Solid visitation at OBX attractions in first quarter of 2024
While occupancy and meals collections were lower than the last several years in Dare County to start 2024, a look at the number of visitors at key attractions seems to contradict a predicted slowdown in tourism on the Outer Banks.
According to statistics reported by the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau for January through March 2024, 9 of 12 key sites saw higher visitation numbers than the previous year.
The visitors bureau reported earlier this month that occupancy and meals receipts for February were down for a second straight month from 2023, and retail sales had also declined in January.
Outer Banks Visitors Bureau Executive Director Lee Nettles said when the January numbers were released, there were indications that this year could see declines in visitation after another record-breaking year in all three categories in 2023.
But in a video posted last week, Nettles added a small disclaimer to the initial occupancy and meals numbers for 2024.
“(Occupancy) saw a drop in February of 11%, keeping in mind it’s just January and February we are off 38% compared to the year prior,” Nettles said. “On the meals side, we saw growth of 5% on meals collections for February. Calendar year to date though is still off 12%.”
Despite those declines in income for Dare County’s hospitality industry, the most popular spots for visitors coming to the Outer Banks were still showing strong numbers.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore reported 311,384 visitors in the first quarter, up from 297,267 last year and trailing just 2021 (334,538) for the all-time record.
The visitor center at the Cape Hatteras Light Station in Buxton saw 46,210 people, an increase from 38,958 in 2023, and trailing only 2021 (48,273).
Some of that increase could be attributed to the visitors coming to see progress on the massive renovation project of the station, including erection of a scaffolding that now surrounds the nation’s tallest brick lighthouse.
The National Park Service’s visitor center at Whalebone Junction had its highest number of visitors, 1,178, up from 1,000 last year.
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site on Roanoke Island had a record 28,484 visitors from January through March, up slightly from last year (28,168).
Elizabethan Gardens saw 3,815 visitors in February and March 2024, up from 3,254 during the same period from a year ago. The gardens are closed in January.
Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills reported the second-most visitors from Jan.-Mar. all-time, with 44,515, trailing only 2021 (46,251).
The site of man’s first powered flight had a record 16 motor coaches visit in the first quarter, topping the 10 that stopped in 2022.
The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island had 35,674 visitors, the most ever for the first three months of the year, snapping the record set last year (32,472).
Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head reported 13,307 visitors, beating out 2023 (13,044), for a new first-quarter record.
Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head nearly doubled its number of visitors with 138,428.
A traffic counter at the park’s main entrance on Carolista Drive was replaced last fall which, in-part, would explain the massive jump from 2023 when just 72,898 visitors were recorded from January to March.
The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau operates three visitor centers, with two reporting slightly lower numbers in the first quarter of 2024.
The Aycock Brown Welcome Center in Kitty Hawk had 3,162 in Jan.-Mar. 2024, a drop from 3,423 last year, but the fourth-highest of all time.
The Sarah Owens Welcome Center at the foot of the Virginia Dare Bridge on Roanoke Island had 2,200 visitors, down from a record 2,265 in 2023.
At the welcome center inside Cape Hatteras Weather Station in Hatteras village, which is closed in January and February, there were a record 230 visitors in March.
On the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferry from January through March, 16,414 vehicles and 29, 567 passengers were transported. That’s the lowest numbers in both categories this decade.
But those numbers were skewed by numerous service interruptions due to strong winds over Hatteras Inlet and overwash that closed N.C. 12 on the north end of Ocracoke for extended periods during the winter.
The visitors bureau noted in their report that the N.C. Ferry Division offered fewer scheduled departures in February than in previous years.
