Weekly e-newsletter for Visit NC Partners - June 27, 2024
IN THIS ISSUE: * Visit NC July webinar showcases the ‘Portrait of American Travelers’
* Visit NC PR successes, fams
Due to the July 4 holiday, NewsLink won’t be produced next week.
NewsLink will return July 11.
Have a safe and enjoyable holiday celebration!
Visit NC July webinar showcases the ‘Portrait of American Travelers’
For Visit NC’s monthly webinar for July, Visit NC's Research team will join MMGY to share the latest findings and release of their "Portrait of American Travelers." This insightful survey provides information ranging from what vacation experiences are most desired to how travelers feel about travel safety. The research further delves into how various factors are shaping perceptions of travel for the future, as well as how travelers are motivated to travel. The webinar will be 10 a.m. on July 11. Click
here to register.
PR team-led tours lead to Pinehurst, Blowing Rock coverage
As the 124th U.S. Open Championship unfolded in Pinehurst earlier this month, Barron's quarterly magazine Penta arrived with the feature “Tips for Visiting Golf Mecca Pinehurst, North Carolina, From a Champion of the Sport
.” Resulting from a media tour organized by Visit NC’s PR team, the coverage zoomed in on Pinehurst Resort and other appealing points of traveler interest including a nearby pair: Tobacco Road Golf Course in Sanford and the Angus Barn in Raleigh. Visit NC also shared leads that helped the writer connect with “champion of the sport” Webb Simpson, the Raleigh native/Charlotte resident who grew up playing at Pinehurst and who won the 2012 U.S. Open. The Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area CVB and Visit Raleigh provided hospitality for the media tour. The publication attracts more than 5.5 million unique monthly visitors.
Also from the tour, the writer included Pinehurst No. 2, the storied site of the U.S. Open, in an InsideHook roundup “The 8 Best Golf Courses We Played This Year.” The outlet has a reach of 843,722 unique monthly visitors.
In other coverage, Blowing Rock took the spotlight at TorontoStar.com as the result of a spring media tour arranged by the PR team in partnership with the Blowing Rock TDA. “North Carolina’s ‘best small town’ offers rugged outdoorsy adventure and comfy resort life” highlighted the Blue Ridge Parkway, Grandfather Mountain and Sky Valley as well as Chetola Resort and its associated sporting reserve. TorontoStar.com attracts more than 6.5 million unique monthly visitors. The media tour was organized for Travel South USA Global Week.
The group at Carolina
Beach State Park
Visit NC leads Lufthansa inaugural flight fam of Raleigh, Wilmington and Durham
Visit North Carolina, in conjunction with partners at Visit Raleigh, Wilmington and Beaches CVB, and Discover Durham hosted three German journalists and a representative from MMGY Lieb on a familiarization tour last week in honor of Lufthansa’s inaugural flight to RDU. The tour included stops at the Dueling Dinosaurs experience at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh; a ranger-led hike of the Flytrap Trail at Carolina Beach State Park in Carolina Beach; a distillery tasting experience at Liberty & Plenty in Durham; and dining at many independent restaurants, plus accommodations at several hotels and inns.
PR team, partners pitch at Visit NC’s mini-media mission in Boston
Visit NC’s Veda Gilbert and four destination partners traveled to Boston, Mass. this week for a two-day mini-media mission. During informal gatherings, eight media representatives from local, regional and national outlets heard pitches from Johnston County VB’s Ashby Brame, Wilmington and Beaches CVB’s Connie Nelson, Crystal Coast TA’s Karen Gould, and Annalise O’Donnell on behalf of Explore Boone. The Visit NC PR team and partners will follow up with journalists to maximize connections from the event.
To find out more about Visit NC's public relations program, contact Visit NC’s Veda Gilbert and Suzanne Brown at media@visitnc.com.
Tourism industry overview, AI in marketing information provided to High Country Host
Visit NC’s Scott Peacock provided a state-of-the-tourism-industry overview during the High Country Host Annual Meeting in Linville this week. In addition, he discussed the use of AI in marketing to the meeting’s more than 80 attendees.
RC2 learns about Visit NC
Visit NC’s André Nabors presented an overview of Visit NC and its available programs at the Rural Communities Capacity (RC2) Program meeting last week in Boone. Attendees were from 11 communities across NC. The RC2 program, part of the broader Rural Transformation Grant program, will provide educational programming, technical assistance, and focused guidance to local government staff in rural and distressed communities. Each of the 19 jurisdictions can identify up to two representatives to participate in program activities, which include on-campus and virtual classes, community level engagement, and targeted training programs. RC2 campus curriculum will include four core courses that are required by the NC Department of Commerce and additional targeted courses that are designed by the Appalachian State University faculty.
'Nearly 71 million people expected to travel for July 4th week'
AAA projects 70.9 million travelers will head 50 miles or more from home during the Independence Day holiday travel period. This year’s projected number of travelers for that time period is a 5 percent increase compared to 2023 and an 8 percent increase compared to 2019. AAA projects a record 60.6 million people will travel by car during Independence Day week – that’s an additional 2.8 million travelers compared to last year. For this forecast, the Independence Day holiday travel period is defined as the nine-day period from Saturday, June 29 to Sunday, July 7. Historically, the Independence Day holiday period included only one weekend; this is the first year the Independence Day holiday travel period is a longer timeframe with two weekends included.
July brings ‘Summer Pleasures’
For its July edition, Our State magazine offers “52 Summer Pleasures.” “Restaurant” highlights Southern Lunch in Lexington; “Outdoors” spends time at Harvey Clay Nesbit Park in WaxhawarHa; and “Festival” enjoys the Fair Bluff Watermelon Festival. The July issue is available now.
For the week of June 27, "North Carolina Weekend” offers “Ocracoke and Other Adventures.” Featured segments include a weekend in Ocracoke; McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro; and Highland Lake Inn & Resort in Flat Rock. (Check local listings, as segments are subject to change.) "North Carolina Weekend" is underwritten by Visit North Carolina. In addition, PBS North Carolina has recent editions of "North Carolina Weekend" available online.
July 21-23 – AENC Annual Meeting, Cherokee Aug. 9-13 – SYTA Annual Conference, New York City, N.Y. Aug. 10-13 – ASAE Annual Meeting, Cleveland, Ohio Aug. 11-13 – US Travel Assn’s ESTO, Columbus, Ohio Aug. 18-20 – Destination Southeast, Point Clear, Ala. Aug. 22-23 – MPI-Carolinas Chapter Meeting, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Aug. 27-29 – Connect Sports Marketplace, Milwaukee, Wis. Aug. 27-30 – NCMA-VMA-MCASC Regional Meeting, Williamsburg, Va.
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