| Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners | January 22, 2020 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE:
* Visit NC recognized with its first Platinum Adrian Award
* Mottola Tuesday keynote speaker for Visit NC 365
* Carden receives inaugural N.C. Champion Award
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Visit NC recognized with its first Platinum Adrian Award
Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) honored Visit North Carolina with a Platinum Adrian Award for Digital Marketing for its CAREolinas campaign. The effort was aimed at demonstrating unity between North and South Carolina in the face of 2018's devastating Hurricane Florence. The Adrian Awards were presented yesterday (Tuesday) during the HSMAI Adrian Awards Gala in New York, N.Y. The Adrian Awards are the largest and most prestigious global travel marketing competition. Visit North Carolina reacted to the effects of Hurricane Florence through the lens of cause marketing - first and foremost helping its target audience while also building awareness, affinity and goodwill for its brand. Born from the idea North and South Carolina share more than a state line, #CAREolinas started as a simple social media post and quickly became a unifying movement to show support and raise money and resources for recovery. The original Instagram post featured an illustration of the two Carolinas replacing the usual border with a message of hope and togetherness: "We share more than a state line." With buy-in from Visit North Carolina and its counterpart, Discover South Carolina, that initial idea mushroomed within days into a website where visitors could donate toward recovery efforts, leave messages of support, purchase special T-shirts or see how partners ranging from Hendrick Motorsports and Childress Vineyards to the NFL's Carolina Panthers were getting behind the effort. Visit North Carolina worked to ensure that this movement also received regional and national media coverage to help connect and amplify efforts across the two states. "The purpose of the CAREolinas campaign was to exemplify that North and South Carolina were 'back open' and welcoming to all visitors," Visit NC's Wit Tuttell explained. "It was done to connect recovery efforts and stories as the Carolinas unified to rebound from Hurricane Florence. #CAREolinas served as an information hub for hurricane recovery, bringing neighbors together across state lines to share, connect and support relief efforts." The purely organic campaign was hugely successful, with more than 34,000 website visits, 94,000 engagements with the #CAREolinas hashtag on Instagram and Twitter, and millions of earned media and social impressions. Most important, the effort raised approximately $140,000 for relief efforts to help the people of North and South Carolina recover - together - from the storm's crippling impact. |
Mottola Tuesday keynote speaker for Visit NC 365
Paolo Mottola is Tuesday's keynote speaker for the Visit NC 365 Conference, in Asheville March 22-24. Although access to audiences has never been easier, competition for attending has never been greater. The key to standing out isn't just good messaging and well-executed creative but basing your communications in stories and actions that really matter. Mottola, director of content & media at REI and storytelling instructor at the University of Washington, will share insights about how to find and develop the stories that meaningfully engage and create lasting impressions with audiences. |
| | | (photo courtesy Henderson County TDA) |
Carden receives inaugural N.C. Champion Award
Visit NC's Wit Tuttell presented the inaugural North Carolina Champion Award to Henderson County TDA director Beth Carden last week. The Champion Award honors leaders who have provided outstanding service to the tourism industry during an extended period of time. It recognizes individuals whose commitment has led their organization to new heights through sustained excellence. "Beth Carden has been a great partner to Visit North Carolina," Tuttell said. "Whenever we have needed anything at all, her answer has always been yes. Henderson County tourism has experienced strong growth during her tenure and that is a direct reflection of her leadership." The N.C. Champion Award was presented to Carden, who is slated to retire in September, during the Henderson County TDA's eighth annual tourism conference. |
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RetireNC gets popular response in Chicago area
Visit NC's André Nabors, along with City of Salisbury and City of Reidsville, promoted North Carolina as a retirement destination at the Ideal Living Resort & Retirement Expo in Schaumburg (a Chicago suburb), Ill., this past weekend. The Expo drew more than 1,000 potential retirees from the region who were interested in exploring opportunities and conversing with exhibitors from across the Southeast. Attendees talked with experts from towns and community developers to gain insights and get answers to help plan, design and enjoy their retirement. North Carolina has consistently been one of the most requested states by the attendees. Visit North Carolina attended the Expo to continue its efforts to promote the N.C. Certified Retirement Community Program, which consists of Eden, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Jamestown/High Point, Johnston County, Laurinburg, Lenoir, Lumberton, Marion, Mount Airy, New Bern, Reidsville, Roanoke Rapids, Salisbury, Sanford, Tarboro, Washington, and Winterville. For more information about the Certified Retirement Community Program or Visit North Carolina's marketing initiatives for retirement relocation, contact André Nabors at (919) 447-7771. |
Visit NC, EDPNC moving offices this week into next
Visit North Carolina, along with the rest of the EDPNC, is moving its offices starting tomorrow (Thursday, Jan. 23). The new address will be 150 Fayetteville St., Suite 1200, Raleigh, N.C. 27601. Phone numbers and emails will remain the same. Please update any records accordingly. In addition to being more centrally located in downtown Raleigh, this move will put the Visit NC and EDPNC offices closer to state government offices. Just as with Visit NC's soon-to-be former location in Cary, the offices will be set up as business offices, so not as a type of visitor information center; partners are reminded not to automatically send boxes of their visitor brochures as there will be no brochure displays available. |
N.C.-filmed 'The 24th' slated for world premiere at SXSW
The N.C.-filmed feature "The 24th" is slated to have its world premiere during the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, in March, as announced by the festival last week. The project, which filmed in Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, and Rowan counties, was approved to have $1.6 million reserved from the N.C. Film and Entertainment Grant fund. The film is the based on the true story of the all-black Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry and the Houston Riot of 1917; the night of violence led to the largest murder trial in American history. |
N.C. Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020 announced
The N.C. Sports Hall of Fame has announced its 2020 induction class. The new members, listed alphabetically, are Debbie Antonelli, Tyrone "Muggsy" Bogues, Mack Brown, Dennis Craddock, Dr. Charles Kernodle, Mac Morris, Trot Nixon, Julius Peppers, Bobby Purcell, Judy Rose, Tim Stevens and Donnell Woolford. They will be enshrined during the 57th annual induction banquet on May 1 in Raleigh. |
Vote for Billy Graham Library as Best Religious Museum
Vote for the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte as the Best Religious Museum. It's among the nominees for the 10Best's Readers' Choice Awards for America's best museums. Online voting is now open via USAToday.com's website; click on the hyperlink to vote. Voting ends Feb. 17 at noon. |
Clarke new director for Onslow County Tourism
Salem Clarke is the new director for Onslow County Tourism. She may be contacted at (910) 347-3141x 222 or via tourd@jacksonvilleonline.org. |
How do you define sustainability?
One of the most common questions tourism businesses face when examining sustainable practices is, what does it mean to be green? The East Carolina University Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering defines it this way: "Sustainability is forward innovation. It is change that keeps the thought in mind that everything needed for survival depends either directly or indirectly on the environment. So sustainability is an ongoing pursuit to create and maintain conditions under which humans and nature can coexist in dynamic harmony." While this might seem like an easy definition to understand, it can become complicated. Questions such as "Can a business be completely sustainable?" or "How do you measure the total environment impact?" quickly arise. And while these questions are difficult, the crux of sustainable tourism is quite simple. It means being committed to evaluating the broader impacts of business decisions to include areas of environmental and social impact. So while everyone can debate the specifics of zero waste or local foods, all should be able to agree that actions that help a business' bottom line that are more environmentally and socially responsible, are more sustainable. For more information on sustainable tourism and how your tourism-oriented business can become a recognized sustainable destination or event, visit www.ncgreentravel.org or contact Tom Rhodes at (919) 707) 8140. |
| | For the week of Jan. 23 on "North Carolina Weekend," the program repeats the episode that originally aired Nov. 28. Segments feature "Toy Boom!", an exhibit at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh; "Downton Abbey: The Exhibition" at Biltmore in Asheville; Part Two on the Yadkin Valley Winter Wine Passport in Surry County; and Mitchell's Nursery & Greenhouse in King. (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. | In 2018, the top advertising markets sending overnight visitors to North Carolina were Charlotte (10.8 percent), Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville (10.6 percent), Greenville-Spartanburg-Asheville (6.0 percent), Atlanta (6.0 percent), Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point (5.5 percent), New York (5.2 percent) and Washington, D.C. (4.7 percent). Advertising markets correspond with Nielsen's Designated Market Areas (DMAs). 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
Jan. 25-27 - NC Assn. of Festivals & Events Showfest, Charlotte Jan. 28 - NC Sports Assn. Meeting, Durham Feb. 3 - NCRLA Annual Meeting, Raleigh Feb. 13 - NC Coast Host Meeting, Morehead City March 10-12 - NC Main Street Conference, New Bern March 13-17 - SXSW Festival Conference, Austin, Texas March 22-24 - Visit NC 365 Conference, Asheville |
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