Tourist Visitations to Dare County Decline with Drop in Occupancy and Meals Collections

Dare Occupancy Down Nearly 25%, Meals Off Over 12% in April

A significant decrease in tourist visitation to Dare County, North Carolina, was observed in April as key economic indicators related to the tourism sector have shown a downward trend. According to data presented to the Dare County Tourism Board, there was a respective decline of 24.55% and 12.25% compared to last year in occupancy collections and meals collections in April.

Decline in Occupancy and Meals Collections

Through this year’s first four months, a decrease of 24.05% from 2023 has been recorded in gross collections by hotels, motels, and vacation rentals. Additionally, each prepared food sale index is down by 8.5% this year. There is also a 2.23% decrease in retail sales posted in March when matched against last year’s figures, with 2024’s first quarter showing a decline of 2.7% in total.

Reflection of a Post-Pandemic Boom

Lee Nettles, the Executive Director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, mentioned in a video released on Friday that the observed decrease in April was expected, considering Easter fell in March this year. Even though occupancy and meals income are up due to holiday visitors and Spring break, these figures align with industry predictions of a slump, following a surge in tourism from late 2020 through 2021 post the COVID-19 pandemic.

Performance of Different Sectors in Hospitality

A cross-sectional analysis of the performance of different types of rentals in Dare County shows varied results. While the Other Rental Properties category saw a small increase by 4.59%, all others posted an alarming decrease. Specific figures include a drop in Cottages by 6.52%, Property Management Agencies by 23.14%, Motels/Hotels by 23.98%, Timeshares by 29.02%, Online Travel Companies by 27.71%, Campgrounds by 34.89%, and Bed and Breakfast by 70.14%. Overall, the total occupancy income for the first four months of 2024 was $88,196,825, which was the first time this figure hasn’t exceeded $100 million since 2020.

Hatteras Island Faces the Biggest Blow

Hatteras Island faced the highest occupancy decline in April with a steep fall of 34.94%. Other places like Northern Beaches and Roanoke Island/Mainland were next in line with a decrease of 20.07% and 16.82% respectively. While Roanoke Island and Northern Beaches are observing relatively low declines across 2024, Hatteras Island has seen a whopping decline of 63.78%.

Decrease in Food and Beverage Sales

Towards prepared meal and beverage sales, which are taxed at 1% in Dare County, revenues totalled $26,222,012. Though this figure is the third highest for any April and gross meals have surpassed the $20 million marks every April since 2019, there was a significant drop, particularly in Hatteras Island (-19.6%), Northern Beaches (-12.1%), and Roanoke Island (-0.63%).

Next Steps for the Dare County Tourism Board

In light of these dwindling figures, the Board emphasized the Outer Banks Promise at their June 20 meeting, which is a tourism pledge to encourage responsible behaviour among tourists and locals alike. They plan to unveil more details about the promise in the coming week. Their subsequent meeting is slated for August 15 at the Sarah Owens Welcome Center on Roanoke Island.