Boating Plays Significant Role in Coastal Waterways Tourism The ECU tourism conference held last week provided good reason for optimism for coastal waterways tourism and its increasing economic impact in eastern North Carolina. More than 49 million tourists leave over $12.6 billion behind in North Carolina annually, with the coastal region credited with just under $3 billion of that in 2003. We don’t know the economic impact of the waterways component, but we have a lot of indicators. According to the NC Tourism Division, the coast averaged over 45 percent of all telephone requests where a geographic preference was given (through September ’04, 96,000 of 215,000 calls). Of the 10,000 email requests for the Coastal Boating Guide through NCwaterways.com, 4,464 visitors indicated that they planned to use a powerboat; 2,664 the ferry system; 1,334 involved in fishing tournaments; and 1,047 to use kayaks. These don’t include the information obtained in 60,000 similar map requests provided through
It is a good time for marine businesses to voice the importance of knowing the economic impact of the NC marine industry on tourism and other economic indicators. See the New York study summary below. Contact your local and regional partnerships and economic development groups and indicate the importance of this study for us.
Boating Plays Significant Role in Coastal Waterways Tourism
The ECU tourism conference held last week provided good reason for optimism for coastal waterways tourism and its increasing economic impact in eastern North Carolina. More than 49 million tourists leave over $12.6 billion behind in North Carolina annually, with the coastal region credited with just under $3 billion of that in 2003. We don’t know the economic impact of the waterways component, but we have a lot of indicators. According to the NC Tourism Division, the coast averaged over 45 percent of all telephone requests where a geographic preference was given (through September ’04, 96,000 of 215,000 calls). Of the 10,000 email requests for the Coastal Boating Guide through NCwaterways.com, 4,464 visitors indicated that they planned to use a powerboat; 2,664 the ferry system; 1,334 involved in fishing tournaments; and 1,047 to use kayaks. These don’t include the information obtained in 60,000 similar map requests provided through
www.ncCoastalGuide.com.It is a good time for marine businesses to voice the importance of knowing the economic impact of the NC marine industry on tourism and other economic indicators. See the New York study summary below. Contact your local and regional partnerships and economic development groups and indicate the importance of this study for us.