Welcome Centers Celebrate North Carolina Culture for Travel and Tourism Week


N.C. Commerce’s nine Welcome Centers celebrated National Travel and Tourism Week earlier this month by joining with local tourism partners to personally thank North Carolina visitors for traveling to the state.

In addition to highlighting the role travel plays in the U.S. economy, Travel and Tourism Week offered an excellent opportunity for North Carolina’s attractions and accommodations to directly assist people seeking travel information at the state’s Welcome Centers. At all nine centers, tourism partners joined professional Welcome Center staff in providing first-hand information, brochures, giveaways, displays and demonstrations as visitors drove into North Carolina.

Strong participation from local convention and visitors bureaus, attractions, lodging partners, State Parks, Historic Sites, museums and the North Carolina Zoo ensured that visitors got a warm North Carolina welcome as they entered the state, whether on I-26, I-40, I-77, I-85, or I-95.

For example, Sid Luck, a fifth generation potter, threw pots at the I-95 South Welcome Center in Robeson County, as visitors lined up to sample Parker’s Barbecue from Wilson, to see Native American musicians play and to hear bagpipes echo across the lawn.

Participation by local artisans, including potters, weavers, dancers and musicians, provided visitors with a sampling of North Carolina culture at all nine locations.

Young and old alike from Madison County turned out at the I-26 West Welcome Center to celebrate the impact of tourism in the Appalachian region and to enjoy music and dancing with visitors. “Roger Howell and Friends” performed at this Welcome Center throughout the day.

North Carolina’s Welcome Centers promote thousands of tourism-related businesses – attractions, accommodations, events and more – to visitors arriving in the state actively seeking travel information. Located on Interstates just inside the state line, each Welcome Center has a statewide focus, with an emphasis on information for visitors traveling a particular interstate corridor. Professional, nationally-certified travel counselors distribute the state’s Official North Carolina Travel Guide, the Department of Transportation’s official state map, and other marketing publications exclusively about North Carolina; offer detailed travel information in clean, modern facilities; and book room reservations at no charge for visitors staying overnight in North Carolina. The Welcome Centers are open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. 361 days each year.

North Carolina tourism generated record visitor spending in 2015 with a total of $21.9 billion, a 2.7 percent increase over 2014 which outpaced the national average for growth last year of only 2.1 percent. Additionally, tourism industry-supported employment topped 211,000 jobs to set another record for the state. Visitors spent nearly $60 million per day in North Carolina last year and contributed about $4.9 million per day in state and local tax revenues as a result of that spending.