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Halifax County ranked first in travel-related expenditure growth in the 16-county Northeast North Carolina region, according to an announcement by Gov. Beverly Perdue. She based her praise on a report from the state’s Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development showing expenditures grew 5.6 percent from 2007 to 2008. According to tourism experts, every dollar invested in bringing visitors to the Roanoke Valley creates $125 for the local economy.
The number is startling especially when you consider the time period includes an era of skyrocketing gasoline prices and the beginnings of economic uncertainty.
“We have focused our efforts on the drive market during these difficult times,” said Lori Medlin, executive director of the Halifax County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We continue to exert steady effort to capitalize on Interstate 95 traffic, while also recruiting new events to the area. These new visitors, along with our strong drive market, have led to our success.”
The Halifax County Convention and Visitors Bureau also works to recruit new hotels and restaurants to the area, Medlin noted.
The recruitment and construction of two new hotels, the Hilton Garden Inn and the Hampton Inn, adding more than 200 new hotel rooms to Halifax County’s total inventory have also contributed to the region’s tourism success.
Tourism added $557,790 in occupancy tax income to the country treasury.
In analyzing the money spent on tourism versus the money brought into the local economy through tourism — approximately $70 million in 2008 — Medlin notes for every $1 invested approximately $125 in tourism spending is created.
In 2008, the Convention and Visitors Bureau added new facets to its efforts to bring tourism to the Roanoke Valley.
One new focus was the quest to attract business and organization meetings, family reunions and outside field trips.
The Northeast region is comprised of 16 counties including Beaufort, Bertie, Camden Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Martin, Northampton, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington. Some counties in the region were down by as much as 6.1 percent, making Halifax County’s 5.7 percent growth all the more impressive.
In total tourism expenditures (actual dollar amount spent), Halifax County ranked third in the Northeast region at $68.41 million, based on calculations provided to the state by the US Travel Association.
In addition to its high ranking in the Northeast region, Halifax County ranked ninth in North Carolina for percentage growth in 2008 travel-related expenditures.
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