| Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners | August 21, 2019 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE:
* Visit NC's 'Firsts That Last' wins Mercury Award at ESTO * Visit NC, DMO partners at ESTO
* Visitor spending numbers bring media attention to tourism's impact on individual counties
* 2020 North Carolina Travel Guide ad sales end Sept. 6 |
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Visit NC's 'Firsts That Last' wins Mercury Award at ESTO
The U.S. Travel Association honored Visit North Carolina on Tuesday (yesterday) with a Mercury Award for "Firsts That Last," a marketing campaign that documents real-life travelers on their first visit to the state to experience a first in their lives. The award was presented at the association's ESTO (Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations) conference in Austin, Texas. Visit NC competed against Pure Michigan and Travel Oregon in the finals for best branded and integrated marketing campaigns by larger state organizations. Anchored on VisitNC.com, "Firsts That Last" was carried across advertising, digital media, print and social platforms. Judges commended the campaign as "authentic, insightful and emotional" with a rich diversity of people and experiences. "The 'Firsts That Last' theme branded the campaign perfectly and compelled even the judges to want to go explore the destination," they said. Visit NC's Wit Tuttell said he was gratified by the recognition of the campaign, which was created by Luquire George Andrews (LGA) of Charlotte, Visit NC's agency of record. "It took a leap of faith to forgo a script in favor of reality," Tuttell said. "But the short films that resulted capture so much of what we love about North Carolina and the power of travel to enrich people's lives. Given the public's response and the industry recognition, we are thrilled to be working on behalf of a state that offers so much for people to discover, not only about our destinations but also about themselves." During the time the campaigns were created, Oregon's tourism office budget was $33 million and Michigan's budget was $35 million, while North Carolina's was $12.9 million. |
Visit NC, DMO partners at ESTO
Visit NC's Wit Tuttell, Mark Shore and Eleanor Talley attended ESTO, this week in Austin, Texas). Partners with Cabarrus County CVB, Chapel Hill/Orange County VB, Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, Discover Durham, Explore Asheville, Haywood County TDA, Heart of North Carolina VB, Hickory Metro CVB, Jackson County TDA, Johnston County VB, Outer Banks VB, Greater Raleigh CVB, Visit Lake Norman and Watauga County TDA. along with N.C. Dept. of Commerce's Wally Wazan, also attended the conference. ESTO, an event of the U.S. Travel Assn., is unique in that it was created by and exclusively for destination marketing professionals to learn about new tools and techniques, share best practices and debate pressing issues affecting destinations in a non-sales environment. |
Visitor spending numbers bring media attention to tourism's impact on individual counties
With the release last week of "Record Visitor Spending Reflected in all N.C. Counties in 2018," media coverage was generated across the state. Counties that saw their own media coverage included Beaufort, Cabarrus, Davidson, Forsyth, Johnston, Mecklenburg, New Hanover, Rockingham, Rowan, Craven and Pitt, and Henderson and Transylvania. |
2020 North Carolina Travel Guide ad sales end Sept. 6
Opportunities to purchase advertising space for the 2020 Official North Carolina Travel Guide, with enhanced added value and online opportunities on VisitNC.com, end Sept. 6. Reach consumers as they plan North Carolina vacations. The North Carolina Travel Guide is the primary consumer fulfillment publication for Visit North Carolina in its international and domestic marketing efforts to promote the state as a premier travel destination. The guide serves as the best source for selecting what to do and where to stay when visiting North Carolina.
Space is limited. Advertising sales are available until Sept. 6. View the 2020 NC Travel Guide Media Kit here. For more information, contact Regional Sales Director Stacey Rosseter at (678) 571-7445.
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N.C. ranked #4 among the states with the most hotels as Best of Housekeeping, Charlotte #5 among cities ranking
North Carolina ranks #4 among the States with the Most AAA Inspector's Best of Housekeeping Hotels. AAA's new Inspector's Best of Housekeeping award recognizes those properties among the AAA Inspected & Approved hotels that receive the highest possible cleanliness and condition scores. Charlotte ranked #5 among the Cities with the Most AAA Inspector's Best of Housekeeping Hotels. While every hotel must meet expected standards of cleanliness and condition to qualify as one of the 27,000 AAA Inspected & Approved and receive a Diamond Rating, hotels awarded the Inspector's Best of Housekeeping designation significantly surpass expectations, as measured during a comprehensive, on-site inspection. |
N.C. Zoo opens Treehouse Trek
The N.C. Zoo in Asheboro has opened another new attraction for visitors: Treehouse Trek. Described as a new adventure for guests of all abilities, Treehouse Trek is built around treehouses, rope bridges and an oversized "play nest." The park says a portion of the new play area is ADA accessible and is near the Air Hike, a ropes course that opened in 2016 inside the Africa section of the park. Treehouse Trek is a permanent attraction that will be open seasonally. To increase attendance - and revenue - over the years, the zoo has added many smaller, permanent and rotating attractions designed to maintain interest in the park and encourage visitors to return. Guests pay an additional fee for the attractions on top of the zoo's admission cost. |
"Crest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County" AVA officially recognized
The Crest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County American Viticulture Area has been officially established by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, under the U.S. Dept. of the Treasury. An AVA is a grape-growing region having distinguishing features, a name and a delineated boundary. For a wine to be labeled with an AVA name, at least 85 percent of the wine's grapes must be grown within the area represented by that name. The establishment of AVAs allows vintners to describe more accurately the origin of their wines to consumers. Crest of the Blue Ridge Henderson County AVA joins the other AVAs in North Carolina: Appalachian High Country, Haw River Valley, Swan Creek, Upper Hiwassee Highlands and Yadkin Valley. |
 | | | (l-r) DI's Maura Gast, Bonoffski, Amey, Breedlove and DI's Don Welsh |
Annual conference recognizes three in N.C. with CDME certification
At Destination International's annual conference in St. Louis, Mo., last month, Durham CVB's Susan Amey, Cabarrus County CVB's Michael Bonoffski and Jackson County TDA's Nick Breedlove received their CDME (Certified Destination Management Executive) certification. |
There is a huge movement among the environmental community to educate citizens about the detrimental effect that single-use plastic drinking straws have on wildlife and the environment. Thousands of straws end up in waterways every minute. As we all know, water runs downhill, along with debris, litter, other single-use plastics and other pollutants. In the USA alone, 500 million straws are used every day, many of which end up in the ocean. Even though we only use a straw for about 20 minutes, they can wash down to the ocean and stay there forever. Some of those straws are ingested by turtles and other aquatic wildlife. Plastic straws are not recyclable. The simple solution is for people to stop using plastic straws. Some retailers offer paper, glass, stainless steel, and bamboo straws as an alternative to plastic. Restaurants, hotels and bars can help by only offering plastic straws when requested by customers. Being aware of the damage that straws can inflict on the environment is a positive step. Visit For a Strawless Ocean for more information. For more information about things that the hospitality industry can do to protect the environment, visit NC GreenTravel, or contact program manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140. |
| | For the week of Aug. 22 on " North Carolina Weekend," the program repeats the episode that originally aired June 27. Segments feature Lenoir, The Lost Colony Brewery and Café in Manteo, and the Durham tour with Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours. (Check local listings; segments are subject to change.) "North Carolina Weekend" is underwritten by Visit North Carolina. In addition, UNC-TV has recent editions of "North Carolina Weekend" available online. | The top states of origin of overnight visitors to the Mountain Region were North Carolina (39 percent), Georgia (14 percent), South Carolina (9 percent), Virginia (7 percent), Florida (7 percent) and Tennessee (6 percent). For more North Carolina visitor information, visit Visitor Profile Studies,or contact Visit NC's Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748. |
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Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events
Aug. 26-28 - Connect Sports Conference, Louisville, Ky. Sept. 9-10 - Blue Ridge Parkway Assn. Fall Meeting, Floyd, Va. Sept. 11-12 - NCTIA Tourism Leadership Conference, Concord Sept. 19-22 - NCMA (with VMA-MCASC) Regional Meeting, Winston-Salem Nov. 6-8 - World Travel Market, London, U.K. Nov. 6-8 -AARC Annual Conference, Chattanooga, Tenn. Nov. 7-8 - AENC Fall Conference, Cary Nov. 19 - Visit NC Travel & Tourism Board Meeting, Cary |
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