NO PLACE LIKE HOME: North Carolina offers unique and upscale experiences to travelers, making the state's tourism industry a particularly lucrative sector.

AuthorPressler, Alyssa

With mountains and beaches, breweries and outdoor excursions, big cities and quaint towns, it's not surprising North Carolina's travel and tourism industry is booming and is expected to continue to grow.

According to the N.C. Department of Commerce, the state hosted more than 51 million visitors in 2018; tourists spent $25.3 billion and generated about $3.9 billion in federal, state and local taxes that year.

Organizations such as Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, work specifically to drive up these numbers by promoting some of the events that make the state unique. The below list highlights a few of the businesses and events across the state that are drawing locals and out-of-town visitors alike.

FOOD FANATICS

Many know Asheville for its craft-beer scene, but the local food industry is another reason Buncombe County attracted 11 million visitors in 2017, according to the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau. In 2019, the city launched Chow Chow, a festival celebrating chefs, brewers, farmers, artists and craftspeople.

Chow Chow 2020 will take place Sept. 10-13. Attendees will have access to tastings, chef demonstrations and other hands-on experiences. Situated in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains, last year's festival included outdoor yoga with beer, a Biltmore wine tasting and glassworks shows.

GIRL POWER

With greats like Penelope Barker, an American Revolution activist who organized the boycott of British goods during the Edenton Tea Party; Tiny Broadwick, the first woman to jump out of an airplane; and Christina Koch, the N.C. State University grad who set the record for longest single spaceflight by a woman, North Carolina has nurtured a long line of women achievers and role models. In honor of the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment ratification that granted women the right to vote, travelers are invited to connect with famous female figures through the She Changed The World Traveling Exhibit passing through the state this year. A full tour schedule can be found on the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources website at ncdcr.gov.

VINO VISITS

Interest in wineries across the state continues to grow and appeal to an upscale travel audience, according to Wit Tuttell, executive director of Visit N.C. About 1.9 million wine-related tourists visited...

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