 3.69 Growing regional tourism 43 Wilkes 116.84 2.1% 702 28.04 4.48 3.57 Outdoor and heritage tourism 44 Lincoln 105.07 9.8% 637 26.11 4.18 3.28 Rapid visitor-spending growth 45 McDowell 108.80 -2.9% 644 27.18 3.81 3.97 Mountain tourism 46 Lee 114.61 9.5% 739 28.57 4.61 3.18 Strong growth 47 Lenoir 114.13 -0.3% 723 26.63 4.48 3.08 Regional travel economy 48 Halifax 131.77 -2.1% 753 32.00 5.51 4.29 Northeast regional tourism 49 Harnett 128.91 3.8% 793 28.06 4.96 3.61 Regional visitor growth 50 Pitt 320.11 2.3% 2,108 74.91 11.92 9.66 Major eastern NC market
Mecklenburg County was North Carolina’s undisputed leader in the latest complete county-level tourism data, generating $6.37 billion in visitor spending during 2024, while directly supporting 37,969 tourism jobs and producing $2.09 billion in tourism-related labour income. Charlotte’s role as a major business, convention, sporting and leisure destination gives the county a broad travel base, with visitor expenditure spread across lodging, food and beverage, recreation, retail and transport.
The county accounted for 17.3% of North Carolina’s total visitor spending in 2024 and recorded 8.9% annual growth, demonstrating the scale of its contribution to the wider tourism economy. Its $1.53 billion in lodging spending also underlines the importance of overnight travel, although Visit North Carolina’s county report measures accommodation expenditure rather than publishing a county-by-county count of overnight stays or room nights.
Wake County ranked second statewide with approximately $3.54 billion in visitor spending in 2024, supported by 27,055 direct tourism jobs and nearly $948.47 million in labour income from the visitor economy. Raleigh’s position as a centre for business travel, meetings, higher education, events and leisure gives Wake County a diverse tourism structure that attracts travellers throughout the year.
The county recorded strong annual visitor-spending growth of about 7.6%, confirming that urban destinations continued to play a central role in North Carolina travel. Lodging, dining, recreation, retail and transportation all benefit from visitor activity, showing how tourism spending can support an extensive network of businesses beyond the accommodation sector itself.
Buncombe County, home to Asheville, ranked third with approximately $2.65 billion in visitor spending during 2024, despite a 10.8% decline compared with 2023. The county still directly supported 18,362 tourism jobs and generated about $608.67 million in labour income, highlighting the substantial scale of its mountain-based visitor economy.
The results demonstrate that a single annual decline does not remove Buncombe’s strategic importance to North Carolina tourism, particularly because its appeal spans outdoor travel, culture, food, accommodation and scenic experiences. Mountain destinations frequently depend on overnight visitors who stay to explore wider regions, making lodging expenditure and extended visitor activity especially important to local businesses.
The 2025 results confirm that North Carolina’s tourism strength comes from its diversity, as large metropolitan counties dominate total spending while coastal and mountain counties achieve substantial economic returns from destination-led leisure and overnight travel. Mecklenburg and Wake provide the scale of major urban travel markets, Dare and Brunswick demonstrate the value of coastal holidays, Buncombe and surrounding western counties show the importance of mountain tourism, and smaller counties add further depth through heritage, recreation, local events and regional travel.
With visitors spending more than $101 million per day across the state during 2025, the latest figures also show why maintaining a competitive tourism offer matters to counties of every size, particularly as visitor spending supports businesses and creates tax revenues that reduce the fiscal burden on residents. The county-wise data presents a clear message for the travel industry: North Carolina’s visitor economy is strongest when its cities, coast, mountains and smaller communities all remain capable of attracting travellers and converting visits into sustainable local economic activity.
“North Carolina’s 2025 county-wise tourism results offer an encouraging picture of a visitor economy that is both large and remarkably diverse, with every major travel segment contributing to the state’s continued economic strength. From Mecklenburg’s enormous urban visitor market and Wake’s powerful business and leisure sector to Dare’s coastal appeal, Buncombe’s mountain experiences and Halifax County’s resilient local growth, these figures demonstrate how tourism can create meaningful jobs, income and tax benefits, while giving communities across North Carolina fresh opportunities to strengthen their destinations and welcome more travellers in the years ahead.”- Vedika Keshan, Associate Editor, TTW
Food and beverage was the largest category of visitor expenditure in Halifax County, accounting for $45.09 million in spending during 2025. Lodging followed with $30.42 million, highlighting the importance of overnight visitors to the local tourism economy.
Visitors also spent $29.38 million on transportation, $17.19 million on recreation and $10.74 million on retail. This broad distribution illustrates how tourism supports multiple sectors rather than benefiting only traditional travel businesses.
Hotels, restaurants, events, attractions, shops, historical sites and outdoor recreation providers all form part of the county’s visitor economy. Every additional visitor transaction can also create secondary benefits for employees, suppliers and local governments.
Visitor activity generated $5.54 million in state tax revenue and $4.40 million in local tax revenue, producing a combined total of approximately $9.94 million in 2025. Halifax County ranked fifth in the Northeast Prosperity Zone for combined tourism-generated state and local tax revenue.
The impact also translated into savings for residents. According to the study, each Halifax County resident saved an average of $215.38 in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending.
Halifax ranked 35th among North Carolina’s 100 counties for tourism-generated tax savings per resident, outperforming its population position and underlining the comparatively strong economic value produced by its visitor sector.
Halifax County ranked 46th statewide for visitor spending, eight places higher than its population ranking. It also ranked 45th in North Carolina for both tourism-generated personal income and state tax revenue.
Within the Northeast Prosperity Zone, only Dare, Currituck, Pitt and Beaufort counties recorded higher visitor spending totals. Halifax County’s ability to maintain growth is particularly notable because 41 of North Carolina’s 100 counties experienced declines in visitor spending during 2025.
The results suggest that the county’s combination of accommodation, dining, events, history, outdoor recreation and local attractions continues to create a diversified visitor offer capable of generating sustained economic activity.
North Carolina’s tourism economy reached a new record in 2025, with domestic and international visitors spending $37.2 billion statewide, up 1.3% from 2024. Direct tourism employment rose to 230,997 jobs, while visitor activity generated more than $2.7 billion in state and local tax revenue.
Against this wider backdrop, Halifax County’s $132.83 million visitor economy shows the continuing importance of tourism in smaller and regional destinations. With spending, employment, personal income and tax revenue all contributing to the county’s economic base, the sector remains an important engine for businesses and communities across Halifax County.
The 2025 figures ultimately show that even modest visitor-spending growth can deliver substantial local benefits when tourism activity is spread across accommodation, hospitality, transport, recreation and retail, helping Halifax County remain one of the Northeast Prosperity Zone’s leading visitor economies.
The main cause behind Halifax and more North Carolina counties attracting US tourists is the state’s remarkable variety of destinations and experiences. The answer lies in choice: travellers can enjoy the coast, explore mountains, discover Halifax, visit historic communities and access powerful new travel experiences within one state. Moreover, tourism businesses continue to benefit from spending on accommodation, food, transport, recreation and shopping. The reason this model works is simple: modern US tourists increasingly seek flexible, experience-led journeys rather than identical holidays. Consequently, North Carolina counties can appeal to different traveller interests while supporting tourism growth, employment, local income and wider economic development.
Halifax and more North Carolina counties are proving that coast, mountains and powerful new travel experiences can attract US tourists while strengthening local tourism economies. Each county brings different attractions, from beaches and outdoor adventures to heritage, food, events and community experiences. Furthermore, this diversity gives travellers more reasons to extend journeys and explore beyond major cities. Halifax remains part of this broader county-wise tourism story, showing how visitor spending can support jobs and businesses. Ultimately, North Carolina’s strongest advantage is choice. With coast, mountains and other experiences working together, the state continues to offer US tourists compelling reasons to travel, return and discover more.
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