2025 Visit Raleigh report shows Wake County tourism resilience, revenue gains

Visit Raleigh’s Wake County 2025 Tourism Industry Report shows a revenue-led recovery even as some hotel volume metrics softened. The report, covering Smith Travel Research KPIs for Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2025, lists hotel occupancy at 67.7% - still above the state average of 61.3% and the national average of 62.3% - but down 2.9% year to date. Average daily rate rose to $137.55, up 1.4%, while revenue per available room was $93.12, down 1.5%. Room nights sold totaled 4.62 million, a 1.3% decline, and room night supply grew to 6.83 million, up 1.7%.

“As travel demand plateaued across the country in 2025, Wake County once again demonstrated the resilience and strength of its visitor economy, outperforming both state and national averages in key tourism metrics,” Dennis Edwards, president and CEO of Visit Raleigh, said in the release accompanying the KPIs. The report also highlights that hospitality tax collections and prepared food-and-beverage tax collections “continued their upward trajectory throughout 2025,” a point Visit Raleigh emphasizes alongside the STR figures.

Context from Simpleview and Tourism Economics underscores the scale of the Wake County visitor economy entering 2025. Their August 2025 analysis shows 19.0 million visitors in 2024, a 2.7% increase over the prior year, with $3.4 billion in visitor spending and a total economic impact of $5.1 billion. In 2024 lodging spending rose 7.7% and food-and-beverage spending rose 5.9%, while international visitation increased 10.1%.

Local events played a measurable role in 2025. WRAL reported college basketball accounted for about 23,000 visitors in the first quarter, and trade coverage credited Visit Raleigh and the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance with boosting event bookings and employment in hospitality, transportation and retail. Trade outlet TravelandTourWorld described 2025 as a year of continued growth, pointing to rising tax receipts and an expanding events calendar as key drivers.

Wake County is channeling revenue into capital projects to sustain overnight visitation. The FY2026 Hospitality Tax Competitive Project Process made $23.5 million available and selected 12 projects after receiving 22 applications requesting more than $75 million. The funding split includes $15.5 million for nine jointly funded City-County projects and $8.0 million for four county-only projects. Vice Chair Safiyah Jackson called the investments transformative, saying, “These investments transform visitor spending into strategic opportunities to enhance quality of life across Wake County communities. These projects will help attract tournaments, performances and cultural experiences that also generate real economic return.”

The data present a mixed but actionable picture: rising ADR and tax collections alongside a modest decline in room nights sold and occupancy change, with supply increasing 1.7% to 6.83 million rooms. Visit Raleigh’s report sections titled “Group Business Overview” and “Future Business/Tourism Outlook” frame a strategy that leans on sports, meetings and new destination developments. Edwards added that Raleigh’s expanding meetings and conventions portfolio and sports environment position the region “for even greater momentum in the years ahead,” as county and city investments aim to turn higher per-visitor spending into sustained economic gains.