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WILMINGTON – Weekend tourists are turning into lifetime residents, helping bring in billions to the Carolinas.

Tuesday, UNC Wilmington hosted the Economic Growth Summit, where experts discussed their new forecasting tool called "Turbo Tourism."

"It's really about delivering memories that people take home, then drag back to have another memory," said keynote speaker Patrick Mason, from the Center for Carolina Living.

A little southern hospitality is bringing tourists back to make those memories a lifestyle.

"Through the degree that we can train our hospitality employees to carry along that ultra Carolina friendliness, that smiling faces factor that would really help us," said Mason.

Mason also said the Turbo Tourist effect is a way to spin off tourism and use it in other industries. One of those areas is real estate.

"One of those segments that we all love are the ones that come back and convert a $2,000 vacation into a $500,000 home or a $200,000 home or, 14 percent of the time, bring their business," said Mason.

One of the biggest attractions for tourism in North Carolina is the beaches, but as the experts pointed out, tourism is a huge economic driver across the state, including the mountains and Piedmont. And the numbers prove it.

The annual impact of tourists to the Carolinas is nearly $30 billion, creating 39,000 housing transactions that create at least 33,000 new jobs. Officials said this makes tourism the driving force of the economy.

Now they're looking to take advantage of it by finding a target audience and building around it to continue to boost the economy through Turbo Tourism.

"We also know that sports is also a big group market that can bring larger groups of people, and with the addition of the convention center, we may have more potential for those as well," said tourism expert Kim Hufhman.

Tourism experts said they expect to see 6 million visitors exploring the Carolinas with an intent to buy property this year.