As more and more shark attacks occur off the North Carolina coast, tourism leaders are doing what they can to keep people coming to the beach this summer.
There’s a lot of cash at stake. Last year, North Carolina raked in $21 billion from visitors. You can bet a lot of that is thanks to our beautiful beaches.
Right now, there’s a renewed push by state tourism leaders to keep that money flowing. “Nine percent of the employment wages in North Carolina are related to tourism so it’s a big part of the economy for the state,” said Wit Tuttell, Executive Director of Visit North Carolina, the office in charge of state tourism. “We want to make sure that keeps going and we keep people employed and keep people coming to the state and having a good time.”
If you’re still not convinced, consider this – that $21 billion spent here on tourism goes back into our state budget. We get to take advantage of all those tax dollars. “They’re spending more than our typical resident would spend in our everyday lives,” said Tuttell. “So they come into our area, spend money and we tax them, they pay those taxes and then they leave.”
And what visitors pay in taxes, we don’t have to pay in taxes. The state says each North Carolina household saves $455 in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending.
The state tourism website recently made changes to include more safety advice, including showing where lifeguards are located along the beach. We all know a lifeguard can’t stop a shark attack, but they can spot a shark in the water or at least give visitors a sense of security.
As for businesses that rely on the water, sounds like business is good! We spoke by phone with the manager of Carolina Watersports on Oak Island. He said he hasn’t seen a downturn in business. In fact, he sold out of water toy rentals just days before the 4th of July holiday.
Tourism leaders said most North Carolinians aren’t changing their beach plans, but many do say they plan to stay out of the water.
The state says 6.5 million people go to North Carolina beaches every year. It makes up about a third of our state’s tourism dollars.
Meantime, Governor Pat McCrory said state officials are actively working on figuring out why these attacks are happening. “We are still looking for a trend, not just in North Carolina, but along the whole Atlantic coast on why there seems to be an increase in this situation.”
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NC Coast Tourism After Multiple Shark Attacks
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