The Tourist

What is the definition of a tourist (visitor)?

In simple terms, a tourist is a person traveling to another location, away from their usual social environment, for business, pleasure, or social reasons.

Where do our visitors come from?

Visitors to Currituck County come primarily from the Virginia, North Carolina, and the northeast, with Ohio from the mid-west. Following are the top 12 states that visited Corolla during the past year (in order of revenue generated).

What are the characteristics of our visitors?

Our visitors plan their trips in advance — 60% plan 5-12 months or more in advance.

Average total stay value for 2018 was $3,799. Average stay for 2022 is $5,252.

Average group size is 7.6 guests = average visitor (per person) spending is $691.

Nights per visit — 88% of guests stay 5+ nights during their visit.

Average group size (7.6 guests) is comprised of multi-generational families and multi-families. 33% traveled with children of different age groups.

Visitors spend most of their budget on lodging and only about 10% of their budget on entertainment, shopping or dining.

Home rentals dominate lodging type (over 70%).

How do we reach our visitors?

Strong repeat visitor vacation destination (82%). Over 60% have visited more than 5 times; 20% have visited 20+ times.

Household income (HHI) of $125K

Currituck Travel & Tourism uses many types of advertising and marketing tactics to reach potential visitors. The following receive the biggest share of the promotions budget each year:

• Digital Advertising – targeted paid digital ads, YouTube and Vimeo, social media (Facebook – 325,128 followers, Twitter – 6,837 followers, Instagram – 15,977 followers), VisitCurrituck.com

• Television and OTT (An over-the-top media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet – think Smart TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, etc.) – commercials are aired in target market states such as Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington DC Metro area, and the New York Metro

• Print Advertising – publications/magazines such as Southern Living, Our State, Southern Lady, Real Simple

Other advertising opportunities include radio and billboards. The billboards that we utilize, for the most part located on the Mainland, serve two purposes: to educate visitors going to Corolla on our attractions and to entice visitors going to Dare County to go and visit attractions in Corolla and on the Mainland and consequently eat and shop there. Travel shows in our target markets are an important component of our promotional activities. Generally, there are five travel shows a year and give Currituck Travel & Tourism the opportunity to showcase our region and generate leads for potential visitors.

Following is a breakdown of how marketing dollars are spent: