A year after Hurricane Florence barreled through in mid-September 2018, New Bern and Craven County have once again proven resiliency in the face of catastrophe.
From July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019, Greater Downtown New Bern, a major center for tourism, meetings and conventions, recorded the following statistics:
• New businesses opened: 11
• Out of 209 commercial spaces in Greater Downtown, 26 were vacant as of June 30
• Total private/public investment in Greater Downtown was $5,771,279
• Building rehabs completed: 36
• Full-time jobs created: 76
• Part-time jobs created: 61
How does that translate into actual activity?
The first indicator was MumFest 2018. The largest street festival in New Bern and Downtown New Bern’s biggest single event, MumFest was held on time just weeks after Hurricane Florence. It drew 110,000-120,000 visitors.
In fact, 2018 visitor activity to Craven County improved over 2017. Domestic visitors to and within Craven County spent $149 million in 2018, an increase of 4.96% from 2017, according to an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
“Economic development is red hot in Craven County,” said Craven County Manager Jack Veit. Additionally, “Craven County is in the Top 5 in the state for new home starts”, he said.
The growth occurred despite storm related closures of New Bern’s Riverfront Convention Center and the DoubleTree by Hilton New Bern Riverfront, the city’s largest hotel. The DoubleTree Hotel is slated to reopen in 2020.
New Bern Riverfront Convention Center is scheduled to open the end of September with the first event, a Marine Corps Birthday Ball, scheduled in mid-October. The venue is undergoing a $12.5 million program of renovation and modernization.
In addition to storm damage repair at the convention center, Craven County plans to expand and update the facility, located near the mouth of the Trent River at the Neuse River. “We are going to get back in the fight with Wilmington and Greenville,” in competing for tourism and convention business, Veit said.
Article from New Bern-Craven County Convention and Visitor Center