| Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners | August 8, 2018 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE: * Register now for regional Mid-Year Marketing Updates
* Visit NC survey deadline this Friday, chance to win $3,000 co-op credit * Opportunities still available at 2019 consumer travel shows
* TRAC coming to Reidsville/Rockingham County region tomorrow |
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 | | | The 2014 MYMU in Asheville |
Register now for regional Mid-Year Registration is now open for this year's regional Mid-Year Marketing Update sessions. Make plans today to attend one of these free sessions in Concord, Plymouth, Jacksonville, Chapel Hill, Wilkesboro, or Haywood County. This year's fall meeting is a return to the Mid-Year Marketing Update, informing attendees on Visit NC's current marketing programs and co-op initiative, and programmatic updates from marketing, film and partner and industry relations. Visit NC seeks to gain insight from partners to help fuel Visit NC's strategic planning. Register now for one of the six meetings scheduled from 10:a.m. - 2 p.m. this September. |
Visit NC survey deadline this Friday, provides chance to win $3,000 co-op credit Visit North Carolina is conducting an online survey of its North Carolina industry partners to gain insight and feedback in a number of program areas. The survey is available online untilthis Friday, Aug. 10, at 5 pm. North Carolina travel industry partners completing the survey will be eligible for a random drawing that will award one N.C. organization a $3,000 co-op credit for use on VisitNC.com. To take the survey, click here. In addition to regular travel and communication with partners throughout the year, the Visit NC team makes a special effort in late summer/early fall to visit partners across the state for Mid-Year Marketing Update sessions. This year's sessions are slated to start next month, so please stay tuned to NewsLink for locations and dates.During these sessions, Visit NC offers a brief overview of the state of the industry, followed by an open forum discussion where it wants to hear about what is going on in partners' destinations, what their priorities are and how Visit NC can assist in bringing more visitors to their area. This year's sessions will also include a mini-Tourism Resource Assistance Center (TRAC), where tourism-related businesses will be able to meet one-on-one with Visit NC's program managers to discuss better ways to promote their property, event or destination. |
| | | Last year's show in Philadelphia |
Opportunities still available to partner with Visit NC at 2019 consumer travel shows There are a few spots still available for industry partners to join Visit NC at consumer travel shows in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. These shows offer additional opportunities for Visit NC - and its interested partners - for promoting travel to North Carolina to potential visitors who are actively looking for travel suggestions and information. * Jan. 25-28 - NY Times Travel Show in New York, N.Y - 4 spots remaining * March 9-11 - Travel & Adventure Show in Philadelphia, Penn. - 6 spots remaining * March 15-17 - Travel & Adventure Show in Washington, D.C. - 3 spots remaining
The cost to attend is $850 per partner, per show. Visit NC is requiring 100 percent participation for all of the consumer travel shows next year. If you'd like to participate in any of these shows, contact Andre Nabors at (919) 447-7771 by Aug. 15. |
| | | A previous TRAC in Dunn | |
TRAC coming to Reidsville/Rockingham County region tomorrow Tomorrow (Thursday), tourism-related businesses in Reidsville and Rockingham County - plus the surrounding counties - will have an opportunity to work with Visit North Carolina staff to learn about its research, development and marketing services, and discuss best practices in reaching travelers, the media and increasing tourism visitation and spending. Visit North Carolina's Tourism Resource Assistance Center (TRAC) is a community-based training program designed to help small tourism-related businesses. TRAC will be held 10 am - 2 pm at the Penn House, 324 Maple Ave., in Reidsville; parking is off Irvin Street. There is no charge to attend, no reservation is required, and there is no PowerPoint presentation. This is a come-when-you-can/stay-as-long-as-you'd-like event opportunity for all tourism-related businesses to meet one-on-one with program managers to discuss better ways to promote their property or event. TRAC brings Visit North Carolina's program managers to local communities to discuss the nuts and bolts of working with the organization. This invaluable program is designed to help tourism-related businesses engage more fully with programs offered by Visit North Carolina and its partners. Representatives from the EDPNC's BLNC, N.C. Welcome Centers/Visitor Services, N.C. State Parks, Agritourism, and NC GreenTravel are often on hand to discuss services they can provide businesses, including strategic planning, assisting with identifying funding sources and serving as liaisons with other local, state and federal agencies. For additional information on this session or to learn more about scheduling a TRAC visit to your community, contact André Nabors at (919) 447-7771. |
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CRC Program gets new requirements
The N.C. General Assembly amended the requirements (pg. 142) for the N.C. Certified Retirement Community Program, which went into effect with the recently passed N.C. budget. The revisions for a town to be considered as a Certified Retirement Community are: * Be located within 50 miles of a hospital and of emergency medical services * Remit an annual fee for 5 years * Fee equal to the lesser of three thousand dollars ($3,000) or the product of 50 cents multiplied by the population of the community, as determined by the most recent census. Towns currently in the recognized in the N.C. Certified Retirement Community program are Asheboro, Eden, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Jamestown/High Point, Laurinburg/Scotland Co., Lenoir, Lumberton, Marion, Mount Airy, New Bern, Pittsboro, Reidsville, Roanoke Rapids, Sanford/Lee County, Tarboro, Washington, and Winterville.The General Assembly has charged Visit North Carolina with operating the state's Certified Retirement Community program, which recognizes towns that are positioning themselves for retiree attraction as an economic and community development strategy. Once a community has completed the certification process, Visit North Carolina will help market and promote the community through Web presence on RetireNC, e-marketing, social media, public relations, visitor services and research, among other opportunities. For more information on the N.C. Certified Retirement Community program, contact André Nabors at (919) 447-7771. |
| | | N.C. First Lady Kristen Cooper (c) and members of the Lumbee tribe appeared at the celebration today |
N.C. Welcome Centers celebrate 50th anniversary, new video
North Carolina's Welcome Centers celebrate their 50th anniversary of service this month with a series of celebrations and a sweepstakes to enable visitors to take part in this important milestone.
Earlier today (Wednesday), the Welcome Center anniversary ceremony took place at the I-95 South Welcome Center in Rowland. N.C, First Lady Kristin Cooper greeted attendees and offered keynote remarks. N.C. Commerce Chief of Staff George Sherrill recognized Welcome Center managers and staff from all nine locations. The ceremony included cultural performances by members of the Lumbee Tribe. The event also launched the N.C. Welcome Center 50th Anniversary Sweepstakes. Travelers stopping into any of the state's Welcome Centers between now and Oct. 31 will have the chance to win one of three prize packages, just by signing into the Welcome Center guest registration system during their visit. The N.C. Dept. of Commerce is partnering with Visit North Carolina and the Greenville-Pitt County CVB, Heart of North Carolina VB and Haywood County TDA to offer the sweepstakes. Visit North Carolina partnered with Commerce to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Welcome Center program by pulling together a new video. It features the founder of the Welcome Center program, Bill Hensley, as well as interviews with Wally Wazan, Wit Tuttell and current Welcome Center staff. The video will be featured in Welcome Centers during the course of the 50th anniversary year. Since opening in 1968, an estimated total of more than 300 million visitors have stopped at one of the centers, nearly the population of the U.S. |
| | | A few cyclists celebrate at the finish line | |
Cycle NC wraps up successful Mountain Ride This past weekend, more than 300 cyclists took in the beauty of the Tryon during the annual Cycle NC Mountain Ride. This year the ride was based in Tryon with several routes that also including touring Saluda, Columbus and Tuxedo. Cyclists from 14 states and England enjoyed ideal weather along the scenic routes, along with a variety of activity options in Tryon.
Visit North Carolina is a founding sponsor of Cycle North Carolina's Mountains-to-Coast, Fall and Spring rides. Cycle North Carolina offers one of the largest cross-state bicycle tours in the United States. The three annual rides are designed to promote North Carolina's scenic beauty while providing substantial economic impact to small towns across the state. |
Vote for N.C. faves among 10Best craft distilleries-related categories Several N.C. favorites are among the craft distilleries-related nominations for three 10Best categories. Online voting by readers is now open via USAToday.com's website; click on the hyperlink to vote. Voting ends Sept. 3at noon. |
Camel City Grill among '10 Best food trucks for tasty summer bites'
TravelChannel.com include Camel City Grill, in Winston-Salem, among its "10 Best Food Trucks for Tasty Summer Bites." Of the inclusion, the online article noted, "Camel City Grill is an award-winning food truck known for Its juicy Black Angus burgers, wraps and artisan grilled sandwiches made with local ingredients. The PBB&J is a customer fave; it's a grilled burger slathered with homemade peanut butter, bacon and red pepper jelly, all tucked into a warm brioche roll. (Bacon comes with almost everything on the menu, except the grilled cheese sandwich - and we're guessing they'll add it if you ask.)" |
Jackson County, Durham featured in Where to Retire
Whitewater Falls in Jackson County is featured on the cover of the Sept./Oct. issue of Where to Retire magazine. Sylva is profiled in the cover story "8 Fall Foliage Cities." And Durham is the subject of the magazine's "Low Cost" feature. |
Knowing where to look
The key to saving energy is knowing where to look for those savings. There is some great reference information available at the NC GreenTravel Initiative, under Energy. Included are "Green Energy Links" that examine tax credits, products, HVAC efficiency, wind energy and more. Green Energy Fact Sheets show cost-effective ways to reduce energy bills. Hotel, restaurant and attraction building managers can use these tools to create a more energy-efficient business. Creating a more sustainable business by retrofitting and monitoring energy use will save both time and money, making the business more profitable. For more information on measuring your green success, contact NC GreenTravel Initiative manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140. |
| | For the week of Aug. 9 on North Carolina Weekend, the program debuts a new schedule that will preview the format for the new season, which starts in October. North Carolina Weekend will run 8 episodes, one each week, and then repeat those episodes for the next 8 weeks.
So this week's episode is a repeat of the one that ran the week of June 7. It will feature segments on cycling around Mount Mitchell in Burnsville; the Albatross Fleet in Hatteras; Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont; Old Baldy and Bald Head Island; and the Reeves Theater in Elkin. (Check local listings due to UNC-TV's special on-air fund-raising schedule.) North Carolina Weekend is underwritten by Visit North Carolina. In addition, UNC-TV has made recent editions of North Carolina Weekend available online. | In 2017, the average overnight visitor party spending in the state was $738, up from $616 in 2016. Spending in all categories increased, particularly the categories of lodging, food/dining and transportation. For more North Carolina visitor information, visit the Visitor Profile Studies, or contact Visit NC's Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748.
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Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events
Through Aug. 12 - NCMA-VMA-MCASC Regional Meeting, Greenville, S.C. Aug. 9 - Visit NC TRAC, Reidsville Aug. 11-14 - US Travel Assn's ESTO, Phoenix, Ariz. Aug. 16 - Visit NC Travel & Tourism Board Meeting, Charlotte Aug. 16 - NC Coast Host Meeting, Greenville Aug. 27-28 - NC Restaurant & Lodging Expo, Charlotte Sept. 19-20 - BRPA Regional Fall Meeting, Lynchburg, Va. Sept. 20-21 - MPI-CC XChange, Charlotte |
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