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Study: Azalea Festival has a $50 million impact on Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - The North Carolina Azalea Festival has a $50 million impact on the Wilmington area, according to a study released Monday night from UNC Wilmington.

Dr. Stephen Meinhold and Woody Hall conducted the study during the Azalea Festival earlier this year.

According to the numbers released Monday, the local and visitor spending impact in the area totaled $48,306,000.  The impact of festival spending reached $1.6 million and volunteer hours were estimated at a value of $438,000 for 15,080 hours of work.  If you do the math, the typical Azalea Festival volunteer donates their time at a rate of $29/hour.

In a news release sent out Monday, Dr. Meinhold says the impact of the Azalea Festival for the week represents about 20% of the total economic activity in Wilmington.

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