| Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners | November 8, 2017 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE:
* SportsNC promotes N.C.
at TEAMS Conference * Holiday updates requested in VisitNC.com database
* Travel Deals for New Year's Eve sought
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 | | | The N.C. delegation |
SportsNC promotes North Carolina at TEAMS Conference Visit NC's Amanda Baker and the SportsNC delegation attended the annual TEAMS (Travel, Events And Management in Sports) Conference & Expo in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 30-Nov. 3. The SportsNC team participated in more than 45 pre-scheduled appointments during the conference. TEAMS is one of the premier trade shows for sports planners to meet with destinations and sports organizations to conduct business as well as learn about industry trends and best practices related to sports. For more information on statewide sports marketing efforts, visit SportsNC or contact Amanda Baker at (919) 447-7765. |
 Holiday updates requested for VisitNC.com database It's never too early to get Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and other holiday events on VisitNC.com. Partners are asked to check the event listings on VisitNC.com to make sure events are included. If not, please ask the appropriate county contact, who's responsible for each county's listings on VisitNC, to do so. Events must be in the database before Visit NC can consider them for editorial or PR mentions. |
| | | A sample Travel Deal from New Year's Eve last year |
Travel Deals for New Year's Eve sought Visit NC is currently planning its holiday content with efforts to encourage New Year's Eve travel. Visit NC will be creating a fun quiz-like opportunity where potential visitors can find out where they should ring in the New Year. After users take the quiz, they would receive an email from Visit NC associated with the experience and within that email, Visit NC has the opportunity to promote New Year's Eve-specific Travel Deals - that's where your help is needed. If you would like to promote a New Year's Eve Travel Deal on VisitNC.com, now is the time to get those submitted. As a reminder, Travel Deals are a $250 investment and allow partners to promote special North Carolina travel offers and packages to interested visitors on VisitNC.com. In addition to being featured on the site's homepage, Travel Deals are also featured on a rotating basis on every page throughout VisitNC.com, as well as within the dedicated Travel Deals section. Partners will also be included in a monthly Travel Deals enewsletter distributed to more than 35,000 subscribers. To set up your New Year's Eve Travel Deal today, please contact Michelle Reino at LG at (704) 552-6565. |
| | | (l-r) Greensboro CVB's Brian Ambuehl, USAMG's Hill Carrow and Greensboro Sport Commission's Kim Strable |
USA Masters Games voted the World's Best New Event The USA Masters Games has won Best New Event in the 2017 SportsTravel Awards. The award was presented last week in conjunction with the TEAMS Conference in Orlando, Fla. The 2016 USA Masters Games took place in Greensboro and saw more than 2,500 athletes between the ages of 21 and 91 compete in 24 sports. Participants were from 43 U.S. states and 10 foreign countries. The World's Best Events Awards have been presented for 15 years by SportsTravel magazine and are considered to be the Oscars of the sports tourism industry. |
 Vote for Thanksgiving Parade in Charlotte as Best Holiday Parade
The Novant Health Thanksgiving Day Parade in Charlotte is among the nominees for 10Best's Readers' Choice Awards for Best Holiday Parade. Online voting by readers is now open via USAToday.com's website; click on the hyperlink to vote. Voting ends Dec. 4 at noon. |
 'Nursing sea turtles back to health in North Carolina'
In its Travel section's "Nursing Sea Turtles Back to Health in North Carolina," the Knoxville Daily Sun featured the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Surf City. The article noted, "Here you can visit loggerhead, green and Kemp's ridley sea turtles being nursed back to health for eventual return to their wandering ocean ways. They "checked in" at the Turtle Hospital after encounters with boat propellers, fishing nets, oil spills, plastic shopping bags, and other manmade hazards. Over the past 20 years, the hospital staff has cared for and released approximately 700 sea turtles." |
Food trucks: The green, tasty, moving destination It is difficult to go to any event or brewery without seeing the ubiquitous, roving food trucks. Serving cuisines from across the world, food trucks provide a unique and convenient dining experience. Don't Waste Durham, under the capable leadership of Founder and Executive Director Crystal Dreisbach, has created the Certified Sustainable Food Truck program to recognize and promote food trucks that commit to low-waste, sustainable practices. The list of sustainable food trucks is growing in the Durham area. Now food trucks across the state can become recognized sustainable food trucks by applying online with the NC GreenTravel Initiative at no cost. To find out more about sustainable food trucks and free recognition by the NC GreenTravel Initiative, contact NC GreenTravel Initiative Manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140. |
| | On North Carolina Weekend for the week of Nov. 9, discover the pottery at Galley Mugen in Asheville. Tour and explore Replacements Ltd. in McLeansville. Visit the state's largest poinsettia nursery, Mitchell's Nursery & Greenhouse, in King. Cast a line with winter fishing on the Roanoke River in Jamesville. And the "House Special" samples the fare at The Redneck BBQ Lab in Benson. (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 Weekend available online. | The average travel party size for all overnight North Carolina visitor parties was 2.2 people. Twenty-eight percent of overnight travel parties to the state included children in the party. For more North Carolina visitor information,, visit the Visitor Profile Studies or contact Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748. |
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Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events
Nov. 9-10 - MPI-CC Meeting, Greensboro Dec. 5 - Visit NC T&T Board Meeting, Raleigh Dec. 5-6 - STS Fall Forum (rescheduled from Oct.), Biloxi, Miss. Dec. 11-13 - Carolinas Recreation & Parks Assn. Conference, Greensboro Dec. 12 - NC Sports Assn. Quarterly Meeting, Greensboro |
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