Visitation to most Outer Banks sites in 2024 reflects anticipated declines

From SamWalkerOBXNews.com

The final visitation numbers are in for 2024 at Outer Banks parks, attractions, and sites, and they verify forecasts of a slight decline from records set in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Outer Banks Visitors Bureau report that tracks locations in Dare County shows 13 experienced a drop in the number of visitors or users from 2023.

The decrease in the number of visitors was also reflected the 2024 occupancy tax collections report, which tracks the amount spent on accommodations in Dare County, were down from 2023 but still came in as the third highest year all-time.

• Cape Hatteras National Seashore had 2,762,954 visitors last year, the fourth-busiest ever, a decline of 2.3% from 2023.
• While the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse has been closed to climbing since 2019 and is undergoing a massive renovation with plans to resume climbing in 2026, there were still 329,861 people who stopped at the light station’s visitor center, a 12.5% decline from 2023.
• Bodie Island Lighthouse had its busiest year ever for climbers in 2024, with 30,779 scaling its 214 steps between April and October, up 36.3% from the year before.
• 186,228 vehicles were transported by the North Carolina Ferry Division across Hatteras Inlet last year, down from 202,836 (-8.2%) in 2023. The number of passengers taking the 90-minute trip on the vehicle ferries was 426,483, dropping from 462,206 (-7.8%) a year ago.
  • Several factors likely led to the drop, with the winter departure schedule beginning around the middle of October.
  • And earlier in the year there were lengthy closures of the route because of overwash that shut down N.C. 12 on the north end of Ocracoke Island, along with a reduced operating schedule.

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  The Ocracoke Express passenger-only ferry, which ran from May 23 through September 9 in 2024, carried 12,363 people between Hatteras village and Silver Lake Harbor.

• That was a decline of 25.3% from 2023, when 16,540 made the journey.
• The Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village reopened in May after an extended renovation, and welcomed 79,661 visitors.
• The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island had 319,470 people visit in 2024, down from 329,354 (-3.1%) the previous year.
• Roanoke Island Festival Park saw 103,495 visitors in 2024, after 109,479 (-5.5%) visitors in 2023.
• Fort Raleigh National Historic Site was visited by 274,783 people last year, up 4.3% from 2023.
• The Lost Colony, which celebrated its 5,000th performance this past season, had 25,319 spectators in 2024, the lowest figure this decade.
• The Elizabethan Gardens reported 50,490 visitors last year, down from 52,400 (-3.7%) in 2023.
• Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head had 163,260 people come to the state-owned facility, the fourth straight year of declines (-2.2% from 2023).
• After having issues with equipment that collects visitor statistics over the previous two years, Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head reported 1,287,360 visitors.
• Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills recorded 406,603 visitors in 2024, down 4% from the prior year, while ranking as the fourth-busiest on record.
• A record 111 motor coaches brought visitors to Wright Brothers in 2024, after 61 groups came in 2023.
• At the welcome center inside the historic Hatteras Weather Office, a record 3,561 people stopped by during its operating season of March through November.
• The Aycock Brown Welcome Center in Kitty Hawk had 30,585 visits, up 2.6% from 2023. The Sarah Owens Welcome Center on Roanoke Island reported 20,193, the most since 2021 and 15.3% better than the year before.