The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau hosted the first-ever OBX Tourism Summit earlier this month in Avon.
About 100 people attended the two-day event, which ended with a presentation of the preliminary results of a study on the economic impact of Hatteras Island on Dare County?s tourism economy.
Although various folks over the years have culled out nuggets about Hatteras Island?s economic value to the county, this may well be the first-ever formal study of the topic.
The study was commissioned by Dare County?s Tourism Board and carried out by Brent Lane, director of the Center for Competitive Economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Lee Nettles, executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau explained that after Hurricane Irene, some county and community leaders pressed the tourism board to come to the aid of Hatteras Island whose tourism economy took a beating in the storm.
The Visitors Bureau allotted an additional $250,000 to advertise Hatteras Island. However Nettles said that it quickly became apparent that Hatteras Island had not just an ?Irene? issue or an ?Irene and Sandy issue.?
?We have issues that are all access related,? Nettles said of Hatteras. Those issues include Highway 12, inlet shoaling, and beach closures.
The final written study will be delivered to the Tourism Board, but Lane gave a presentation of some of the highlights at the Tourism Summit.
The study gives some heft to ideas that we?ve had about Hatteras Island?s contribution.
The island makes a significant contribution to the overall Dare tourism economy and to the OBX ?brand? value.
?Hatteras Island?s sites and sights anchor key market perceptions of the OBX,? Lane said.
First-time visitors to the island value historic and heritage assets, recreation, and natural attractions that are most closely associated with Hatteras Island, he said.
?In a lot of ways Hatteras Island is the OBX,? he added.
And he confirmed what we all know. Things that happen to Hatteras Island affect the entire OBX and Dare County economy.
Hatteras Island is home to only 12.7 percent of the Dare County population, and the island is only a fraction of the total land area of the county. However, the island contributes 23 percent of Dare?s total tourism economic impact.
Some details of the island?s tourism economy based on 2011 numbers:
- Total tourism expenditures are $204 million.
- Tourism supports 2,618 jobs on the island.
- Total tourism payroll is $41 million.
- Total state taxes collected amount to $10.3 million.
- Local taxes collected totals $9.4 million.
- Total value of real estate on the island was $2.1 billion, down $1.3 billion from $3.4 billion before revaluation.
- Hatteras Island has 8,572 parcels of land.
- Hatteras Island accounts for $106 million, or about 28 percent, of the $382 million in occupancy taxes collected in Dare County.
Next, Lane talked about the OBX ?brand.?
He calculates the value of the OBX brand at $100 million and estimates that Hatteras contributes $35 million of that ? slightly more than one third.
Lane also noted that access, especially to Hatteras, contributes to the vulnerability of the brand. For instance, he noted if you do an Internet search for Hatteras Island, you will be, unfortunately, viewing a lot of photos of storm damage, especially to Highway 12.
He also noted that Hatteras Island has a ?denser? tourist economy with 25 percent of the island?s businesses directly related to tourism compared to about 14 percent in the county.
Hatteras has more historic sights, heritage tourism, recreation businesses ? such as those related to kiteboarding, windsurfing, surfing, and fishing — and camping.
Hatteras is ?thinner? than the county as a whole on restaurants, bars, travel firms (such as outfitters) and the arts.
A final part of Lane?s study will look at whether Dare is a ?donor? county ? contributing more to the state than it gets back.
?This is difficult to verify,? he noted, and depending a lot on how you define donor county. At this point, he said, he has found ?no strong evidence that Dare is a donor county.?
I came away from Lane?s presentation thinking about that popular bumper sticker that says, ?What happens on island stays on island.?
It is funny and makes you want to chuckle.
But, when it comes to the Dare County economy, it is not true.
