The amount of money spent by visitors within North Carolina dropped 32% in 2020 to $19.96 billion, according to Visit North Carolina.
When some people started traveling again, many visited small or rural towns. In 2021, Airbnb reported a 128% increase in nights booked in rural areas compared with 2019. For the same period, rural stays extending more than four weeks grew 160%.
Here in North Carolina that was even greater.
“We've seen more than a 200% increase in people staying more than 28 days in Airbnbs in rural North Carolina," Wit Tuttell, the executive director of Visit North Carolina, said. "They're staying for a long time."
Tuttell is hoping the trend continues.
This week, Visit NC launched Dream Big in Small Town NC, an initiative to boost economic recovery by attracting travelers and potential workers to small towns in 16 counties. The initiative was created by the North Carolina General Assembly and is funded with $1.5 million from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
"The general assembly was looking for a way to help these really rural places," Tuttell said. "We're hoping that people will come out, stay in the places, enjoy them, realize they really liked them, and look for jobs and potentially move to these areas."
Airbnb will also play a role in the initiative. The company will promote the campaign on its website and social media channels in hopes that people will stay at local rentals.
“We're working with vacation rentals, because a lot of times, that's where you're going to stay if you go to one of these small towns,” Tuttell explained.
Airbnb will also invest in programs for people who live in the community. These programs will teach practical tools and support for using technology to access and succeed as entrepreneurs on Airbnb.
There’s also a sweepstakes you can enter to win a trip.
“We're gonna have five winners that each win $1,000 in Airbnb cash to spend at a vacation rental out in the mountains," Tuttell said. "And we're gonna give each one of those five winners $500 in spending cash to do whatever they want ... experience some of these small towns that they don't really even know about.”
You can see the official rules here on how to enter.