Pandemic rebound: Festivals, conventions, development bring tourists back to Raleigh

Industry experts who track tourism across the country say Raleigh is staging an incredible comeback.

In the last four months, Raleigh has seen 80,000 fans at rapper J-Cole's "Dreamville" music festival in Dix Park. PNC Arena hosted its first e-sports tournament. Galaxycon brought thousands of people to the convention center.

Metrics show Raleigh is rebounding from the pandemic

The check-in line is getting longer at the Sheraton Raleigh.

"This weekend, we’re actually sold out," says Kevin Johnson, director of sales for the 353-room hotel in downtown.

He says 2021 was good, 2022 is ahead of where they thought they'd be and the future looks bright.

The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau brought together tourism industry leaders to recognize their rising recovery from the pandemic.

"The last 4 months we’ve been over 70% occupancy countywide, which is nearly where we were pre-COVID," says Dennis Edwards, with the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, and president and CEO of Visit Raleigh.

That rebound adds up to more taxes paid by tourists. Wake County collected $29 million from hotels in the year closing out at the end of June. That's an 85% increase from the previous year.

Food and beverage taxes totaled $38 million – up 30% in a year. That's a new record high.

"We really haven’t slowed down since Dreamville. We’ve started seeing people come back to conventions, meetings. Leisure travel is up," says Edwards, who is optimistic about the outlook for tourism.

Potential for upgrades at Raleigh Convention Center and PNC Arena

Raleigh is looking for a developer to build a 500-room convention center hotel, and a study is underway now to expand the convention center itself.

Plus, PNC Arena is looking to make some major upgrades, and Cary is designing a new indoor sports complex.

"That raises our visibility with event organizers, meeting planners, and they’ll start booking," says Edwards.

However, the industry is facing challenges holding back a full recovery. Business travel, for example, is still down. Johnson says staffing shortages are hindering the hospitality industry's bounce back.

"We really need to get a lot more employees back in the buildings downtown, because that brings in more business travel to Raleigh," says Johnson. "What we’re struggling with right now is those hourly associates we need in housekeeping, the kitchen, the restaurant."

According to a report from Visit Raleigh, one out of every 23 Wake County jobs are supported by tourism. Wake County welcomed nearly 16 million visitors who spent $2.3 billion in 2021.

People working in hospitality and tourism were hit hardest during the pandemic, but tourism created work for 21,357 people in Wake County in 2021, a 22.5% increase over 2020, according to the report.

“With continued buoyancy, lifting of more restrictions and the return of festivals, events, conventions and meetings to normal capacity, all indicators demonstrate we are on a continued growth trajectory in 2022 and the hospitality and tourism economy looks bright for Wake County," says Edwards.