Economic Impact: How the Visitor Dollar Makes Waves in Durham’s Economy

Have you ever tossed a coin into a fountain? It hits the water, creates ripples and those ripples travel outward until they reach the edge. 

A similar phenomenon happens when a visitor comes to Durham and “drops their coins” into our community. The ripples that appear from that action are called economic impact. 

Economic impact is not a single variable; it’s the sum of many. So, when Discover Durham reported that the Biscuits and Banjos Festival generated $1.7 million in economic impact, or the Durham Sports Commission (DSC) supported the 2025 ACC Baseball Championship, which generated more than $8 million, those figures reflect far more than ticket sales — they capture the full value visitors bring to the community. 

Durham’s major attractions create similar ripples on a larger scale. According to the latest report in 2019, the Durham Bulls generated $48.5 million in total economic impact for the year. The Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC)’s latest economic impact data shows a total economic impact of $127 million for a single season, and the Durham Convention Center — based on a 2026 study — calculates its annual economic impact at $20 million.

Breaking Down the Economic Impact of Visitors 

Take, for instance, a festival. Festivals not only appeal to locals in the community, but also visitors that are willing to travel to take part in the experience. While they’re here, visitors might grab dinner or enjoy drinks at a nearby bar. They may even book a hotel room to stay in Durham overnight, leading to more time and money spent locally. That money spent directly at local businesses is called direct spending — the first ripple, and one that helps keep Durham’s locally owned businesses thriving. 

But festivals don’t happen on their own. Let’s say that our festival is a live music festival. A Durham-based vendor is contracted to run the sound stage but needs to hire two more team members to adequately staff the festival. This is an example of indirect spending — the second, often unseen, ripple that spreads across industries like transportation, venue rental, retail, food and beverage, lodging and more. 

After the festival ends, visitors looking to make the most out of their stay in Durham keep spending. They enjoy the remainder of the night at a local bar, tipping the bartender, who later uses those dollars to pay for dinner across town. When those visitor dollars help individuals in the community spend more locally, that ripple is called induced spending. 

And the result of all the direct, indirect and induced spending? Diversified revenue streams for local government through taxes generated. Visitors offset the costs it takes for government to operate without an additional tax burden for residents.  

Destination marketing organizations, like Discover Durham, spark all three ripples by attracting visitors — and the dollars they bring — to support the people who live and work in the community. 

Measuring the Economic Impact of Visitors 

Like anything else, the best way to understand the economic impact of visitors is to measure it.  

Using state-of-the-industry methodologies, advanced tools and trusted third-party resources, destination organizations can quantify the economic value that visitation brings to communities like Durham.  

These analyses generate meaningful insights that help illustrate the impact of local tourism and demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) from festivals, events and attractions that draw visitors to the area. 

Discover Durham — Durham’s accredited destination marketing organization — works closely with local partners to gather the data needed to calculate economic impact. For visitor-driven events, this may include details such as event type and duration, attendance figures, overnight stays and local hotel rates.  

These inputs are then analyzed alongside established spending profiles that reflect different types of visitors. For instance, a visitor attending a weekend-long festival is likely to spend differently than someone visiting Durham for a midweek corporate retreat. 

By applying these inputs to economic impact models, destination organizations can generate estimated outputs such as: 

• Visitor Spending  — This is the measurement of dollars that visitors spent while in a destination, which totals over $1 billion in Durham each year. These dollars support businesses that residents in the Durham community own or from which they receive their wages. To replace this level of spending, which helps sustain Durham’s locally owned businesses, every Durham resident would have to spend an additional $2,910 each year. 

• Tax Revenue — When visitors spend money in Durham, they pay taxes, like sales tax on retail items purchased and occupancy taxes for overnight stays at hotels and rentals. The revenue from these taxes go to City, County and state budgets to support government services for Durham’s residents, in addition to a small portion that is reinvested in continued tourism marketing. In 2024, visitors generated over $81 million in state and local taxes that locals didn’t have to pay but received the full benefit from. Each household in Durham County would need to pay an additional $545 in taxes to replace the annual contribution visitors make to support government services that benefit Durham residents. 

• Job Creation — Tourism is supported by the hospitality industry, which, yes, includes food and beverage, but also lodging, recreation, attractions, transportation, etc. In Durham, tourism spending supports almost 8,000 jobs across the county. One out of every three food and beverage jobs is directly supported by visitor spending, which means for every three people working in Durham’s food and drink scene, one of those jobs exists because visitors keep showing up. 

How Economic Impact Drives Durham Next’s Work 

This impact fuels Durham Next’s mission: to invest in a vibrant visitor destination that’s also an exceptional place to live and work. Durham’s character makes it stand out among mid-sized cities in the U.S. It’s why people love visiting, and why residents are proud to call it home. 

When it comes to destination development, we balance our approach, prioritizing projects that are both good for residents and for visitors. By helping small businesses thrive, supporting local jobs and diversifying revenue for local governments, tourism reduces economic pressure on residents while creating opportunities that support Durham’s future. 

We exercise this philosophy in the pursuit of the project and initiatives proposed in Durham’s Destination Master Plan (DMP). Within our immediate focus, we’re considering how local festivals can grow sustainably to generate both social benefit and economic impact. We’re also exploring the possibilities of a matching grants program, with the goal of supporting initiatives that attract visitors and their dollars into the community. 

Economic impact calculations are influenced by variables both seen and unseen, often making it impossible to provide true dollar figures for many of the projects included in the DMP. However, there are a number of other indicators we can rely on to measure how these projects enhance our community, including workforce opportunity, local pride, cultural connection and more. 

To learn more about the impact of tourism in Durham, explore Discover Durham’s latest Tourism Impact Report or the Durham Sports Commission’s Annual Report on sports tourism data. 

Tourism Impact Glossary 

Accredited Destination Marketing Organization – Destination marketing organizations showcase destinations to attract visitors and their dollars into their communities; those with accreditation have completed Destinations International’s globally recognized Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP), setting them apart with a visible industry distinction that defines quality and performance standards in destination marketing and management. Discover Durham achieved accreditation with distinction in 2025. 

Destinations International – The leading global trade association for official destination organizations, acting as a central resource to educate, connect and empower professionals to drive economic impact, sustainability and quality of life through travel 

Destination Master Plan (DMP) – An assessment of Durham’s development needs over the next 20 years, based on a vision for Durham’s future collectively shaped by members of the community; the 60+ recommended initiatives identify ways to further Durham as a thriving visitor destination and exceptional place to live and work 

Direct Spending – The initial, immediate money tourists spend on goods and services in a destination, such as their spending at hotels, restaurants, retail, attractions and for transportation 

Discover Durham – Durham’s leader in the marketing and development of the community as a world-renowned leisure, business and sports destination, attracting and serving visitors for the transformational economic and social benefit of those who live and work there 

Durham Sports Commission – A 501(c)(3), managed by Discover Durham, whose mission is to create economic and social impact by leading the community’s efforts to attract, support and promote youth, amateur, collegiate and professional sporting and recreational events 

Economic Impact – The effect of visitor spending on Durham’s economy, measured by changes in jobs, income and other outputs; this is a more complete view of the impact as dollars flow through the local economy 

Indirect Spending – Spending to procure materials, services and maintenance required to operate a business, triggered by a visitor-facing event or experience 

Induced Spending – Spending by a local individual or business that was made possible by the wages or revenue received from visitor spending 

Visitor – Someone traveling to a destination outside their usual residential or work environment, temporarily, for reasons like leisure, business or health; visitors include those who travel for day trips and those who stay in the destination overnight