2017 Visitor Impact Increased for Guilford County. North Carolina

Visit North Carolina announced that domestic visitors to and within Guilford County spent $1.41 billion in 2017, an increase of 4.38% from 2016.

Guilford County continues to rank third in the state in travel and tourism expenditures, with $1.41 billion generated in 2017." said Henri Fourrier, President of the Greensboro Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. "Travel-related jobs employ a broad and diverse group including; airlines, hotels, restaurants and attractions. Here in Guilford County we employee over 13,950 people."

Tourism impact highlights for 2017:

• The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 13,900 in Guilford County.

• Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Guilford County was $374 million.

• State tax revenue generated in Guilford County totaled $73.08 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About $32.30 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses.

Gov. Roy Cooper announced in May that visitors to North Carolina set a record for spending in 2017. The $23.99 billion in total spending represented an increase of 4.2 percent from 2016.

These statistics are from the "Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2017," which can be accessed at partners.visitnc.com/economic-impact-studies. The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by the U.S. Travel Association

"All eight economic development regions of the state had spending growth of 3 percent or more, and 90 percent of the state's counties saw direct tourism employment growth from 2016 to 2017," said Wit Tuttell, executive director of Visit North Carolina. "Tourism continues to be major driver of economic development across North Carolina, which is the sixth most-visited state in the country."

Statewide highlights include:

• State tax receipts as a result of visitor spending rose 3.4% to more than $1.2 billion in 2017.

• Visitors spend more than $65 million per day in North Carolina.  That spending adds $5.38 million per day to state and local tax revenues (about $3.36 million in state taxes and $2.02 million in local taxes).

• The travel and tourism industry directly employees more than 225,000 North Carolinians.

Each North Carolina household saves on average $515 in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending in the state.