In Record Year Statewide, Orange County Sees Largest Visitor Spending Growth in 2023

Chapelboro.com

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Orange County saw the highest increase in visitor spending out of all 100 North Carolina counties last year. The nearly $267 million spent by visitors here in 2023 marked a 13% increase over the year before.

North Carolina overall set a new state record for visitor spending last year with $35.6 billion, according to the Department of Commerce. The year saw 98 of the state’s 100 counties experience growth in visitor spending, with eight having increases of double-digit percentages.

Laurie Paolicelli, executive director of the Chapel Hill Visitors Bureau, was thrilled to see her county thriving in such a competitive state.

“It is really exciting,” she said in an interview with 97.9 The Hill. “A lot of people in the industry and in the media called and said, ‘You know, I understand the beaches are being flooded and the mountains are being hit, but what’s up with Orange County? What’s going on? Why are you leading the increase?’”

One of the main factors she mentioned is the area getting discovered and receiving nationwide attention as a permanent destination. The area has seen a recent influx of people moving in from other parts of the country, attracted by the strong education scene, hospitals, progressive atmosphere, lower taxes and nice weather.

“We have a lot to be grateful for,” Paolicelli said. “It’s not us doing a million dollars worth of ads. It’s all the people who’ve contributed to the beauty of this area that makes it so appealing and becoming more nationally known.”

Paolicelli noted how happy these transplants tend to be after landing in a place that compares favorably in many ways to their previous homes.

“When you look at the city or the town through the perch we do at the Visitor Center, gosh, people just think they’ve found Nirvana,” she said.

She also described how this has also led to huge increases in visitors, since many people in other regions now have relatives or friends living here. This is especially significant during the holiday season, since December has historically been among the slowest tourism months for Orange County.

July, which has also tended to be a weaker month for tourism here, has been helped recently as well by events such as international soccer matches being hosted at Kenan Memorial Stadium on UNC’s campus. Chelsea FC beat Wrexham AFC at Kenan in 2023, and this year Celtic FC beat Manchester City. All four of those are British clubs that are globally prominent.

Paolicelli said these games were perfect examples of the crucial goal of creating significant new attractions for the summer. Speaking about the 2023 game, she mentioned how the event benefitted particularly from Wrexham’s international spotlight, owing in large part to a popular documentary series about actor Ryan Reynolds’ ownership of the team.

“It had the Hollywood factor,” she said. “That July draw, I think, is what sealed the deal for us in the growth.”

Even before the high-profile soccer games, though, the local sports scene has always been known to be among the area’s greatest strengths. Paolicelli pointed out how the Carolina Basketball Museum, for example, gets about 4,000 visitors each month.

“It’s amazing to me, these fans,” she said. “As much as we get frustrated sometimes with traffic, they really are an amazing, dedicated part of our economy.”

The tourism industry employed almost 2,000 people in Orange County last year, which represents an increase of nearly 10% over 2022, according to an annual study commissioned by VisitNC, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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