2007 was a good Outer Banks tourist year
Published January 22, 2008 by Terry Rush CremiaNorth Carolina’s Ferry System got a huge passenger traffic boost this season after “Dr. Beach” endorsed Ocracoke Island as the top beach in America.
Stephen Leatherman, director of Florida University’s Laboratory for Coastal Research is the person who more famously goes by “Dr. Beach” and began compiling his annual America’s Best Beaches lists in 1991.
This year was the first time ever that his top beach accolade was garnered by a beach outside of Florida or Hawaii.
After the endorsement, the Hatteras-Ocracoke ferries beat the previous eight-year long one-day passenger total by about 1,200–topping out at 10,231 passengers shuttled between Ocracoke and Hatteras islands.
Carolyn McCormick, managing director of the Outer Banks Visitor’s Bureau, said the media attention was huge in the West and Midwest amongst those who can only dream of the ocean and who make our beaches their destination for summer vacation.
That kind of attention certainly draws vacationers to the Outer Banks in general with 2007 showing good tourist dollar figures, according to the Visitor’s Bureau.
Restaurant numbers, for example, rose by about 4% in 2007 compared to the same figures gathered by October 2006, and lodging receipts were up by 9% this year.
Here’s to continued prosperity for the entire Outer Banks business owners in 2008!
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