North Carolina tourism dollars jump, but labor force still lags

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — This Labor Day, tourism is up in North Carolina but the related labor force is down.

Fewer people are choosing to work in tourism since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“North Carolina has done such a fantastic job recruiting other industries that a lot of people that were in tourism that maybe got displaced during the pandemic have gone to another job,” said Wit Tuttell, the director of the tourism-promoting organization, VISIT North Carolina.

According to the State Department of Commerce, Tar Heel state tourism revenue topped $35 billion in 2023 — a record high — and 22 percent higher than in 2019.

But the latest data shows employment is still 6 percent below levels of 2019.

Across the board, filling lodging-related jobs, down 2.4 percent; food service workers, down 3 percent; and the biggest drop in the tourism workforce, recreation, down 7.6 percent and the number of retail laborers, down 14.2 percent.

“Tourism is the number one industry for people to come into as a first job. So our starting salaries tend to be lower. And so I think that is a challenge for the industry to overcome,” Tuttell said.

The North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) has been running a campaign to attract workers into the industry. A jobs tracker on the site shows more than 3,000 vacancies, including more than 2,000 entry-level labor openings.

But laborers, like James Holmes, who’s worked for five years at Deco Raleigh, a shop in downtown, is the employment exception.

“It’s good, “ Holmes said. “It’s fun working downtown to see all the conventions.”

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