| Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners | May 8, 2019 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE:
* Visit NC joins partners to celebrate Travel & Tourism Week
* Register for free Google DMO webinar next Tuesday * Raleigh's Christensen wins James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef |
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 | | | Walters (lf) in Greenville |
Visit NC joins partners to celebrate Travel & Tourism Week
Heidi Walters was the keynote speaker at Visit Greenville's Travel & Tourism Week lunch this past Monday. Walters spoke on the impact hosting Cycle NC's Mountains to Coast ride can have on communities. Greenville will be one of the overnight stops for Cycle NC's Mountains to the Coast ride this fall. |
| | Nabors in Elizabeth City | |
Andre Nabors spoke at the Elizabeth City Area CVB's Travel & Tourism Week rally celebration on Tuesday. The CVB offered toasts to the economic impact of visitor spending in Pasquotank County. Nabors also visited the Perquimans County Chamber of Commerce and Chowan County TDA to help mark the importance of tourism in their counties. |
| | | Chung in Concord |
Wit Tuttell and the EDPNC's CEO Chris Chung were in Concord last week for the Cabarrus County CVB's Tourism Summit. Tuttell discussed the importance of tourism to the state, in addition Visit NC's work to promote travel to and within the state; he also spoke about the importance of partnering with Visit NC to further promote Cabarrus County to potential visitors. Chung addressed the summit about North Carolina's current economy and how the state and its economy look moving forward. |
Register for free Google DMO webinar next Tuesday
Visit NC is offering a new program this year, which was unveiled during the partner co-op presentation at Visit NC 365 in Wilmington earlier this year. Visit NC has collaborated with Miles Partnership for a multi-tiered program that helps support destinations to improve representation on Google. The ecosystem of travel planning products offered by Google is gaining in usage and popularity every day, and Visit NC wants to ensure North Carolina destinations are maximizing their quality and presence. This new custom program is designed to: - Expand the reach of a destination's content across Google's travel-planning products
- Submit missing data and visual content to activate improvements to the destination's representation and grow visitor engagement
- Provide destinations with a Visit NC-sponsored online education resource on Google My Business and other digital marketing tools
- Educate a destination's staff to be contributors and to report results from the Google travel product ecosystem
This program has many different aspects and options, and there are likely questions about it. So Visit NC would like to invite you to a free webinar on Tuesday, May 14, to learn more about what Visit North Carolina and Miles are offering. This is an informational session, designed to educate and help DMOs figure out if this program makes sense for their destination, and at what level. To register, click here. |
| | | Christensen accepting her award (photo from James Beard Foundation's Facebook page) |
Raleigh's Christensen wins James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef Raleigh chef Ashley Christensen, whose cooking reinvigorated a city's restaurant scene, won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in the country, taking home the top honors Monday night at the annual James Beard Foundation awards in Chicago. This is the second James Beard chef award for Christensen, who owns Poole's Diner and several restaurants in downtown Raleigh. She previously won Best Chef: Southeast in 2014 and is the only North Carolina chef to ever win the top award, considered the Oscars of the food industry. |
Visit NC PR team's efforts lead to Original Bojangles' highlighted
With assistance from the Visit NC PR team, North Carolina had a presence in the Food Network Magazine's "Fast Food Flashback" in its May issue. Visit NC worked with the Charlotte Regional Visitor's Authority to pin down details about the Original Bojangles' and source a photo for the article, which traced a route highlighting fast food landmarks from coast to coast. Of the Original Bojangles' in Charlotte, the article explained, "The fried chicken restaurant opened as a walk-in location without seating in 1977, then expanded as crowds flocked here for homemade biscuits. There are now more than 700 locations throughout the Southeast." |
| | | A previous TRAC in Swan Quarter |
TRAC coming to Wayne County region June 6
On June 6, tourism-related businesses in Goldsboro and Wayne 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 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Arts Council of Wayne County, 102 N. John St. in Goldsboro. There is no charge to attend, no reservation is required, and there is no PowerPoint presentation. This is a come-when-you-can/stay-as-long-as-you-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. |
Lodging indicators for North Carolina strong through first quarter 2019 First quarter lodging data for North Carolina shows continued growth and record levels for all indicators. According to the recent data from STR, all statewide lodging indicators tracked posted increases from the first quarter of 2017. Room demand, which represents the number of room nights sold in lodging properties, grew 8 percent from the first quarter of 2018 and has grown 18 percent in the last five years. Q1 2019 represents the tenth consecutive first quarter with room demand growth in North Carolina. Demand at the national level grew 2 percent during Q1 2019. North Carolina first quarter demand is at a record high of more than 8.5 million room nights sold during the three-month period.
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Room revenues are also at an all-time high in North Carolina. First quarter revenues were nearly $863 million, an increase of 12 percent from Q1 2018. |
Room revenue growth in North Carolina surpassed that of the U.S. and South Atlantic region.
Statewide occupancy grew 7.6 percent from the first quarter of 2018. It should be noted that room supply growth, which has led to somewhat sluggish occupancy growth during the last several years, has slowed in early 2019. Room supply was up less than one percent (as compared to +2.8 percent in Q1 2017 and +1.9 percent in 2017) year-to-date. Regionally, the N.C. lodging industry also continues to post positive numbers throughout the state. Quarterly room demand is up in each of the eight prosperity zones, with the Southeast and Sandhills regions posting double-digit demand growth from Q1 2018 to Q1 2019. Room revenues are up in each of the eight regions, particularly the Southeast, Sandhills, Piedmont Triad and Northeast regions. The March 2019 Lodging Report, along with past Lodging Reports, is available here. For more information, contact Visit NC's Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748. |
Brand USA seeking interest for webinar Brand USA is the nation's DMO. It represents everything in, through and beyond the gateways. And that includes your destination. Currently, Brand USA has an initiative where it is focusing on smaller destinations to make them aware of who Brand USA is and how it may help smaller destinations in their international marketing efforts. Now Brand USA is looking to set up a webinar to formally introduce Brand USA and share details on foundational programs to get smaller destinations working with them. If interested in participating in this webinar, please contact Dianne Turner at Brand USA. |
Hettleman now director for Alleghany County Chamber Katee Hettleman is now director for the Alleghany County Chamber of Commerce. She may be contacted at (336) 372-5473 or via director@sparta-nc.com. |
Plug-in NC: Encouraging driving electric
A growing way to draw visitors to your destination is to install electric vehicle chargers, whether at a specific facility or site. North Carolina is viewed as a national leader for electric vehicle adoption. The state has more than 7,500 electric vehicles registered and there are more than 1,000 charging stations installed in North Carolina. Now these locations have the opportunity to be recognized for their efforts. Communities and organizations are invited to join Plug-in NC. This new program, started by the N.C. Plug-in Electric Vehicle (NC PEV) Taskforce, seeks to recognize locations that have installed electric vehicle charging stations or have purchased electric fleet vehicles. By joining the free program, a business/organization can be recognized on the NC PEV Taskforce's website, newsletter and social media. It will also have opportunities to connect with other electric vehicle supporters across the state to share lessons learned and best practices. For more information about plug-in electric vehicles, and to apply for recognition, visit Plug-in NC. or contact NC GreenTravel Initiative Manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140. |
| | For the week of May 9 on "North Carolina Weekend," the program repeats the episode that originally aired March 14. Segments feature the NC Stage Company in Asheville, Country Doctor Museum in Bailey, and Wake2Wake Watersports in Bath, plus the "House Special" at the Starlight Café in Greenville. (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. | First quarter 2019 room demand statewide was up eight percent from the first quarter of 2018. Demand was up in each of the state's economic development regions. For more North Carolina lodging information, visit Lodging Reports, or contact Visit NC's Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748. |
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Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events
May 12-17 - STS Marketing College, Dahlonega, Ga. June 3 - NC Sports Assn. Quarterly Meeting, Kitty Hawk June 6 - Visit NC TRAC, Goldsboro July 18 - MPI-CC Meeting, North Charleston, S.C. July 20-22 - AENC Annual Meeting, Charlotte |
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