Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners
January 18, 2017
IN THIS ISSUE:
* D.C. show sees strong interest in N.C.; 
show spots still available at Columbus, Boston
* Visit NC, Craft Brewers Guild gear up for 
5th annual NC Beer Month
* Visit NC 365 keynote speaker Agnes 
focusing on crises management
D.C. show sees strong interest in N.C.; spots still available to partner with Visit NC at consumer travel shows in Columbus, Boston

This past weekend, Visit NC attended the Travel & Adventure Show in Washington, D.C., partnering with the Outer Banks VB. The booth saw a solid amount of traffic throughout the consumer travel show, which saw an attendance of nearly 20,600. There are still a few spots still available for industry partners to join Visit NC at consumer travel shows in Columbus and Boston this year. These shows offer additional opportunities for Visit NC - and its interested partners - to promote travel to North Carolina to potential visitors who are actively looking for travel suggestions and information.
 
Feb. 3-5 - AAA Great Vacations Expo, Columbus, Ohio, approximately 14,000 attendees. Three spots available.
Feb. 10-12 - Boston Globe Travel Show, Boston, Mass., approximately 24,000 attendees. Three spots available.
 
The cost to participate is $750 per show per partner. The rest of Visit NC's consumer travel shows have already filled up with partner participation. Visit NC with have a 10' x 10' booth at each show. Partners interested in participating in any or all of the shows should contact Andre Nabors at (919) 447-7771 or Hayes Norris at (919) 447-7767.
Visit NC, Craft Brewers Guild gear up for 5th annual NC Beer Month

The Visit NC PR team is accepting registration from DMO partners interested in participating in NC Beer Month, a platform that promotes beer-related tourism across the state each April. DMO partners work within their communities to help coordinate lodging packages, special events and other activities with marketing and PR support from Visit NC.
 
The platform is free, and participation is open to partners regardless of whether there's a local brewery. Beer dinners, tastings, festivals, lodging packages and other activities with a North Carolina craft beer focus will be posted by DMOs on the dedicated NC Beer Month website. Coordination among the state's 180 breweries is coordinated by the N.C. Craft Brewers Guild.
 
Restaurants, lodging partners and attractions interested in participating can find contact information for their local DMOs at www.visitnc.com/local-travel-bureaus. DMOs that have not received registration details should contact Suzanne Brown at (919) 447-7766. 
Visit NC 365 keynote speaker Agnes focusing on keys to crisis management

Melissa Agnes will be the afternoon keynote speaker on Monday for the Visit NC 365 conference, in Greenville March 19-21, when she'll present the keys to crisis management. Agnes, president and co-founder of Agnes + Day Inc., has helped dozens of global brands and government agencies deal with crises before explosion, preventing and managing a wide range of issues before they become catastrophic. Her client list includes financial organizations, technology companies, healthcare organizations, government agencies, cities and municipalities, energy companies, global non-profits, and many others. In 2015, Agnes gave a TEDx talk in Los Angeles where she discussed the secret to successful crisis management in the 21st century. She has had the honor of sharing the stage with members of the Ukraine government and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Visit NC 365 conference schedule and more can be found here.
 
Now is a great time to register for the Visit NC 365 conference, March 19-21 at the Greenville Convention Center. There's no better opportunity to network with more than 500 of the state's tourism industry leaders and gain insights into North Carolina's growing travel industry. Online conference registration is available. Directly book hotel reservations online or call the Holiday Inn Greenville at (877) 271-2616 and ask for the Visit NC 365 conference group block for the group rate of $129/night + tax.
 
Prospective conference sponsors should contact Heidi Walters (919) 447-7762 to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.
Paid Facebook post drives clicks to Outer Banks trip idea on VisitNC.com

A Facebook post promoting a piece of custom content from the Outer Banks VB was one of Visit NC's top-performing posts for the week. By focusing on off-season travel to the coast, it put followers in a mindset to plan a coastal vacation during the colder months. The majority of Facebook comments were on-topic and positive, with most followers expressing their desire to visit the Outer Banks. Overall, the Facebook post drove more than 1,000 link clicks to the story on VisitNC.com. The custom content program is an opportunity for partners to develop trip ideas or stories to be featured on VisitNC.com, the Travel Insider eNewsletter and VisitNC social media channels. For more information on this program or other co-operative programs, contact Michelle Reino at (704) 552-6565.
A previous TRAC in Hertford
TRAC coming to Dunn/Harnett County region Feb. 16

On Feb. 16, tourism-related businesses in the Dunn/Harnett County region - including 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), a community-based training program designed to help small tourism-related businesses, will be held 10 am - 2 pm at the Dunn Center (Historic Harnett Rosenwald School) at 660 East Johnson St. in Dunn.  The Dunn session is being held in partnership with the Central Carolina Community College Hospitality Program.
 
There is no charge to attend, no reservation is required, and there are no PowerPoint presentations. 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. Dept. of Commerce, N.C. Dept. of Natural & Cultural Resources and NC GreenTravel will also be 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.
Six debuts tonight on History Channel

The N.C.-filmed military drama Six is set to premiere tonight (Wednesday) on the History Channel. The eight-episode first season follows members of Navy SEAL Team Six, chronicling the personal and professional lives of the team's members. According to the N.C. Film Office, which heavily recruited the project, said the production is estimated to have had a direct in-state spend of more than $28 million, while creating almost 1,700 job opportunities in the state. It filmed in New Hanover, Pender and Brunswick counties.
Good Behavior renewed for second season

TNT announced this past weekend.it has renewed the Wilmington region-filmed Good Behavior drama for a second season. The news comes just days after the series wrapped up its 10-episode first season last week. The second season is expected to premiere this fall, although no official production start date or location has been finalized. The N.C. Film Office, which worked to get the project to initially film in North Carolina, said the series' first season was expected to have had an overall direct in-state spend of $33.33 million while creating more than 1,000 job opportunities.
Vote for N.C. airport sites among 10Best categories

Several N.C. airport sites are among the nominations for six 10Best categories, as online voting by readers is now open via USAToday.com's website. Click on the hyperlink to vote. Voting ends Feb. 13 at noon.
 
Best Airport Bar/Restaurant Atmosphere - 42nd St. Oyster Bar at RDU and Whisky River at CLT
Best Airport Bar - Whisky River at CLT.
Best Airport for Shopping - CLT
Best Airport Grab-and-Go Dining - Hissho Sushi, CLT
Best Airport Local/Regional Dining - Brookwood Farms at CLT
Best Airport Sit-Down Dining - Whisky River at CLT
Ashe County Chamber seeking director

The Ashe County Chamber of Commerce is seeking an executive director. The position information can be found here.The application deadline is ­­­­Jan. 26.
Surveys, Industry, Marketing & Travel Trends

3 Trends that will disrupt the meetings and events industry in 2017 - The primary shift in the meetings and events industry in 2017 is going to revolve around delivering business events that engage attendees in more multidisciplinary ways, according to Skift. For the last five years, the industry has been focused on two trends impacting meeting design strategy above all else: the rise of event technology and the emergence of the Millennial generation. There was growing consensus in 2016, however, that it's time for the meetings industry to move beyond its preoccupation with those themes. Today, event tech is inherent in every element of the meeting experience pre-to-post. The concept of "hybrid meetings," combining live and virtual experiences, is meaningless in 2017 - just like the phrase "new media" that disappeared only a few years ago - because digitization has completely reshaped every industry. Meanwhile, everyone is exhausted talking about Millennials because the line differentiating generational psychographics, especially with regard to event technology, has blurred to such a large degree that it's meaningless, too.
 
Future of hotel fitness: more on demand, tech-driven and branded - Hotel fitness centers and wellness offerings have come a long way, reports Skift. Once occupying dingy, windowless basement spaces some now take up entire floors and, in some cases, some hotel companies have even built entire brands around them, like InterContinental Hotels Group, EVEN Hotels, for example. In the past few years, many brands, such as Westin Hotels, have begun investing heavily into their hotel fitness facilities and programming too, whether adding CrossFit-type equipment, offering free running maps and bicycle rentals, establishing gear lending programs, holding group yoga classes, offering on-demand meditation exercises, partnering with fitness tracking devices like FitBit, or hiring running concierges, for example.
'Finding spare change in the energy efficiency sofa'

There is always a feeling of surprised delight when cleaning couch cushions and loose change is found. That feeling of getting "free" money also occurs when energy saving measures are identified and implemented that result in operational cost savings. Many energy saving actions, like replacing old emergency exit signs with energy saving LED exit signs or installing motion sensors on vending machines, have low initial costs and can start saving money within the first year of implementation. And the best part is these activities will continue to save money throughout the life of the product. However, it can be complicated to identify which energy saving measures will yield the best return on investment. To provide assistance, Waste Reduction Partners and the N.C. Division of Environmental Assistance and Customer Service can perform an on-site, technical review of a business' utility use and environmental practices, combining energy and water-use audits, solid waste recycling guidance, and other sustainability recommendations into one technical assessment. For more information, contact NC GreenTravel Initiative Manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140.
On North Carolina Weekend for the week of Jan. 19, chill out during Blowing Rock Winterfest in Blowing Rock. Meet some of the artists at Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual in Cherokee. Experience the art scene at the Turnage Theater in Washington. Discover the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro. And lift a glass at Jones von Drehle Winery in Thurmond. (Please note: listings are subject to change.) North Carolina Weekend is underwritten by Visit North Carolina. In addition, UNC-TV has made recent editions of North Carolina Weekendavailable online.
The average travel party size for day-trip visitor parties to North Carolina in 2015 was 2.1 people. Twenty-seven percent of travel parties to the state included children in the party. For more North Carolina regional visitor profile information, visit the Visitor Profile Studies or contact Tourism Research Director Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748.

Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events

Jan. 19-20 - MPI-CC Meeting, Raleigh
Jan. 19-29 - Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah
Jan. 29-30 - NC Assn. of Festivals & Events ShowFest, Charlotte
Feb. 7 - NC Travel & Tourism Board Meeting, Raleigh
Feb. 16 - Visit NC TRAC, Dunn
March 10-19 - South by Southwest Conference and Festivals, Austin, Texas
March 12-15 - Travel South Showcase, Branson, Mo.
March 14 - NC Sports Assn. Meeting, Charlotte
March 14-16 - NC Main Street Conference, Shelby
March 16-17 - MPI-CC Meeting, Myrtle Beach, S.C.
March 19-21 - Visit NC 365 Conference, Greenville
March 24-26 - Mountain-to-Sea Trail Annual Meeting, Elkin
March 28-29 - US Travel Assn.'s Destination Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.
March 28-30 - Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference, Asheville
March 26-30 - NASC Sports Event Symposium, Sacramento, Calif.
NewsLink is a publication of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina
15000 Weston Parkway | Cary, NC 27513