Guilford, Forsyth counties make top 10 in NC with most visitor spending, growth from 2021-22

Featured photo: Community Drum Circle, NC Folk Festival 2022 (photo by Carolyn de Berry)

According to reports released by Visit NC, both Guilford and Forsyth counties made the top 10 of municipalities that had the most visitor growth and spending from 2021 to 2022.

Both counties also made the top 10 for most visitor spending.

In terms of growth rate from 2021-22, Guilford County ranked seventh overall out of the 100 counties in the state with a 19.7 percent growth rate. The total spending by visitors in 2022 was $1.5 billion, which ranked Guilford County as No. 5 overall for total spending.

For Forsyth County, the growth rate from 2021-22 was 18.9 percent, which put the county at eighth place overall. The total spending by visitors during that time was $987 million, which ranked Forsyth County as No. 9 for total spending by visitors.

The top county for most growth from 2021-22 for visitor spending was Davidson County which was a 34.9 percent increase. Second place went to Durham County which was a 30.9 percent increase. Mecklenburg was third place with 30.5 percent growth.

For overall visitor spending, Mecklenburg ranked first with $5.3 billion in visitor spending, the most of any county by more than $2 billion. Second place was Wake County which totaled $2.9 billion in visitor spending. Third place was Buncombe County with $2.8 billion.