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Tourism authority: Lee County Athletic Park drew over 40,000 visits in six weeks; local hotels and businesses may benefit
Summary
The Sanford Tourism Development Authority reported just over 40,000 visits to Lee County Athletic Park over the prior six weeks, with weekend tournaments driving about 2,000 visits each weekend; TDA outlined occupancy and visitor-spend data and marketing steps to convert park visitors into overnight stays and local spending.
The Sanford Tourism Development Authority (TDA) told the Lee County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 20 that the new Lee County Athletic Park has attracted substantial visitation and is beginning to translate into local economic activity.
Wendy (Speaker 35) presented three data sources the TDA uses: the North Carolina tourism spending report (county-level), weekly CoStar/STR hotel cohort data, and a PlacerAI visitor dataset for the Athletic Park. She said 2024 visitor spending in Lee County totaled about $104,590,000 (up 9.5% over the prior year) with accommodations spending near $22.6 million. For the Athletic Park specifically, she reported just over 40,000 visits in the prior six weeks and about 2,000 visitors on each of the most recent tournament weekends.
The TDA is using those data to target marketing and to develop hotel and visitor materials; Wendy noted the TDA has built a sports-tourism landing page, sponsored bleacher wraps at the park, and planned a November photo shoot to generate promotional assets. She also said the PlacerAI report can show origin zip codes, pathing into the park and where visitors go before or after events, information the TDA will use for signage and hospitality outreach.
Key quote
"In the past 6 weeks, you've had just over 40,000 people visit Lee County Athletic Park." ' Wendy, Sanford TDA.
Ending
TDA staff will continue to monitor occupancy and visitor patterns and report back; commissioners asked staff to explore DOT signage options and continue working with hoteliers to capture overnight stays tied to tournaments.
