Raleigh tourism reports $47M in economic impact lost

The county normally draws 16.8 million visitors annually who spend more than $2.7 billion locally.

Posted 4:09 p.m. Apr 21, 2020 — Updated 4:09 p.m. Apr 21, 2020

Kathy Hanrahan

, Out & About editor

RALEIGH, N.C. — More than 90 group business travel trips have been canceled in Wake County due to the coronavirus pandemic, causing more than $47 million in economic impact lost, officials said Tuesday.

The county normally draws 16.8 million visitors annually who spend more than $2.7 billion locally.

A report from the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance say that more than 90 conventions, meetings and group sporting events set to attract more than 125,000 attendees through the county have been canceled. Fourteen of those events have been rescheduled.

In addition, more than 85 large scale events and festivals have also been canceled in the county.

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Hotels have been struggling as well with 16 properties temporarily closed. Nearly 30 hotels are offering "workday" rates for people looking to work from a private, quiet place remotely during the day. Overall, occupancy rates for April are down to 24 percent - a steep drop from this time last year when hotels were reporting 69 percent occupancy.

“We’re starting to see the flattening out of hotel occupancy decline and it appears that somewhere around 24 percent total occupancy countywide may be the new norm,” Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Dennis Edwards said. “We’re also grateful for the meeting planners and event organizers who are working with us to reschedule their events for future dates as this keeps the business here in Wake County and will assist us greatly in recovery efforts once the appropriate time comes.”

Triangle events canceled due to coronavirus concern

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