| Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners | February 13, 2019 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE: * UNC-TV sponsoring Tuesday's closing luncheon at Visit NC 365
* Visit NC leads winter sports fam to the High Country
* U.K. & Ireland travel show attendees learn about travel to N.C.
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The February 6 edition of NewsLink omitted Visit Raleigh among the sponsors of the opening night reception during RCMA Emerge. The NewsLink team regrets the error. |
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UNC-TV sponsoring Tuesday's closing luncheon at Visit NC 365 Join UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina for a special Visit NC 365 Conference luncheon presentation focusing on the "power of community stories." This will be the conference's closing luncheon on Tuesday, April. 2. Storytelling is what drives Public Media North Carolina. By listening to, learning from and telling the stories of North Carolinians working tirelessly to improve their communities, UNC-TV fulfills its promise and meet its responsibility as stewards of public media. During a special presentation at the Visit NC 365 Conference closing luncheon, UNC-TV will show how it's changing the ways it's engaging with communities, producing compelling stories for multiplatform distribution and showcasing the state. Find out how you can partner with UNC-TV Public Media North Carolina to share the important stories about your community. Visit North Carolina helps fund UNC-TV's North Carolina Weekend.
This year's Visit NC 365 Conference is March 31-April 2 in Wilmington. The conference brings together more than 500 members of the tourism industry to discuss the latest trends and issues facing the industry and hear insights from other tourism industry professionals. Find out more details, including a schedule of events, at visitnc365.com. Register now through March 14 with a rate of $499/person. Tell Visit NC you've registered by tagging it using hashtag #VisitNC365 onTwitter @NCTourism and Facebook @NCarolinaTourism. For more information on the conference, contact Dana Grimstead at (919) 447-7761. Sponsorship opportunities are also available; to learn more, click here. |
Visit NC leads winter sports fam to the High Country
Visit North Carolina's PR Team, in conjunction with partners at the Watauga County/Boone TDA and Beech Mountain TDA, hosted a winter sports-themed familiarization trip for a media group, Jan. 29 - Feb.1. The trip included stops at Appalachian Ski Mountain, Sugar Mountain and Beech Mountain ski resorts, Hawksnest Snow Tubing, and Lost Province and Appalachian Mountain breweries. Outlets represented included Austin Chronicle, Nashville Lifestyles and Carolina Country Magazine. |
| | | Visit NC's U.K. rep, Duncan McCubbin | |
U.K. & Ireland travel show attendees learn about travel to N.C. Visit North Carolina participates at three key overseas consumer travel shows - Manchester, Dublin and London. Visit NC has participated in these three shows for several years and the interest in the state has grown significantly, with direct and specific engagement with consumers. These shows provide a platform to engage with potential visitors, inviting their interest and to educate them on all that North Carolina has to offer in line with traditional vacation values and current market trends. The shows have proven to be a great success, with a number of attendees returning later to thank the Visit NC booth for its advice. For instance, one attendee returned this year for more information on the N.C. coast as he has planned his trip to coincide with the opening of the Mustang Owner's Museum this spring - this all from an initial discussion at last year's travel show in Manchester. The shows also demonstrate the latest consumer interests, trends and budgets, plus talking across generations. This, in turn, allows Visit NC to be informed and pass product information on to its tour operator partners for the forthcoming season. To find out more about Visit NC's international marketing efforts, contact Visit NC's Heidi Walters at (919) 447-4462. |
| | | (lf-rt) Stone, Younts, Fuller, Gross and Shore |
Shore leads panel during agritourism conference Visit NC's Mark Shore facilitated a panel discussion of agriculture, tourism and economic development stakeholders during the NC Agritourism Farm Conference yesterday (Tuesday) in Winston-Salem. The panel discussed agritourism programs and services that are important to farms. |
Vote for Washington for Small Business Revolution - Main Street transformation Vote for Washington for Small Business Revolution - Main Street nominations to receive a $500,000 marketing and business transformation. Voting is open through Feb. 19. Washington is among six finalists and the only N.C. town among the nominees. Small business owners in the winning town will receive marketing support and business advice from a team of Deluxe small-business marketing experts, including chief brand and communications officer and host of the show, Amanda Brinkman. TV and renovation personality Ty Pennington will cohost the series. Once the winner is chosen, Brinkman, Pennington and the Deluxe Small Business Marketing Team will head to the winning town to provide marketing counsel and other assistance to selected business owners. Season 4 of Deluxe's reality show Small Business Revolution - Main Street will stream in the fall on Hulu, YouTube and SmallBusinessRevolution.org. |
N.C. has several hotels among 'Best in the USA' |
Cape Hatteras sees highest visitation since 2003
The Cape Hatteras National Seashore is reporting the area is seeing an increase in visitors. The National Park Service says Cape Hatteras recorded a 5.7 percent increase in total recreational visits in 2018 compared to 2017. Last year's visitation (2,572,297) made it the busiest year at the national seashore since 2003. |
Spirit Airlines expands to Charlotte Spirit Airlines will make its debut with flights to Charlotte Douglas International Airport on June 20. The airline is launching nonstop service to CLT from four destinations: Baltimore/Washington (BWI Marshall); Newark, N.J. (EWR); and the Florida cities of Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Orlando (MCO). |
'Visiting Durham, N.C.? Here's Where to Stay, Eat, and Drink'
Marie Claire featured Durham in its "Visiting Durham, N.C.? Here's Where to Stay, Eat, and Drink." The writer explains, "Downtown Durham is the ultimate quick weekend jaunt for an avid city-stroller: I didn't have to use an Uber or taxi once after arriving from the airport. The hippest point of the research triangle [sic] is filled with cozy restaurants serving up delicious twists on satisfying comfort food, bars that will make you forget you're in a town of undergrads, and an arts scene to rival cities much larger. And every place you want to go is within walking distance." |
Surveys, Industry, Marketing & Travel Trends Pushed by home-sharing, hotels try some new tricks - From televisions in every room to smartphone room keys, the hotel industry has evolved to stay at least on pace with travelers, if not a step or two ahead, notes The New York Times. Now, challenged by the home-sharing economy, new hotels are toying with everything from pricing to privacy. Airbnb, said a professor in the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, "shook legacy brands out of their slumber and forced them to consider innovating their value propositions, and it encouraged entrants to experiment with novel and bold innovations." Today, he added, new hotel brands are routinely asking a series of "what if" questions: "What if customers could check in anytime they like? What if the room was customized to the needs of the guest? What if the room could be rented in parts or in combination with others? What if the guest determined the value of the room? What if there was a seamless experience between the hotel and the local community?" What follows in the article are three hotels that embody a few experiments. One offers four color schemes designed to support emotions; one allows guests to name their rate when checking out, meaning they can lower the suggested price if they feel the value doesn't align; and one mimics the group-friendly features of home shares, including multi-bedroom units with kitchens, while adding traditional hotel amenities, such as bars in the lobby. More hotels are adding air purifiers and filters to their guest rooms - Forget free wine hours and on-demand workout videos, reports The New York Times. An increasing number of hotels around the world are now providing guests the option to book rooms with filtration and purification systems that minimize threats of air pollution and offer cleaner air. Outside conditions could certainly be a larger factor. According to data released last year by the World Health Organization, nine of 10 people globally breathe polluted air. Many top urban destinations, particularly in developing nations, have been recognized for unhealthy smog conditions. Wildfires are becoming more frequent, affecting the air quality of hundreds of miles. And travelers with respiratory conditions or allergies may especially benefit from breathing cleaner air. Most hotel properties generally charge a higher nightly rate for their clean air rooms, compared with their standard rooms, and while the amount varies depending on the hotel, a stay can be 5 percent to 7 percent more expensive.
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Shoot from the hip and aim at the waste
Many tourism destinations are climbing aboard the sustainability train for a variety of reasons. Among those reasons are the desire to protect the environment, the need to present a wholesome image for their businesses, and because sustainability has been shown to be a driver for profitability by helping to save money while attracting environmentally-conscious consumers. The easiest way to jump-start a sustainability program with little or no cash outlay is to examine a facility's waste generation. To do this, perform a waste assessment to determine exactly what is being sent to the trash and compare this information with material purchases. This will help determine which purchases are essential and which ones are just padding. . You may be surprised at the savings potential just by having that information. If you would like free assistance with developing a waste reduction plan, contact NC GreenTravel Initiative Manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140.
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| | For the week of Feb. 14 on North Carolina Weekend, get your toes a-tappin at The Barn Dance in Julian. Experience the art at French Connections in Pittsboro. Discover bluegrass music across the state, notably in Wake and Stokes counties. And tempt your taste buds at The Fiction Kitchen in Raleigh. (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 ten international countries of origin to North Carolina represent more than three-quarters of total international visitation to the state (76.9 percent). Visitors from the top ten countries spend 63 percent of the total international spend. For more North Carolina visitor information, visit the Partner Research section or contact Visit NC's Tourism Research Director Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748. |
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Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events
Feb. 18 - NCRLA Annual Meeting, Durham Feb. 28-March 1 - AENC Winter Conference, Durham March 5 - NC Civil War Trails Regional Meeting, Benson
March 8-16 - SXSW Festival Conference, Austin, Texas March 19-21 - STS Connections / SETTRA Meeting, Daytona Beach, Fla. April 2-5 - AFCI Week, Los Angeles |
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