 In this issue:
• VisitNC returns to WTM
• Twitter/Tumblr project will spotlight N.C. Civil War connections
• Winter spa treatments info sought for VisitNC
...and more
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| Visit North Carolina returns to WTM |  | U.K. representative Duncan McCubbin (lf)
and Heidi Walters at WTM. |
After a six-year absence, Visit North Carolina has returned to World Travel Market, the largest travel trade show in England. Visit NC teamed with Travel South USA for a larger presence among the U.S. destinations. Executive Director Wit Tuttell, and Partner & Industry Director Heidi Walters met with 30 tour operators and media representatives. Evening receptions featured food and beverages from the South, including wines from Biltmore and Shelton wineries. Visitors from the U.K. (England & Ireland) are the No. 1 overseas market to North Carolina. In 2013, these visitors numbered 98,331 and spent $37.4 million. For more information on Visit North Carolina's international marketing program, contact Heidi Walters at (919) 447-7762.
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| Twitter/Tumblr project will spotlight N.C. Civil War connections | |
Visit North Carolina and the N.C. Dept. of Cultural Resources are gathering information for an innovative social media project to commemorate the final year of the Civil War sesquicentennial. Partners with social media accounts that relate to the Civil War in North Carolina are asked to send information to Media Relations Specialist Suzanne Brown. Additions to a previously gathered list of dedicated websites and pages will be appreciated as well. Listings for re-enactments and other events on the VisitNC database are also vital for project content as well as tourism marketing on VisitNC.
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| Winter spa treatments info sought for VisitNC | |
The VisitNC.com team is updating last year's story on winter spa escapes and needs input from industry partners. One example would be a destination spa offering seasonal treatments such as peppermint-scented hot stone massages or gingerbread manicures. Information needed is the name and address of the spa, treatment title and description, and the dates the special treatment is available. Send this information to Gretchen Voth for consideration. Deadline is this Friday, Nov. 7. Please note inclusion in the story is not guaranteed. To be considered, destinations must also be listed in the VisitNC.com database.
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| Representatives in Brunswick County learn about Certified Retirement Community program |  | Andre Nabors (lf) and
Leland TDA’s Glenda Browning |
Partners Relations Manager Andre Nabors was in Brunswick County last week, meeting with representatives from St. James Plantation and the Leland TDA to discuss how to participate in the N.C. Certified Retirement Community Program. Nabors spoke to more than 20 representatives from the community on the legislation, guidelines, eligibility and benefits of the program.
The General Assembly has charged Visit North Carolina with promoting the state's Certified Retirement Community program, which recognizes towns that are positioning themselves for retiree attraction as an economic and community development strategy. Asheboro, Eden, Edenton, Lumberton, Marion, Mount Airy, Pittsboro, Sanford and Tarboro are the state's Certified Retirement Communities. For more information about the Certified Retirement Community Program and Visit North Carolina’s marketing initiatives for retirement relocation, contact Andre Nabors at (919) 447-7771. |
| Paper Towns begins filming in Charlotte region | 
Filming is officially underway in the Charlotte region on Paper Towns, the latest young adult novel by New York Times best-selling author John Green to be turned into a movie. Principal photography on the feature is scheduled to continue into December with overall production lasting a little more than 125 days in the state. The feature is scheduled to be released in theaters in June 2015. The production is expected to shoot in Mecklenburg, Union and Cabarrus counties, among others. Producers on the project have credited North Carolina's current 25 percent refundable tax credit as well as the state's established film infrastructure – including a well-respected crew base – for being key factors in the production coming to the state. Green even did a teaser video to stoke interest in the upcoming film. Starring Cara Delevingne, Halston Sage and Nat Wolff, the film is the story of a young man who has spent a lifetime loving a young woman from afar, but after a night out together he begins to discover that maybe the girl he has longed for isn’t exactly who he thinks she is.
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| N.C.-filmed An Evergreen Christmas now available on DVD | | An Evergreen Christmas, which filmed in the Charlotte Region in 2013, is now available on DVD, BluRay and digital download. The production filmed primarily in Cleveland and Gaston counties as well in parts of Lincoln and Mecklenburg counties. According to an audit on the production done by the NC Department of Revenue, it had a direct in-state spend in excess of $1.3 million while providing more than 100 job opportunities, over half of which were well-paying crew positions for the state's highly skilled film professionals. Total production, including both pre-production, principal photography, and post-production lasted for just over two months in the first quarter of the year. Starring Naomi Judd, Robert Loggia and Charleene Closshey, along with Tyler Ritter, Greer Grammer and Booboo Stewart, the feature is the story of a woman who leaves her seemingly glamorous Hollywood life to return to the small town of Balsam Falls and her family’s once-thriving Christmas tree farm to attend her father’s unexpected funeral and begins to find herself while deciding whether she should return to Hollywood and pursue her dreams of a music career or stay home and save her family's legacy.
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| Two ski resorts open early on heels of weekend snow | |
Two of North Carolina's half-dozen ski resorts are open for business and fun after an early snow hit parts of the state's mountains this past weekend. Sugar Mountain Resort in Sugar Mountain and Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley opened Sunday for their winter season. Sugar Mountain says it opened because this past weekend's Arctic blast dropped more than eight inches of snow in parts of the Appalachian Mountains. The resort also made snow through the weekend as temperatures in the High Country dropped well below the freezing mark. Four other North Carolina ski areas plan to open in the next few weeks. |
| Girls soccer brings visitors, spending to Wake County area | |
The CASL VisitRaleigh.com National Soccer Series – considered the largest annual youth sporting event in the area’s history – kicks off this weekend with the Girls Shootout, the first of four major youth soccer tournaments that comprise the National Soccer Series. The National Soccer Series Girls Shootout expects more than 200 teams (ages 10-14) from around the country to attend. Games will be played throughout Wake County and neighboring areas. According to the Greater Raleigh CVB, the first weekend of the National Soccer Series is expected to generate more than 3,500 hotel room-nights and more than $1 million in direct visitor spending. During the course of the four weekends of the National Soccer Series, more than 22,500 athletes making up 1,200 girls and boys soccer teams from all over the country, will play a total of 3,750 games. In total, more than 35,000 visitors are expected to make their way to the Greater Raleigh area, creating more than $9 million in direct visitor spending.
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| Rise Biscuits and Donuts competes on Donut Wars | 
Rise Biscuits and Donuts in Durham will be competing on this Thursday's episode of Donut Wars on the Cooking Channel. The episode, titled "Bejeweled," pits Rise against competitors from Toronto and New York. |
| Bodie Island lighthouse among 'Scenic lighthouses around the USA' | |
For its "Scenic lighthouses around the USA," 10Best offers a "look at some of the lighthouses throughout the country that you can climb and take a peek at their original Fresnel lenses, made in Paris." Among the notable lighthouses, 10Best says, "Like its popular neighbor, the Cape Hatteras Light Station, the Bodie Island Light Station (pronounced body) in North Carolina's Outer Banks sports black and white stripes. A recent restoration reopened the light station to the public in 2013, and visitors can now climb its 214 steps to the top for stunning views and a look at its original 1872 Fresnel lens, with 377 glass prisms, weighing in at 9,000 pounds and valued at $2 million." [Please note the Bodie Island Lighthouse Tours run the third Friday in April through Columbus Day in October. The Bodie Island Visitors Center is open year-round.]
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 | | NC GreenTravel: Bicycle-friendly businesses help economy, environment
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The economic, social and environmental advantages that an attraction or accommodations can harness from promoting bicycling to its visitors, and even their employees, are abundant. The most substantial benefit is the reduced impact on the environment. Traveling by bicycle is a form of clean and efficient transportation that doesn't involve burning fossil fuels, emitting pollutants or increasing traffic congestion. Businesses can also benefit from the myriad of positive health impacts that are associated with encouraging employees to bicycle to work. Bicycle commuting reduces stress and anxiety levels, increases physical fitness and can improve mood and productivity amongst employees. Providing bicycle parking for your employees, either on the street or in a dedicated room, makes a business a more attractive place of employment, especially to young, highly educated workers who value urban lifestyles and shorter commutes. With less staff driving cars to work, fewer parking spaces are required. Businesses that encourage bicycling are perceived as concerned employers who are environmentally friendly, which can directly contribute to the positive reputation of a business. Investing in bicycle infrastructure and promoting cycling can also draw additional revenue to the local economy by attracting various forms of bicycle tourism, which has been identified as one of the fastest-growing travel markets in the nation. For more information on how to become a bicycle-friendly business, click here. For information on sustainable tourism, contact NC GreenTravel program manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140, or Daniel Johnson with ECU’s Center for Sustainability at (252) 737-4296.
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For the week of Nov. 6 on North Carolina Weekend, take in "Miro: The Experience of Seeing," an exhibit at the Nasher Museum of Art in Durham. Get a jump start on the holiday season and also help a good cause at the Festival of Trees in Pinehurst. Be entertained by the animals at the Livermon Zoo in Windsor. Walk among and be moved by the artwork at the N.C. Veterans Park in Fayetteville. And enjoy the "House Special" samples the fare at the Boiler Room Oyster Bar in Kinston. (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.
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In 2013, the summer (June - August) was the most popular season for travel to North Carolina’s Coastal Region, with 48 percent of all coastal visitors. Spring (March-May) and fall (September - November) followed with 21 percent and 20 percent, respectively, of coastal visitors. The winter season (December - February) was the least visited, with 11 percent. July was the single largest month for coastal travel with nearly 23 percent. For more 2013 visitor profile information, click here. For more information, contact Tourism Research Manager Marlise Taylor at (919) 733-7278. |
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| Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events | Thru Nov. 6 – World Travel Market, London, U.K.
Nov. 10-13 – TEAMS Conference, Las Vegas, Nev.
Nov. 14 – AENC Marketing & Communication Conference, Durham
Nov. 20-21 – MPI-CC Meeting, Southern Pines
Nov. 21 – EDPNC Board Meeting, Cary
Dec. 1-4 – Travel South International Showcase, New Orleans, La.
Dec. 9 – N.C. Travel & Tourism Board Meeting, Cary
Dec. 11 – AENC Annual Trade Show, Raleigh
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15000 Weston Parkway
Cary, NC 27513
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