Visitors come to the Hickory Metro for dozens of reasons, from business to leisure to sports. In May, several large sporting events will bring visitors to the area, including the Lady Bass Anglers Association (LBAA) national bass fishing tournament, a large soccer tournament with 40-plus teams, and a basketball tournament with 80-plus teams and, of course, professional racing and baseball are in full swing this month.
“Every local tourism employee is valuable, and tourism is a major economic driver in our community,” added Hildebrand. “The travel and tourism industry is growing, and employees may start off thinking it is just a job, but that job can easily become a prosperous and fun career in hospitality.”
Below are some tourism facts:
In 2019, the last figures reported by North Carolina, there were 2,510 people in Catawba County directly employed in the travel and tourism industry.
Visitors spent more than $302 million in Catawba County in 2019.
There are more than 20 hotels and bed and breakfasts in the county and that doesn’t include registered Airbnb and vacation rentals.
The Spa at Rock Barn brings visitors throughout the nation to Conover, and some customers claim it’s the best spa experience in the nation, especially with the addition of a salt room made of pure Himalayan salt blocks, free of toxins and pollutants.
