Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners
May 16, 2018
IN THIS ISSUE:
* Visit NC tunes in to Canadian Music Week
* TRAC coming to Tarboro/Edgecombe County 
region June 14
* Nearly 42 million Americans will kick off summer 
with a Memorial Day getaway
(l-r) RedEye's Charlie Painter, Walters, RedEye's Glenn Dicker and Freed-Burns
Visit NC tunes in to Canadian Music Week
 
Visit North Carolina's Heidi Walters and Canada representative Stephanie Freed-Burns participated in Canadian Music Week last week. The team partnered with Redeye Worldwide (a global music distribution company based in Hillsborough) on a dedicated booth during the three-day music summit that saw hundreds of music industry personnel, artists and media. This year's event featured the first-ever "Spotlight on the USA," focused on highlighting and promoting U.S. participants and music-themed travel destinations. The program included one-on-one meetings with travel and music media and destination presentations during a US Travel press conference. Canada Music Week attracts more than 3,000 delegates and 4,500 musicians.
A previous TRAC in Mars Hill
TRAC coming to Tarboro/Edgecombe County region June 14
 
On June 14, tourism-related businesses in Tarboro and Edgecombe 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; the exact address should be in future NewsLinks.
 
There is no charge to attend, no reservation is required, and there are 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.
Nearly 42 million Americans will kick off summer with a Memorial Day getaway

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer, and Americans will kick off the season by traveling in near-record numbers. According to AAA, more than 41.5 million Americans will travel this Memorial Day weekend, nearly 5 percent more than last year and the most in more than a dozen years. The 88 percent of travelers choosing to drive will pay the most expensive Memorial Day gas prices since 2014. Gas prices averaged $2.72 in April, an increase of 33 cents from last year, due to expensive crude oil, record gasoline demand and shrinking global supply. While road trippers will pay higher prices at the gas pump this year, travelers can expect some relief in their wallets when paying for airfare, car rentals and most mid-range hotels.
CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer returning to Charlotte in 2019
 
The CONCACAF Gold Cup will be coming to Charlotte in 2019. Charlotte has previously hosted Gold Cup games in 2011 and 2015, featuring high-profile teams such as Mexico, Cuba, and Trinidad & Tobago. Charlotte joins Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Phoenix as host venues, with specific dates expected to be announced in the coming months. "We're excited to welcome the CONCACAF Gold Cup back to Bank of America Stadium and Charlotte for the third time," said CRVA CEO Tom Murray. "International soccer matches like the Gold Cup create additional visitor spending that is important to our overall visitor economy, and strategic events like this generate invaluable national and international media exposure opportunities for the city."
Vote for N.C. faves & sites among 10Best categories

Several N.C. sites and favorites are among the sports-related nominations for four 10Best categories, as online voting by readers is now open via USAToday.com's website. Click on the hyperlink to vote. Voting ends June 11at noon.
 
Best Outdoor Water Park - Carolina Harbor, Charlotte
Best Indoor Water Park - Great Wolf Lodge, Concord
Best Roller Coaster - Fury 325, Carowinds, Charlotte
Surveys, Industry, Marketing & Travel Trends

Here's how a developer is turning a parking deck into a huge Charlotte art piece - Workers in hoists are assembling a "gigantic 3D puzzle" to cover up part of a new development in uptown Charlotte, replacing blank concrete faces with something more visually interesting. According to The Charlotte Observer, the piece, called "Wanderwall," is part of a development that includes apartments, a grocery store and two hotels under construction on adjacent lots. There's a city ordinance requiring parking decks to be screened with metal louvers or grates, but the imposing, blank facade still represented a daunting challenge to the building's appearance. "It is our hope that 'Wanderwall' becomes one of the iconic sights around our city and inspires more investment in public art to enhance and define uptown," said a representative with the development.
 
Embracing offbeat holidays increases guest, team engagement - It has become the hospitality industry standard to celebrate the major holidays by helping to spread some cheer for guests who can't be at home, explains one industry representative in an article for HotelManagement. But what about the hundreds of holidays every year that are hardly recognized? Now, that's a gold mine of opportunity for keeping guests and team members engaged year-round. One hotel noticed guests had the post-holiday blues in January so found a lesser-known holiday: National Rubber Ducky Day. For a full week in January, the hotel set up a series of events for its guests. It ordered hundreds of rubber ducks; some were dressed in costume, some of them were different colors. Next, it put messages on the bottom of the ducks - a free appetizer at the bar, a bottle of wine sent to the room, free Hilton Honors points - and placed the ducks around the hotel in hiding spots. This can be anything from a duck "exercising" on a treadmill to a duck wearing a robe while lounging in the spa room. Guests were encouraged to find the ducks throughout the week in order to claim their free gifts. It's a win-win for all involved. The hotel's team members enjoyed scouting the hiding spots and coming up with creative ways of displaying the ducks, while the guests enjoyed finding them and receiving prizes. The representative concluded, "At first, the team was skeptical that the guests would engage. In fact, it has been such a hit that we've seen improvement in our guest survey scores around the dates of these 'wacky' holidays that we celebrate."
 
Hotel summer prep focuses on staffing, design and F&B - Preparing a hotel and its staff for a busy summer season takes a great deal of planning and attention to detail, reports HotelNewsNow, including an emphasis on appearance. One hotel representative explains, "We spend a significant amount of money on our pool area, our landscape areas, our seating areas (and) our outdoor terrace areas." Another says the hotel's event lawn, hotel signage and the entrance of the lobby - a guest's first impression - are all updated and dressed with colorful summer florals. One industry representative notes the use of lighting can change up an atmosphere, so there's not the expense of a complete seasonal décor renovation. In addition to proper staffing, the article suggests hotel food and beverage should also get a seasonal refresh.
That's the last straw...

There is a huge movement among the environmental community to educate people about the detrimental effect that single-use plastic drinking straws have on wildlife and the environment. Thousands of straws end up in waterways every minute. As we all know, water runs downhill, along with debris, litter, single-use plastics and other pollutants. In the USA alone, 500 million straws are used every day, many of which end up in the ocean. Even though we only use a straw for about 20 minutes, they can wash down to the ocean and stay there forever. Some of those straws are ingested by turtles and other aquatic wildlife. Plastic straws are not recyclable. The simple solution is for people to stop using plastic straws. Some retailers offer glass, stainless steel and bamboo straws as an alternative to plastic. Restaurants, hotels and bars can help by only offering plastic straws when requested by customers. Being aware of the damage that straws can inflict on the environment is a positive step. Visit Strawless Ocean for more information. For more information about things that the hospitality industry can do to protect the environment, visit NC GreenTravel Initiative or contact NC GreenTravel manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140.
For the week of May 17 on North Carolina Weekend, see how one could spend a weekend in Hickory. Discover the Aurora Fossil Museum in Aurora. Get your toes a-tappin' at the Lil John Mountain Music Festival in Snow Camp. And the "House Special" samples the fare at Burrito Brothers in Marion. (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.
Out-of-state visitors to North Carolina have a 36 percent longer length of stay than resident visitors within the state. For more information, visit Fast Facts,or contact Tourism Research Director Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748.
Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events

Through May 17 - MPI-CC Meeting, Wilmington
May 17 - NC Coast Host Quarterly Meeting, Emerald Isle
May 19-23 - U.S. Travel Assn.'s IPW, Denver, Colo.
June 8 - NC Sports Association Quarterly Meeting, TBD
June 13 - BRNHA Spring Meeting, Asheville
June 14 - Visit NC's TRAC, Tarboro
June 24-29 - STS Marketing College, Dahlonega, Ga.
June 26-28 - TTRA International Conference, Coral Gables, Fla.
July 19-20 - MPI-CC Meeting, Winston-Salem
July 21-23 - AENC Annual Meeting, Greenville
NewsLink is a publication of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina
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