Tourism

In the Charlotte area, Carowinds amusement park, Charlotte Motor Speedway, U.S. National Whitewater Center, and the Discovery Place attract many tourists. Nearby Concord has the Concord Mills Mall and Great Wolf Lodge.

In the Conover – Hickory area, Hickory Motor Speedway, RockBarn Golf and Spa, home of the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn, Catawba County Firefighters Museum, and SALT Block attract many tourists as Conover, and Hickory which has Valley Hills Mall.

Charlotte Motor Speedway at night The Biltmore Estate, Asheville

The Appalachian Mountains attract several million tourists to the Western part of the state every year including the Biltmore Estate.

Baby lowland gorilla courtesy of North Carolina Zoo

The Piedmont Triad, or center of the state, is home to Krispy Kreme, Mayberry, Texas Pete, Lexington Barbecue and Moravian cookies, as well as the internationally acclaimed North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro where visitors can discover animals, plants, and a 57-piece art collection along five miles of shaded pathways in the world's largest land area natural habitat park; MerleFest in Wilkesboro which attracts more than 80,000 people within the four-day music festival; and Wet 'n Wild Emerald Pointe in Greensboro!

The Outer Banks and surrounding beaches attract millions of people to the beaches every year.