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DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — From festivals to sporting events to graduations, visitors are spending more money in Durham County.
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“We’re not surprised,” Discover Durham President and CEO Cara Rousseau said. “We know how much we love the Bull City and we understand that others do as well, and we celebrate that.”
According to Discover Durham, the county’s destination marketing organization, visitors spent $1.17 billion in 2025. That’s nearly a 1% increase compared to 2024.
A study also found that Durham County brought in more than 13 million visitors. Those people from out of town also contributed more than $82 million in state and local tax revenue.
“One of our No. 1 goals is to help to get some of the festivals to more scale, get more people that are participating,” Durham Next Executive Director Tara Kenchen said.
But still, local leaders are searching for ways to bring in even more people.
“We’re also seeing that the year-over-year growth has softened,” Rousseau said. “We’re looking at how can we continue to build attractions and things that both visitors and residents really enjoy.”
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A feasibility study focused on Durham County Memorial Stadium is currently underway. That will help identify ways to upgrade or expand the stadium to host more large-scale events.
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“We want to host more championships,” Kenchen said. “We want to host more activities, and so we’re really looking forward to seeing what that work ends up being.”
The nonprofit Durham Next just committed $535,000 of visitor-paid tax revenue to grow local festivals.
“There have been a number of really exciting sports and entertainment types of events that have come to Durham in 2026, including the Garmin Marathon and AUSL, Carolina Blaze,” Rousseau said. “So we’re really, really excited to see what that impact is when we release the numbers in a year.”
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