Dare County occupancy collections hold steady, meals up in June; retail sales dropped in May
It was another strong month in June for occupancy and meals collections in Dare County, but the amount of retail sales in May was off by almost double digits from the previous year.
According to reports presented to the Dare County Tourism Board at their August 17 meeting, gross collections on hotel rooms and vacation rentals set another new high mark for June at $137,311,567, an increase of 0.23 percent from the same month last year ($136,993,703).
Through the first six months of the year, total occupancy collections stood at $314,984,634, down 2.27 percent from the same time in 2022 ($322,309,305), but ahead of 2021 by 2.72 percent ($306,401,191).
Collections on prepared meals this June totaled $53,653,156, a new record for the month, up 9.08 percent from June 2022 ($49,188,354).
Total meals collections for the year-to-date was at $167,075,714, 6.32 percent ahead of the same point in 2022 ($157,136,876), and an increase of 10.7 percent over the first half of 2021 ($149,146,631).
Gross retail sales for May were at $8,187,759, off by 9.6 percent from 2022 ($9,057,618). Year-to-date retail sales in 2023 totaled $30,878,905, ahead of 2022 by 0.85 percent ($30,618,908).
Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Executive Director has more details from the Dare County Tourism Board’s August 2023 meeting:
