Yadkin County showed an increase of 6.6 percent in tourism since 2011, according to the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development’s 2011 Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties report.
According to the report, Yadkin County had $31.31 million in expenditures, $5.2 million in payroll, had $1.17 million in state tax receipts and $0.77 million in local tax receipts.
There was concern that the report would not reflect the tourism brought into the county by the wine industry, but according to Research Manager Marlise Taylor, the model would include any income generated from wineries and vineyards through food and drink, retail or amusement/recreation, depending on what all the winery or vineyard offered.
The report states that visitors to and within North Carolina spent a record $18 billion in 2011, an increase of 8 percent from 2010. Visitor expenditures directly generated 187,900 jobs and more than $4 billion in payroll income in 2011.
According to the report, the state also directly generated more than $1.5 billion in tax revenue for state and local governments in 2011, up 2.1 percent from 2010.
All 100 counties saw increases in visitor spending from 2010 to 2011.
Chatham, Davidson, Forsyth and Mecklenberg counties received the highest increase. All four counties received an increase of more than 10 percent from 2010.
The study is funded, contracted and released by the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development. The study is conducted by the Research Department of the U.S. Travel Association. The report provides preliminary 2011 estimates of domestic traveler expenditures in North Carolina, as well as the employment, payroll income, state and local tax revenue directly generated by these expenditures.
The Travel Economic Impact Model used to measure these results is a disaggregated model comprised of 16 travel categories, including lodging, food, retail, public transportation, auto transportation and amusement/recreation.
Reach Lindsay Craven at 679-2341 or at lcraven@heartlandpublications.com.
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