Hotel occupancy tax collections and rooms sold lead KPI growth over last year

Raleigh, N.C. (November 16, 2022) – Visit Raleigh has released the Wake County Tourism Industry Report for the third quarter of 2022. A strong recovery in the visitor economy has resulted in all key performance indicators and tax collections for the hospitality industry in Wake County continuing to increase throughout the third quarter of the year.

Highlights:
Upward Trend on Tax Collections

• Hotel lodging tax collections totaled more than $24 million through September 2022, up 54.3% over 2021.
• Prepared food and beverage tax collections totaled $29 million through September 2022, up 21% over 2021.

Group Business Overview

• Visit Raleigh and the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) hosted 76 events in the third quarter of 2022, welcoming more than 75,800 attendees to the area.
• Through the end of September, hotel occupancy rose to 66.3% year-to-date (YTD), up 19.5% over 2021.

Future Business/Tourism Outlook

• Visit Raleigh and GRSA were able to book 97 events for future dates, bringing an estimated 96,400 room-nights of future business to Wake County and generating a projected $68 million in economic impact.

“We had record months in July, August and September for both occupancy tax and prepared food and beverage tax collections,” said Dennis Edwards, President and CEO of Visit Raleigh. “The sizeable uptick in room nights sold (demand), and in turn hospitality tax collections YTD, illustrate the renewed desire to travel to Wake County for leisure activities like concerts and festivals along with meetings, conventions and sporting events.”

Below is a full breakdown of the tourism and hospitality industry performance throughout Wake County in the third quarter of 2022.

Wake County hospitality industry KPIs – according to the Smith Travel Research:
(January 1 – September 30, 2022)

All key performance indicators for the hospitality industry continue to trend upwards through Q3 2022. According to STR in the third quarter of 2022, Occupancy rose by more than 19% YTD, Average Daily Rate (ADR) rose over 25% YTD and Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) increased more than 50% YTD.

Hospitality Industry Tax Collections in 2022:
Tourism continues to make a comeback with continued increased tax collections during the third quarter of this year. YTD through September 30, hotel lodging tax collections totaled more than $24 million, up 54.3% YTD over 2021. Prepared food and beverage (PFB) tax collections totaled more than $29.8 million, up more than 21% YTD over 2021.

Events Hosted in Q3 2022:
With festivals, conventions and sporting events continuing a steady growth during the third quarter of 2022, Visit Raleigh and the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) together hosted 76 conventions, sporting events and groups and welcomed more than 75,800 attendees to Raleigh, N.C. The quarter was highlighted by key conventions, sporting events and groups impacting overnight visitation including:

• GalaxyCON: 40,000 attendees
• 2022 USA Baseball National Team Identification Series Champions Cup: 3,150 attendees
• 2022 Apex Legends Global Series Year 2 Championship: 7,000 attendees
• Best Friends Animal Society: 1,400 attendees

New Business Booked in Q3 2022:
The third quarter was especially productive in bookings for future conventions, sporting events and groups in Wake County as Visit Raleigh and GRSA combined booked 97 groups totaling more than 96,400 room-nights of future business. Visit Raleigh and GRSA’s collective future bookings from this quarter will create a direct economic impact of $68 million.

Future meetings, conventions and sporting events booked during the third quarter include:

• visitRaleigh.com Showcase Series: November 4-December 11, 2022; 70,000 combined attendees
• 2023 Deep South Classic: April 21-23, 2023; 13,500 attendees
• Alpha Kappa Alpha Mid Atlantic Regional Conference: March 22-26, 2023; 4,000 attendees 
• World Anti-Bullying Forum: October 25-27, 2023; 800 attendees

Interviews with a Visit Raleigh spokesperson can be arranged via phone, video conference or in person. To arrange an interview, please contact Director of Public Relations Jessica Holt at jholt@visitRaleigh.com.

About the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh):
As the official destination marketing organization for Wake County, the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh), is responsible for promoting Wake County as an attractive travel destination and enhancing its public image as a dynamic place to live and work. Through the impact of travel, the organization strengthens the economic position of and provides opportunity for people throughout Wake County. Raleigh, N.C./Wake County welcomes nearly 16 million visitors annually whose spending tops $2.3 billion. The visitor economy supports more than 21,000 local jobs in Wake County and generates $243 million in state and local tax revenues, saving each Wake County household $592 in taxes annually. visitRaleigh.com

About the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA):

A division of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh) – the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) markets and promotes Raleigh and all of Wake County in order to generate and/or retain sports-related businesses (tournaments, championships, special events and meetings) for the purpose of economic development. Raleigh, N.C./Wake County welcomes nearly 16 million visitors annually whose spending tops $2.3 billion. The visitor economy supports more than 21,000 local jobs in Wake County and generates $243 million in state and local tax revenues, saving each Wake County household $592 in taxes annually. raleighsports.org
 

Media Contact:
Jessica Holt
Director of Public Relations
919.645.2654
jholt@visitRaleigh.com

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