In the last three years, the number of people calling his office to ask about local places to visit has leaped from 1,200 to 19,000 a year.

“Families will plan a trip elsewhere and make a detour for a day here,” said Shore, director of the Cabarrus Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We’ve had a number of people visit us just because we’re on Dale Earnhardt Boulevard.”

About 50 motorcoaches swung through Cabarrus County in all of 1998, Shore said. But since the Concord Mills megamall opened last September on Interstate 85, an average of 40 tour buses come every weekend.

Still, people also come for Cabarrus County’s traditions: racing, textiles, barbecue and gold mining.

“The buzz word is heritage,” Shore said. “People fall in love with that stuff. And people who enjoy heritage spend more money. That’s been proven.”

Buses often stop by the G.I. House and Cannon Village Visitor’s Center in Kannapolis and places such as Bost Cress Mill, Reed Gold Mine and R&R Barbecue, said Libba Barrineau, who arranges group tours for the Visitors Bureau.

One recent tour for Pennsylvanians called “NASCARNuts Only” took visitors to Lowe’s Motor Speedway and local race shops.

“Your Dale Earnhardt fans are going to come here just to see where he grew up,” Barrineau said.

The Cabarrus Convention and Visitors Bureau just published 100,000 copies of a new 32-page color visitor’s guide on local destinations. The brochure touts the county’s racing, stores and history in gold prospecting. It lists accommodations and attractions and has a fold-out map.

Shore says visitors leave a trail of dollars behind them. Those that visit Cannon Village en masse often eat at the K&W Cafeteria in downtown Kannapolis.

In 1998, business and leisure travelers spent $129 million in Cabarrus County, adding some $1.6 million in sales and other taxes. The same year, Cabarrus County commissioners increased the occupancy tax that motels and hotels must payfrom 3 to 5 percent. The extra 2 percent will pay for a future convention center.

“Locally, there’s that desire just to have a space large enough to hold a graduation,” Shore said. “Right now, there’s no where large enough in Cabarrus County. I know that tickles a lot of ears.”

With growth in the local retail industry, Cabarrus County’s sales tax revenue has increased about $1 million a year, from $11.9 million in 1995 to $15.8 million in 1999.