With 774,404 visitors recorded in the first five months of the year, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) is on track to have another busy year in 2023.
Per statistics from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, CHNS recorded 248,371 visitors in May, 228,766 visitors in April, 147,925 visitors in March, 81,607 visitors in February, and 67,735 visitors in January.
In recent history, this is a slightly higher total than 2022, (which had 763,554 visitors for January through May), but less than record-breaking 2021.
2021, (which was during the height of the pandemic), had the highest visitation ever recorded, and was also the first time that CHNS visitation surpassed the 3 million mark.
In 2022, the CHNS received a total of 2,862,844 visitors, which made it the third busiest year at the National Seashore on record, behind only 2021 and 2002.
Visitor totals for the past five years, per the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau’s statistics, are listed below.
Seashore visitation estimates are collected by counting southbound vehicles just north of the Marc Basnight Bridge and using a multiplier to estimate the total number of passengers heading south. Those estimates are added to the number of passengers going to Ocracoke Island from Cedar Island and Swan Quarter.
If they are simply counting southbound vehicles, how are they accounting for residents who have traveled up the beach and are returning home? Are we considered “visitors” to the seashore? What about service personnel traveling to the island to provide service to homeowners? Are they considered “visitors” to the seashore?