Raleigh, N.C. (May 19, 2022) – Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (Visit Raleigh) has released the Wake County Tourism Industry Report for the first quarter (Q1) of 2022. All key performance indicators and tax collections for the hospitality industry in Wake County are up year-to-date (YTD) over 2021 to-date. Most notably, Wake County occupancy has outpaced the state and national averages for Q1 2022, and hotel occupancy tax collections are up more than 81% YTD over 2021 to-date. Another positive sign is that the revenue per available room (RevPAR) also increased by nearly 80% YTD over the prior YTD.

Highlights:
Upward Trend on Tax Collections

  • Hotel lodging tax collections totaled $6.6 million through March 2022, up 81.4% over Q1 2021.
  • Prepared food and beverage (PFB) tax collections totaled more than $9 million through March 2022, up 27.4% over Q1 2021.

Group Business Overview

  • Visit Raleigh and the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) hosted 63 events in Q1 2022, welcoming nearly 74,000 attendees to the area.
  • Through the end of March, hotel occupancy rose to 59.1% YTD, up 33.6% over 2021 to-date.

Future Business/Tourism Outlook

  • GRCVB and GRSA were able to book 87 events for future dates, bringing an estimated 34,514 room-nights of future business to Wake County and generating a projected $19.7 million in direct economic impact.

“The first quarter of 2022 demonstrates a strong demand in Wake County’s travel economy this year,” said Dennis Edwards, president and CEO of Visit Raleigh. “Hotels are capitalizing on the return of both leisure and business travel to yield higher rates and revenues for their rooms, approaching closer to pre-pandemic levels, which is necessary for our area’s economic recovery.”

Below is a full breakdown of the tourism and hospitality industry performance throughout Wake County in Q1 2022.

Wake County hospitality industry KPIs – according to STR:
(Jan. 1–March 31, 2022)KPI

All key performance indicators for the hospitality industry continue their strong comeback through Q1 2022. According to STR in Q1 2022, occupancy rose by more than 33% YTD, average daily rate (ADR) rose over 34% YTD and RevPAR increased more than 79% YTD over prior YTD.

Hospitality Industry Tax Collections in Q1 2022:
As a result of increased visitation in Q1 2022, YTD through March 31, both hotel occupancy and prepared food and beverage tax collections increased. Hotel lodging tax collections totaled more than $6.6 million, up 81% YTD. Prepared food and beverage (PFB) tax collections totaled more than $9 million, up more than 27% YTD over 2021.

CollectionsEvents Hosted in Q1 2022:
During Q1 2022, Visit Raleigh and GRSA together hosted 63 conventions, sporting events and groups and welcomed nearly 74,000 attendees to Raleigh, N.C. The quarter was highlighted by key conventions, sporting events and groups impacting overnight visitation including:

New Business Booked in Q1 2022:
The first quarter was extremely productive in booking future conventions, sporting events and groups in Wake County as Visit Raleigh and GRSA booked 87 groups totaling more than 34,000 room-nights of future business. Visit Raleigh and GRSA’s collective future bookings from this quarter will create a direct economic impact of $19.7 million.

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