Special to IFN
RALEIGH — Gov. Josh Stein announced this week that North Carolina set a record for tourist spending in 2025, with travelers spending more than $37.2 billion on trips to and within the state, surpassing the previous record of $36.7 billion set in 2024.
“North Carolina remains a great place to visit from our beautiful shore to our breathtaking mountains,” Stein said. “Even in the face of challenges from Hurricane Helene recovery last year, we saw record visitor spending – proof that people want to be here and experience all our state has to offer. From one end of the state to the other, tourism is helping to support jobs, sustain small businesses, and keep our economy moving forward.”
Stein’s announcement coincided with National Travel and Tourism Week, when travel and tourism professionals across the country unite to underscore the value of travel to the economy, businesses, communities, and personal well-being.
The state’s tourism-supported workforce increased 0.3% to 230,997 jobs in 2025. Tourism payroll increased 3.5% to $9.8 billion. Also as a result of visitor spending, state and local governments saw tax revenues of more than $2.7 billion.
The figures are preliminary findings from research commissioned by Visit North Carolina, part of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), and conducted by Tourism Economics. In measuring the economic value of the travel sector, the research incorporates a broad range of data sources to ensure that the entire visitor economy is quantified in detail. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OmniTrak visitor profiles, the U.S. Census, STR, AirDNA, and KeyData lodging reports and the North Carolina Department of Revenue are among the sources included in this comprehensive model. More information about the study can be found online at visitnc.com/industry/research/economic-impact-studies, which also links to archived reports dating to 2005.
North Carolina ranks No. 7 in domestic visitation behind California, Florida, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. In addition to 2025’s spending by domestic travelers, North Carolina also saw spending of more than $1.1 billion from international markets (down 2.8% from 2024).
“Residents of all 100 North Carolina counties benefit from the money that visitors spend,” said NC Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. “From our smallest towns to our largest cities, tourism means jobs for nearly 50,000 small businesses and our first-in-talent workforce.”
Lilley notes that as a result of travelers’ contributions to state and local tax revenue, North Carolina households average $605 in yearly savings.