S.N. BLYDEN and Lance Martin/HERALD STAFF WRITERS

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PLEASANT HILL - Towns, cities and counties along Interstate 95 celebrated National Tourism Week Monday at the N.C. Welcome Center in Pleasant Hill.

One of the counties that has had much to celebrate over the past year is Halifax County. In fact, tourism spending in the county was up 3 percent in 2004 from 2003, said Lori Medlin, executive director of Halifax County Tourism. That represents $57 million spent on tourism last year.

Medlin is anticipating more tourism dollars coming into the county when the Roanoke River Canal Trail Museum opens. Tourism business at the museum is expected to be more than a half million dollars in its first year, she said.

Officials continue to look into the impact a proposed family entertainment complex will have on the area.

Medlin attributes the increase to the marketing of exits on the highway and the passage of liquor by the drink, which has brought in national chain restaurants.

Tourism is becoming such an ever-increasing facet of county income that commissioners declared this week to be tourism week.

Medlin and other officials were on their way to Raleigh today to seek more tourism dollars. On Thursday, they will travel to Roland to the N.C. South Welcome Center.

It seemed natural to celebrate the week at the Welcome Center, which is the busiest in the state.

Halifax County tents set up at the center featured Starbucks and Arby's, which gave away coffee and sandwiches. Members of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe talked about arts and crafts, beadwork and pottery. Halifax's Independence Station, a co-op of crafters, was also featured.

Edith Jenkins, manager of the Welcome Center, said the celebration included representatives and businesses from Rocky Mount, Wilson, Dunn and Lumberton, and even the Charlotte area.

Visitors had the chance to talk to the Watermelon Queen from Murfreesboro and sample food from Bill's Barbecue in Wilson and Atkinson's of Smithfield.

Jenkins said these celebrations help give tourists an appreciation of North Carolina. "One couple is wanting to come back to plan their vacation. People were awaiting at 9 a.m. while others were still setting up the booths."

It is not only people from out of state that the Welcome Center is trying to attract, but locals as well. "We want the locals to come and plan their vacations and stuff within the atmosphere of North Carolina. With the gas prices going up, we are trying to promote business in North Carolina. We feel that we have everything to offer that anyone will need," Jenkins said.

Along the interstate is a public golf course that is 20 minutes from Roanoke Rapids and the N.C. Watermelon Festival in Murfreesboro.

The Welcome Center celebration included other entertainment and businesses, including people from Fort Bragg. "A lot of people stop there," said Olivia Katrone, a tourism sales associate.

Heather and Maureen Sullivan, traveling from Brampton, Ontario, said they love North Carolina and wanted to go about the booths.