Weekly e-newsletter for Visit NC Partners - April 4, 2024
IN THIS ISSUE: * 2025 NC Travel Guide ad sales start
* Visit NC’s webinar next week features the Outdoor NC Accessible Outdoors Program
* New York Media mini-mission yields Appalachian High Country wine region coverage
* NC-filmed series ‘Blue Ridge’ premieres this Sunday
2025 NC Travel Guide ad sales start
Ad sales have started for the 2025 Official North Carolina Travel Guide, Visit North Carolina's fulfillment piece for visitors to and within the state. The N.C. Travel Guide is available at the state's nine Welcome Centers, Visitor Centers, via the 1-800-VISIT NC Call Center and VisitNC.com.
The guide will feature road trips, outdoor adventures (both urban and rural), multigenerational travel, and other key findings from Dotdash Meredith Travel Marketing's predictive travel insights for 2025. Outdoor NC, a primary Visit NC marketing strategy, will be addressed throughout the book. The guide will also focus on consumer behaviors, as tactics travelers can employ through the duration of planning and adventure, rather than subsects of travel audiences. In addition, the guide will include content tied to accessibility, highlighting ADA-accessible trails and destinations that offer experiences for those with sensory and physical limitations.
Readers are inspired by the guide, with 87 percent saying it led them to take or plan a trip to North Carolina and 64 percent saying they saved the guide to reference later.
Opportunities start at $500. Advertising sales are available at an early bird discounted rate until July 31. View the 2025 N.C. Travel Guide information here. For more information, contact Integrated Sales Manager-Travel Stacey Rosseter at (678) 571-7445. The N.C. Travel Guide sales information was included during the Marketing Co-Op Presentation at the Visit NC Tourism Conference in Greenville last month.
Visit NC’s monthly webinar for April will discuss promoting outdoors for all abilities and address the challenges and opportunities related to accessibility in the outdoors. This webinar will help serve as an introduction to the Outdoor NC Accessible Outdoors Program. It also will offer a sneak peak of the recent statewide trail assessment and provide participants the chance to hear about additional program tools that will be rolling out soon. The April webinar will be at 10 a.m. next Thursday (April 11). Click here to register.
Visit NC’s New York Media mini-mission yields Appalachian High Country wine region coverage
Due to an Explore Boone pitch at the Visit NC PR team’s 2023 mini-media mission in New York, an Essence.com post highlighed the Appalachian High Country wine region in “Let's Toast: These Are The Wine Destinations In The U.S. That Should Be On Your Radar.”
The writer credited the mountain elevations with fruity flavors and high acidity resulting from “climates that can be similar to wine regions in northern California and even Germany. Hybrids like chardonel and traminette reign supreme here.” The post further noted Appalachian State University’s fermentation science program as well as the Boone Area Wine Trail. Essence.com attracts nearly 3.4 million unique visitors per month.
NC-filmed series ‘Blue Ridge’ premieres this Sunday
The NC-filmed series “Blue Ridge” premieres this Sunday on the Cowboy Way Channel. New episodes will air each Sunday through May 12. The series, a spin-off of a made-for-TV movie by the same name, follows a new sheriff as he and his two deputies start investigating a murder in a town at the heart of the Blue Ridge mountains. Filming took place in Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Mecklenburg and Union counties in 2023. The productions was expected to have a direct in-state spend of more than $6.3 million, and to create more than 120 job pportunities, including 70 crew positions for the state’s highly-skilled film professional workforce.View the trailer here.
Vote for NC sites among ‘Best theme parks and water parks’
North Carolina has three sites among the nominations for 10Best's Readers' Choice Awards categories for “Best theme parks and water parks.” Online voting by readers is now open via USAToday.com; click on the hyperlink to vote. Voting ends at noon on April 22.
Best Roller Coaster – Fury 325 at Carowinds, Charlotte
Best Theme Park Entertainment – RetroSpect at Carowinds, Charlotte
James Beard Awards nominees include two NC chefs, one restaurant
The James Beard Awards has announced its 2024 James Beard Award nominees and two N.C. chefs and one restaurant are included. The list is the next step after the semi-finalists were announced in January. Dean Neff, of Seabird in Wilmington, is among the nominees for Outstanding Chef. Jamie Davis, of The Hackney in Washington, is among the nominees for Best Chef - Southeast. Crawford and Son in Raleigh is among the nominees for Outstanding Hospitality. The James Beard Awards will be announced on June 10.
Three in NC among ’30 Under 30’
Destinations International has announced its annual “30 Under 30” Class – and three of them are in North Carolina. Brittany Jones with Discover Durham, Samantha Green Ewald with Visit Charlotte and Hailey Post with Visit Raleigh and are among the individuals selected to gain valuable industry networking opportunities and increased thought leadership throughout the year.
‘America’s largest golf resort just got bigger – and may be the best’
“America’s Largest Golf Resort Just Got Bigger – And May Be The Best
” noted Forbes in its article about the opening of Pinehurst Resort’s Pinehurst No. 10. The article explained, in part, "Until [Tuesday], Pinehurst No. 2 was the most famous of nine standout 18-hole courses at America’s largest – by far – golf resort. [Yesterday], with the grand opening of the Tom Doak designed Pinehurst No. 10, the resort became the only one outside of China to ever have ten 18-routings – plus a short course and grass putting course… Number Ten is the first original golf course to be added in three decades. It opens a new section of the resort, to be known as Pinehurst Sandmines, spanning over 900-acres, most wooded and undeveloped. In addition to the new course, a variety of future developments are being
evaluated, including an eleventh 18-hole golf course, a second short course, another clubhouse and more guest cottages.”
NC native writer offers ‘These are the most underrated destinations in the state’
Travel + Leisure offered a North Carolina native writer’s "I've Lived in North Carolina My Whole Life, and These Are the Most Underrated Destinations in the State." In the article, the writer selected the Uwharrie Mountains in Montgomery County, Maggie Valley, White Lake, Pinehurst and Southern Pines, Oak Island and Southport, Kannapolis, Ocracoke, Mount Airy, New Burn and Burnsville. Visit NC assisted with photography for the article.
In a separate article, the same writer offered “North Carolina's Smallest Town Has Beautiful Trails, a Scenic Lake, and Less Than 20 Residents.” The article noted, in part, “There are small towns and then there are Fontana Dam-size small towns. According to the 2020 census, there were only 13 people living in the Western North Carolina mountain town, but that number can be a bit misleading.,, [T]oday, Fontana welcomes more than 100,000 visitors each year.” The article also included suggestion for best things to do, restaurants, and hotels and resorts.
'These mansion museums reveal the grittier side of the Gilded Age' includes Biltmore
In its “These mansion museums reveal the grittier side of the Gilded Age,” National Geographic noted the popularity of streaming shows set in the Gilded Age, including the” uptick in tourism at historic house museums of the era.” Biltmore in Asheville was spotlighted for its Backstairs Tour, "which delves into servant life and visits a two-story butlers’ pantry and snug maids’ rooms [and] is now the property’s most popular."
Whirligig Park the NC selection for '50 hidden gems from every state'
Reader’s Digest chose the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park & Museum as the North Carolina selection in its “50 Hidden Gems from Every State.” The site in Wilson was noted for its 30 revolving works of art, plus additional activities.
For the week of April 4, "North Carolina Weekend” offers a new episode with “Weekend Destinations.” Featured segments include The Orchard Inn in Saluda; Amelie’s French Bakery in Charlotte; Penelope Baker House in Edenton; Blowing Rock Art & History Museum in Blowing Rock; and and Pettigrew State Park in Creswell. (Check local listings, as segments are subject to change.) "North Carolina Weekend" is underwritten by Visit North Carolina. In addition, PBS North Carolina has recent editions of "North Carolina Weekend" available online.
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