Governor Josh Stein announced on May 7 that North Carolina reached a new high in tourism spending for 2025, with travelers spending more than $37.2 billion on trips to and within the state. This figure surpasses the previous record of $36.7 billion set in 2024.
The increase in visitor spending highlights the importance of tourism to North Carolina’s economy, supporting jobs, small businesses, and local communities across the state.
“North Carolina remains a great place to visit from our beautiful shore to our breathtaking mountains,” said Governor Josh Stein. “Even in the face of challenges from Hurricane Helene recovery last year, we saw record visitor spending – proof that people want to be here and experience all our state has to offer. From one end of the state to the other, tourism is helping to support jobs, sustain small businesses, and keep our economy moving forward.”
Governor Stein’s announcement coincides with National Travel and Tourism Week (May 3-9), during which travel professionals nationwide highlight travel’s value for economies and communities. The state’s Welcome Centers are hosting activities throughout this week.
Tourism supported an increase in employment by 0.3% with a workforce totaling nearly 231,000 jobs in 2025; payroll grew by 3.5% to reach $9.8 billion. State and local governments collected more than $2.7 billion in tax revenues due to visitor activity last year.
The figures come from preliminary research commissioned by Visit North Carolina—a part of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina—and conducted by Tourism Economics using data from sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
North Carolina ranks seventh nationally for domestic visitation behind California, Florida, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia; international visitors spent over $1.1 billion despite a slight decrease compared with last year.
“Residents of all 100 North Carolina counties benefit from the money that visitors spend,” said NC Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. “From our smallest towns to our largest cities, tourism means jobs for nearly 50,000 small businesses and our first-in-talent workforce.” Lilley also said that travelers’ contributions save each household an average of $605 annually through increased tax revenue.
Visit NC operates as part of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina alongside the Department of Commerce.
