Weekly e-newsletter for Visit NC Partners - October 10, 2024
IN THIS ISSUE: * Update: Hurricane Helene aftermath, assistance
** Visit NC’s webinar today focuses on working with local elected officials
* 2025 Visit NC Tourism Conference:
Save the date
Visit NC update: Hurricane Helene aftermath, assistance
The latest addition to Visit NC's Western NC Travel Advisory webpage is an interactive map
showing what counties in the state are open to visitors and what counties are not. The goal with this is to show visitors where they can safely travel in the state right now, including the far westernmost counties in the state. This map will be updated as conditions change.
The EDPNC has compiled a list of resources for businesses and individuals in the state, which can be found here. Via this webpage, you'll find information for loans and grants; there's also state-level assistance, such as Disaster Unemployment Assistance for individuals, and federal-level, such as FEMA information.
At this time, Visit NC is continuing its pause on all paid advertising and promotional efforts and is actively monitoring social media and news media coverage. We are evaluating the situation on a daily basis and will resume paid advertising and other content when it is safe and responsible to do so.
If tourism partners have updates on closures or openings, major event news or properties offering discounts to those displaced by the storm, please send that information to alert@visitnc.com, as these efforts will be added to our communications as appropriate.
While we continue to navigate these difficult times, our hearts and prayers remain with our partners in the western part of the state and everyone affected by the storm. If you are in a position to help, the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund is accepting donations to support the communities most impacted.
Visit NC’s webinar this morning focuses on working with local elected officials
For Visit NC’s webinar today, Brian Lewis from New Frame and NCTIA will lead a discussion on some best practices for working with your local elected officials. During the webinar, Visit NC will also provide updates on the latest developments relating to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. The webinar will be this morning at 10 a.m. Click here to register.
2025 Visit NC Tourism Conference: Save the date
The 2025 Visit NC Tourism Conference takes place in Hickory April 6-8. This event brings together travel industry leaders from across the state to share insights, tackle common challenges, and build valuable connections. Attendees will experience networking, educational sessions and opportunities for collaboration, all while exploring the diverse segments of North Carolina’s tourism industry. Plus, you'll get to interact with industry marketing, research and solution providers in our exhibit marketplace, and also support education through NCTIA’s silent auction. Don’t miss out – be part of the conversation shaping the future of NC tourism!
Registration opens on Nov. 6. The Early Bird registration rate is $475 until Jan 31. After that, the registration rate goes up to $525. Save the date and bookmark Conference.VisitNC.com for the latest conference information and sponsorship opportunities; registration begins via the site on Nov. 6.
Visit NC PR team info feeds dog-friendliness post
With North Carolina in the No. 4 spot in a Dogster.com ranking, Visit NC’s PR team shared destination strengths with Livability.com for its 10 Most Dog-Friendly States in the U.S.
” The article highlighted lodging properties, attractions and services in Atlantic Beach, Beaufort, Charlotte, Raleigh and Kitty Hawk among the reasons why tails wags in North Carolina. The post closed with a post-Helene call to action for Western North Carolina with references to the Asheville Humane Society and Mountain Pet Rescue, plus a link to other ways to help the hard-hit region. Livability.com has a reach of 174,347 unique monthly visitors.
‘Outer Banks’ Season 4 premieres today, featuring production, sites in NC
Season 4 of the hit Netflix series “Outer Banks” debuts today (Thursday) on the streaming service. For the first time, the series actually filmed part of its episodes in North Carolina, the state in which the fictional series is set. The North Carolina portion of filming for Season 4 took place in late Summer 2023 in New Hanover and Pender counties. The production was expected to have a direct in-state spend of more than $5.5 million. See the teaser, which features multiple NC filming sites, by clicking here.
NC-filmed feature “Monster Summer” opens in theaters
The NC-filmed feature movie “Monster Summer” opened in theaters this past weekend. The movie, initially working under the title “Boys of Summer,” filmed in and around Southport in late 2021 and early 2022. The feature stars Mel Gibson, Kevin James, Lorraine Bracco, Mason Thames (from NC-filmed “The Black Phone), and NC actress Lilah Pate. The story centers around a group of teenagers who team up with a retired police detective to embark on an adventure to save their island from a mysterious force that is disrupting their normal summer fun. The production had a direct in-state spend of more than $8.9 million, while creating 620 job opportunities. View the trailer here.
Surveys, Industry, Marketing & Travel Trends
Americans are spending way more than you'd expect on travel this holiday season — but it depends who you ask - Travel remains high on people's holiday wishlists, reports Travel + Leisure. A newly released PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report found that consumers are spending more on holiday travel this year
and are less worried about travel disruptions. Millennials and Generation Z are driving the rise in travel spending. On average, millennials have set aside $751 for holiday travel, up 12 percent from 2023, while Gen Z has increased their travel budget a whopping 42 percent since last year to $639. But not everyone is spending big. Generation X, aka those born between the mid-1960s and 1980, are cutting holiday travel expenses by 21 percent (or $481) while Baby Boomers plan to spend $321, just two percent more than they did in 2023. PwC noted the large gap in travel budgets reflects a generational difference that shows Gen X and Baby Boomers typically spend money on gifts, saying, "The younger generations are more focused on experiences, so entertainment and travel tend to take
priority.”
Hilton Annual Trends Report predicts 2025 to be the ‘Year of the Travel Maximizer’ – Hilton has released its Annual Trends Report
, predicting 2025 to be the “Year of the Travel Maximizer, spotlighting how travelers will work to have it all in the coming year. Report findings were uncovered after extensive global research, involving 13,000 travelers across 13 countries, feedback from over 4,100 Hilton team members and in-depth interviews with dozens of Hilton travel experts. Trend highlights included: Restorative Sleep Retreats and “Hurkle-Durkling” (lounging in bed all day"); “Time Travel” and “Slow Travel” Accelerate; “High-Tech Travel” Meets “Digital Detox”; Fido and Frolleagues Take the Stage; Gen Alpha and MeMooner Travelers Surge; Foodie Exploration and Tempo Drinking; and From Inner Discovery (such as "soft travel") to
Outward Cheering
As pressures mount on corporate travel to improve sustainability, progress is challenging - Longtime partners Sabre and Google have paired up to use the search giant's Travel Impact Model (TIM) to calculate carbon emissions from the travel technology company's corporate travel in 2023, reports
PhocusWire. The results are meant to give Sabre the ability to create realistic targets for reduction while also boosting operational efficiency in its business travel practices. Sabre and Google aren’t alone in their ambitions to prioritize sustainability in the business travel sector.... Interest in sustainability has been on the rise in recent years with plenty of attention resulting from headline-making wildfires, hurricanes, draughts, floods, heatwaves - the list goes on. Many companies have developed initiatives that support sustainability efforts.... Making business travel more sustainable comes with challenges that can also serve as drivers of positive change, including regulations, the granularity of the data involved and traveler behavior…. And with the
interest in the area and demand for products and services from customers, behavioral change is likely to follow.
For the week of Oct. 10, "North Carolina Weekend” celebrates "Autumn Across the State." Featured segments include Hubb’s Farm in Clinton; Flo’s Kitchen in Wilson; and the Chicken Mull Festival in Bear Grass. (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.
Visit North Carolina is part of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina
150 Fayetteville St., Ste 1200, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27601, United States
