Tourism in Lenoir County is on the increase
Photos by Linda Whittington / Neuse News
By Junious Smith III
Tourism is on an upswing in Lenoir County.
Visit North Carolina recently announced visitor spending has increased by 5.2 percent between 2017 and 2018 in the county, going up to $93.48 million. This marked the 10th consecutive year of increases and helped each resident of Lenoir County save $123.06 based on revenues collected from visitor spending.
Since spending was accounted for in 1990 by visitnc.com, 2018 was the highest total of expenditures, tax savings per resident, local tax receipts collection ($1.82 million) and state tax receipts ($5.20 million). Lenoir County’s first noted expenditures from visitnc.com came in at $40.23 million and was as low as $36.87 million a year later.
“Tourism is definitely a driving force for the many positive changes in Kinston and Lenoir County,” VisitKinston Director Jan Parson said. “Kinston has become a destination for foodies, art lovers, sports enthusiasts and history buffs. Overnight stays in Kinston/Lenoir County lodging generate tax revenues collected from visitors that fund marketing and capital tourism projects. Frequently, we face a shortage of lodging in Lenoir County .... growing pains experienced as Kinston and Lenoir County continue to grow as a tourist destination!”
Kinston-Lenoir County Tourism Development Authority Chairman Gram Spear said there are several factors attributing to the growth in Kinston and Lenoir County.
“The continued growth of Vivian Howard, Stephen Hill and the Down East Wood Ducks has been tremendous over the past few years,” Spear said. “They’ve provided an interest to Kinston and Lenoir County with their quality of product and it really drives the community. We’re a major supporter of Vivian’s show — we give a decent amount to sponsor the show and do a decent amount of advertising to draw people to the things we have in Lenoir County.”
Spear said the numbers could possibly be larger in the future with added lodging.
“Our biggest struggle is having enough hotel rooms,” Spear said. “Our largest hotel has been out of commission since the flood and we’re actively searching to find people in the area to invest. If we can get the Hampton Inn reopened and possibly have another hotel (on U.S. 70 West), we would be able to accommodate more tourists here in Kinston and Lenoir County.”
