| Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners | October 11, 2017 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE:
* Two consumer shows have a few spots still available to partners * Visit NC excursions during Cycle NC Mountains to Coast ride
* Swiss, U.K. travel agents learn about N.C.
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 | | | The 2017 Washington, D.C. show had steady traffic |
Two consumer shows have a few spots still available to partners
There are still a few spots remaining for partners in two consumer shows. Visit NC saw success in 2017 with 30,000 attendees at the NY Times Show and 20,600 attendees at the DC Travel & Adventure Show. Deadline for participation is Oct. 27. - Jan. 20-21 - Travel & Adventure Show in Washington, D.C. (1 spot open)
- Jan. 26-28 - NY Times Travel Show in New York, N.Y. (2 spots open)
Each show is $850 per partner. All shows are predicated on full partner participation (8 partners per show). If you would like to participate, please contact Andre Nabors. |
| | Excursion attendees at the Ava Gardner Museum in Smithfield | |
Visit NC offered excursions as Cycle NC Mountains to Coast ride rolled through the state Cycle NC's 19th Annual Mountains to Coast Ride rolled through North Carolina last week. For the second year, Visit NC offered Cycle NC/Visit NC Excursions. These daily excursions gave participants and those traveling with them the opportunity to take a break from the ride and experience North Carolina. Participants varied from cyclists wanting a day off to rest their legs or simply explore different areas of the state, to friends/family of the cyclists who weren't riding but were traveling with the group. A dedicated motorcoach departed from the overnight host city in the morning and stopped at a few attractions and a destination for lunch each day before arriving at the next overnight host city in the late afternoon. Participants paid a fee to help offset costs to the attractions that hosted them. Participants also had the opportunity to shop and learn more about the state for future visits. This was an opportunity to spread the economic impact of the Cycle NC ride to many more communities on or near the route of the ride. Starting in Jefferson, this year's ride had overnight stops in Jefferson - Elkin, Oak Ridge, Chapel Hill, Knightdale, Wilson, Kinston, and finished in Swansboro. During the trip, the route passed through many other towns and communities along the way, including Laurel Springs, Traphill, Dobson, East Bend, Bethania, Germantown, Browns Summit, Burlington, Mebane, Durham, Raleigh, Zebulon, Spring Hope, Rocky Mount, Bailey, Stantonsburg, Farmville, Ayden, Trenton, and Maysville. Visit North Carolina is a founding sponsor of Cycle North Carolina's Mountains to Coast, Fall and Spring rides. Cycle North Carolina offers one of the largest cross-state bicycle tours in the United States. The Fall and Spring rides, in addition to the Mountain Ride in August, are designed to promote North Carolina's scenic beauty while providing substantial economic impact to small towns across the state. Each year, riders visit historic sites, state parks and other attractions across the state, During the past rides, Cycle North Carolina has stopped overnight in more than 100 North Carolina towns and visited nearly 700 North Carolina communities.
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| | | Switzerland |
Swiss, U.K. travel agents learn about N.C.
Visit North Carolina's German representative participated in the Visit USA Roadshow in Switzerland Sept. 25 - 29. During 36 15-minute presentations in six different Swiss cities, they trained 250 travel agents on North Carolina. The workshops were very well received with much interest. The agents also received German NC guides (the English Travel planner in the French part of Switzerland) and maps. |
| | United Kingdom | |
Visit North Carolina in the United Kingdom participated in the Visit USA travel trade training events Oct. 3-5. During this time, more than 200 frontline travel agents in Edinburgh, Liverpool and Reading became more familiar with the state as a potential vacation site. There was great interest in experience-based trips that include history, festivals, culinary, beaches and soft adventure. To find out more about Visit NC's international marketing programs, contact Heidi Walters at (919) 447-7762. |
 Season 2 of Good Behavior premieres this Sunday
Season 2 of Good Behavior premieres this Sunday on TNT (repeats are scheduled throughout the week so check local listings). The drama, which filmed in the Wilmington region, qualified and has funds set aside from the N.C. Film and Entertainment Grant program. The N.C. Film Office, which worked to get the project to initially film in North Carolina and to keep it here, said the series' second season is expected to have an overall direct in-state spend of more than $36 million while creating more than 1,000 job opportunities. |
 N.C. law eliminates film grant's sunset date
The timeout date on the state's Film and Entertainment grant program has been removed. On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law Senate Bill 582, which included a line item that removed the July 1, 2020, sunset date from the state's film grant program. The bill amends the expiration date from an earlier law when the state switched from a film incentive to a film grant program. This year, however, the state legislature added a recurring source of funding, something area film recruiters have said helps push marketing efforts for the film industry in the state. "The elimination of the sunset will allow television series to start a production in town and settle in for the long-term," said EUE/Screen Gems Studios' Bill Vassar. "We can again focus on attracting television programs that run over many years, keep local people employed and local businesses busy. Shows like Dawson's Creek that ran for six years and One Tree Hill that ran for nine." |
 Asheville's Urban Orchard among '50 states: 50 cider destinations'
USA Today included Urban Orchard Cider Company in Asheville in its photo gallery-type article for "50 states: 50 cider destinations" as the North Carolina designation. Of Urban Orchard, the caption said, "In its four years of operation, Urban Orchard Cider Company has already produced 80 styles of cider, and counting, in Asheville, N.C. The family owned and operated company rotates through fruit-infused and hopped cider varieties to serve on tap at the cider house, all of which can be paired with dips, spreads, cheese, and charcuterie from local purveyors." |
 Jackson County, other N.C. sites highlighted |
Surveys, Industry, Marketing & Travel Trends
Not just rooms, hotels offer one-of-a-kind experiences - With competitors like Airbnb nipping at their heels, hotels are rolling out experiences to their most faithful customers that go far beyond extra nights and room upgrades, according to The New York Times. Want to improve your cooking skills? How about a class with a Michelin-starred chef? Or snorkeling in Hawaii with Jean-Michel Cousteau? Or basketball tips from the N.B.A. standout Dwyane Wade? Marriott, with 30 hotel brands, including Starwood and Ritz-Carlton, and other hotel companies are marshaling their clout to attract sports stars, including professional surfers, and even a National Geographic photographer to create one-of-a-kind enticements. In rolling out such exclusive experiences, hotels are looking to establish deeper connections with their customers in the face of growing competition from start-ups. Hotels try to soothe guest concerns in an age of 'permanxiety'- To combat travelers' general anxieties, today's hotels are hosting meditation retreats, coaxing smartphone-addicted travelers to "unplug" in their device-free settings, and urging them to indulge in all things wellness-related, reports Skift. But whether a hotel offers complimentary yoga classes or special programs designed to help you unwind doesn't carry as much weight as having a staff that knows how to treat its guests with hospitality that's free from bias or ignorance. It's hospitality that's genuine, intuitive, and accommodating that really sets travelers' nerves at ease when they walk in the door - and that's sometimes much harder to find than a fancy hotel spa. Skift's latest report, "Travel in an Age of Permanxiety," looks at the a near-constant state of anxiety that exists now around the world and hotels' efforts to train staff to assuage guests in a genuine fashion.
Changes to social platforms add flexibility for hotels - Hotel News Now spoke with hoteliers and a social media expert to find out how social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have changed and how these changes have influenced social strategies in the hotel industry. Instagram remains a focal point for showing off hotel properties, sources said, but Twitter and Facebook are great tools for engaging with customers and providing updates about a hotel company, brand or individual property.As for platform trends, the social media expert explained, "We've seen Facebook as a staple when it comes to marketing content and engaging with customers. The very visual Instagram also plays an important part in selling a concept, idea or lifestyle to a wider audience. Instagram is excellent for (taking) a consumer through an experience that they want to be part of, especially giving a (peek) of a location that they're curious to visit and then entices them to come - through Instagram stories and feed." She added that Twitter is used mostly to engage with customers, "and a simple shoutout to an @ tweet goes a long way, especially if the voice feels authentic." |
Low-flow plumbing fixtures
There are several options when it comes to water-saving technology. The trick is to reduce water flow without sacrificing comfort and convenience to guests, whether at a hotel or attraction. Of course, the number one way to reduce water consumption is to fix all leaks. One of the easiest water-saving conversions is to install or convert to a water-saving faucet aerator. The aerator reduces the amount of water flowing through the faucet while still providing the feeling of high pressure with less water consumption. These are affordable and provide 1.5 gallons per minute, saving up to 30 percent water. In commercial kitchens, consider installing pre-rinse spray valves. By switching to a WaterSense labeled pre-rinse spray valve you can save $115 annually in energy and water costs. Commercial bathrooms oftentimes use flushometer-valve toilets. Dual-flush valves can be great water savers. Converting from the standard 1.6 gallons-per-flush (gpf) to 1.28 gpf. can amount to a 20-percent water savings. In lodging properties, there a quite a few options for low-flow showerheads. Many brands offer a variety of high-pressure-low-velocity models in a range of price-points. Check out the EPA's WaterSense website for more great water-saving ideas. For more information about saving water, contact NC GreenTravel Manager Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140. |
| | On North Carolina Weekend for the week of Oct. 12, discover the local items at Roots and Fruits Market in Black Mountain. Lift a glass at Outer Banks Distilling in Manteo. Relax at Mountain Brook Lodge & Cottages in Sylva. Step back in time at Historic Halifax in Halifax. And the "House Special" samples the fare at Bandito Bodega in Greensboro. (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 top states of origin of overnight visitors to the Piedmont Region in 2016 were North Carolina (30 percent), Virginia (10 percent), South Carolina (8 percent), Florida (6 percent), Georgia (5 percent) and New York (4 percent). 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
Oct. 26 - NC Coast Host Quarterly Meeting, Wilson Nov. 9-10 - MPC-CC Meeting, Greensboro Dec. 11-13 - (NC & SC) Carolinas Recreation & Parks Assn. Conference, Greensboro Dec. 12 - NC Sports Association Quarterly Meeting, Greensboro |
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