Wake County tourism report highlights growth amid slowing travel demand
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Visit Raleigh released the 2025 Wake County Tourism Industry Report on Thursday, showing a strong overall performance as officials look for ways to draw in future events.
The report highlighted strengths about the region as officials say travel demand is slowing down.
"Travel has been a challenge really nationwide, and that's a number of factors. Government shutdown, consumer confidence, geopolitical tensions," said Dennis Edwards, President and CEO of Visit Raleigh.
Among the key takeaways is a rise in visitation in 2025.
"Corporate travel over the last couple of years has been very, very strong," said Leon Cox, who is the general manager at the Westin Raleigh-Durham Airport.
He added that many visitors come to the area for business, contributing to the growth of Raleigh's visitor economy, which he described as diverse.
"We've got (corporations), we've got government, we've got dynamic university program ... healthcare," Cox said. "That's why you see the strength in this market. We just don't depend on one thing to grow the market."
Prepared Food and Beverage Tax collections increased by 5.4%, jumping from $42,432,158 in 2024 to $48,919,830 in 2025. Hotel occupancy taxes also were up slightly, from $41,031,129 in 2024 to $41,460,586 this past year.
However, the hotel occupancy rate dropped by 2.9% to 67.7%, though it still remained above the state (61.3%) and national (62.3%) averages.
Edwards noted the international market has seen a slowdown nationally, figures which are represented in the U.S. Travel Association annual report released this month. It notes that inbound overseas travel declined 2.5% on the year, and "remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels."
Despite this, Edwards said he believes the region's varied offerings have allowed it to blunt some of that impact.
"We don't rely on just leisure market or meetings and conventions or just business travel or just international travel. Because the diversity of the types of visitors that we receive here, we're pretty much able to beat the system," Edwards said.
The work continues to draw more large-scale, multi-day events, such as QuiltCon, which started at the Raleigh Convention Center on Thursday.
"QuiltCon is like the modern Quilting Olympics," said Elizabeth Dackson, Director of Events for the Modern Quilt Guild.
Raleigh first hosted the event in 2024, where it drew nearly 24,000 visitors.
"One of the things that is really attractive about Raleigh is the quantity of people that can drive here within 3 hours compared to out west," Dackson said.
Edwards said they are emphasizing reaching potential visitors within a four-hour trip.
"We feel like we have a very good message, and certainly that for our radius is where we're concentrating a lot of our marketing efforts," Edwards said.
Dackson said she believes the annual gathering will draw even more visitors this year, noting 80% of their guests are out-of-state.
"We've got hotel blocks at six different hotels, but we've sold through all of those since two that we really have people all over Raleigh, as far as North Hills staying all over the place, wherever they can find a room," said Dackson.
"I'm so thrilled to be away from the Washington, D.C. area. It's warm, there's no snow, so I'm enjoying it. It feels like spring here," said Joan Mayer, a QuiltCon attendee.
Edwards pointed to the construction of the new Omni Hotel as an important driver in attracting even larger groups, and allowing for the hosting of conventions simultaneously.
"Last year, we had 19 million visitors that came into our market and spent over $3.2 billion. They generated over $321 million in sales tax revenue, and all that is new money that comes into the market. The tourism tax dollars generated over $90 million, (and) that money is directly reinvested back into the county for tourism infrastructure projects," said Edwards.
He said he believes the county needs more lodging options, particularly outside the concentrated downtown Raleigh area.
"If you look at all the construction going on in Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs from a corporate standpoint, they have hardly any hotel product down there. There's a need for not just select hotels, but conference hotels, full-service hotels in those markets. You go out east to Wendell and Roseville, Knightdale, Zebulon (and) there's very few hotels out there," said Edwards, who noted a hotel development summit that municipalities will participate in next week.
Out in western North Carolina, the region continues to recover after Hurricane Helene. Shannon Odom, Executive Director of the McDowell County Tourism Development Authority, said early returns have been positive.
"We've seen an uptick in our visitation just in the last week. I was just looking at some of the short-term rental data, and it's also showing really a significant rebound already from a year ago," said Odom.
While they are still navigating the closure of a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway, Odom voiced confidence in a continued rebound.
"(Tourism) is a significant contributor to the economy here, especially in towns like Old Fort, which, through the years, has seen its manufacturing base disappear and now is relying heavily on that outdoor economy, because it has so many trails. We have Pisgah National Forest right in our backyard. So over the last two to three years, there's been this conscious effort to build trails in our area, and as a result, we've had probably five or six new businesses open since Helene," Odom said.
Looking ahead, officials say more than 350 events have been booked throughout 2026, which can generate a projected $190 million in economic impact.
This is a win-win for Anthony Smith, a Raleigh native who lives in the Brier Creek area. He noted the increasing number of restaurants and steakhouses and acknowledged some hotel traffic.
"I love that we're always expanding, and I like to see everyone come in and enjoy the city," he said.
Breakdown of year-end 2025 Wake County Tourism Industry Report by Visit Raleigh:
- Hotel lodging tax collections totaled over $41.4 million through the end of 2025, up 1% over 2024.
- Prepared food and beverage tax collections totaled $48.9 million in calendar year 2025, up 5.4% over 2024.
- Through the end of 2025, hotel occupancy declined slightly to 67.7% while still outpacing state and national averages.
- Visit Raleigh and the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) hosted 405 events, tournaments, conferences, and groups through 2025, welcoming over 306,000 attendees.
- Throughout 2025, Visit Raleigh and GRSA booked a substantial 364 events for future dates, bringing over 263,000 room-nights of future business to Wake County and generating a projected $190 million in direct economic impact.
SEE ALSO: Wake County tourism sees record-breaking 2024, outpacing state, national averages
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