Weekly e-newsletter for Visit NC partners | September 23, 2020 |
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| IN THIS ISSUE:
* Visit NC webinar next week looks at hosting safe events, festivals
* Tourism Promotion Grants for DMOs offer $10,000, $15,000 funding
* Outdoor NC offers Recommendations for Getting Outside During COVID-19
* RetireNC joins Ideal Living Virtual Expo for New Jersey
* MURR Program to help museums,
amusement parks and others |
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Visit NC webinar next week looks at hosting safe events, festivals For next week's webinar, Visit NC will look at hosting safe events and festivals, as many communities are dependent on festivals and events to boost revenues. With COVID-19 around every corner, how can your event be held safely for everyone involved while still protecting some much-needed revenue? Hear from experts about modifying events to be safe, revenue generating and create community pride. Visit NC's Heidi Walters will be joined by NC Association of Festival & Events' Stephanie Saintsing Naset, NC Seafood Festival's Stephanie McIntyre and Henderson County TDA's Beth Carden. The webinar will be 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Click here to register. Recordings of the Visit NC webinars are available here. Visit NC's webinar topics and registration information will be posted as available on Partners.VisitNC - COVID-19 and VisitNC365. The next DMO Forums will be Tuesday, Oct. 6. |
Tourism Promotion Grants for DMOs offer $10,000, $15,000 funding As part of the CARES Act, the N.C. General Assembly created a $1.5 million appropriation to help eligible DMOs experiencing reduced ability to market their destinations due to revenue loss. Tourism Promotion Grants are open to official DMOs as recognized by Visit NC. Regional tourism associations and North Carolina tourism associations are not eligible for the grants. Eligibility will be "needs based." In order to qualify, DMOs will have to show losses in their promotional budgets for 2020 versus 2019. DMOs from counties that are the most tourism-dependent will be eligible for $15,000 grants, whereas DMOs from counties that are in less tourism-dependent areas will be eligible for $10,000 grants. Qualifying uses are only for promotion (advertising and marketing) efforts to promote North Carolina tourism as the state continues to reopen.
To find out more, click here. Visit NC's Sept. 16 webinar featured the Tourism Promotion Grant program plus a Q&A; to view the "COVID-19 Relief Efforts & Opportunities Update" webinar, click here. |
RetireNC sees significant interest in first Ideal-Living Virtual Expo for New Jersey  | |
Visit NC's André Nabors, along with City of New Bern, Winterville, Salisbury and Johnston County promoted North Carolina as a retirement destination at the first Virtual Ideal-Living Resort & Retirement Expo "in" New Jersey this past weekend. The Expo had nearly 1,300 registered attendees from the region who were interested in exploring opportunities and engaging with exhibitors from across the Southeast. The Virtual Expo was set up for attendees to download materials, visit websites and watch videos of the exhibitors. In addition, attendees were able to chat, call or video chat with experts from towns and community developers to gain insights and get answers to help plan, design and enjoy their retirement. North Carolina has consistently been one of the most requested states by the attendees. Visit North Carolina attended the Expo to continue its efforts to promote the N.C. Certified Retirement Community Program, which consists of Carteret County, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Jamestown/High Point, Johnston County, Laurinburg, Lenoir, Lumberton, Marion, Mount Airy, New Bern, Reidsville, Roanoke Rapids, Salisbury, Tarboro, Washington, and Winterville. For more information about the Certified Retirement Community Program or Visit North Carolina's marketing initiatives for retirement relocation, contact André Nabors at (919) 447-7771. |
Outdoor NC offers Recommendations for Getting Outside During COVID-19 While developing and expanding Outdoor NC,there are now available Recommendations for Getting Outside During COVID-19, especially helpful during this busy fall season. Feel free to use and share this poster with anyone that could utilize and possibly display it. Social posts are planned with the same information. Partners can share on their social channels, too, as they see appropriate. The Outdoor NC initiative, a new partnership between Visit NC, NC Outdoor Recreation Industry Office and Leave No Trace, emphasizes the importance of protecting natural spaces statewide. With more and more people going to parks and trails, it's important to understand how to act so that people enjoy the outdoor spaces and leave them as they found them for future visitors to enjoy. For more information about Outdoor NC, contact Heidi Walters. |
Mortgage, Utility and Rent Relief (MURR) Program to help museums, amusement parks and others
The N.C. Mortgage, Utility and Rent Relief (MURR), administered by the N.C. Department of Commerce, can provide up to $20,000 in relief funds per qualifying business location. Business applicants from certain industry sectors that have not been able to operate during the COVID period may apply for up to two of their business locations. Eligible applicants are amusement parks, museums, bars, banquet halls (with catering staff), bowling alleys, indoor fitness and recreation centers, movie theaters (except drive-ins), dance halls, and bingo parlors. Applicants can apply for up to four months of mortgage interest or rent expenses, and utility expenses. Applications to the program should open next week and will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants must certify that they were closed during the period April 1 through July 31, 2020; they expect to be able to operate after the COVID crisis has passed; and they have not been reimbursed by any other federal source for the expenses for which they seek reimbursement through this program. Commerce will begin accepting applications soon. Business leaders can learn about the MURR program by registering for one of the free educational webinars offered by Commerce during the next two weeks. To find out more, click here. |
Research shows Americans shifting lifestyle priorities
Since early in the pandemic, American lifestyle priorities have shifted towards a higher prioritization of relaxation, finding happiness and having new experiences. Lesser priorities include making money, physical fitness and healing/recovery. |
When looking at these priorities by generation, there are noticeable differences says Destination Analysts in their most recent weekly study. While all generations feel strongly about staying safe from infection, Boomers are much more likely to prioritize staying safe. However, Boomers are less likely to prioritize stress relief, making money and learning/education. Generation Xers place a higher priority on connecting with nature than the other generations, while Xers and Millennials place higher priorities on escaping from stress and having new experiences. |
Visit NC will be providing frequent research updates through Newslink with links to available studies. |
Asheville to host 2020 Maui Invitational; expects $1.1 million in economic impact
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For the first time in the history of the tournament, the Maui Invitational college basketball tournament will be held in Asheville. The 2020 Maui Invitational was originally scheduled to be held in Hawaii the week of Thanksgiving, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was rescheduled and relocated. The tournament is expected to generate more than $1.1 million in economic impact in Buncombe County, according to the Asheville/Buncombe Regional Sports Commission. Even if fans aren't permitted. "We literally began with Buncombe County and worked with the Buncombe County Health and Human Services Department," Demp Bradford, with the sports commission, said. "We developed a plan, they helped us make edits and they felt like we had a strong plan and they approved it. Then it was presented to the North Carolina Health and Human Services and they also vetted it and made suggestions. We made changes. So, there is a basic guideline and manual put together for this event to be hosted here. It started at the county level, been at the state level and we are also on multiple calls a week and we have NCAA guidelines that we are adding to that. This wasn't just 'hey let's go bring the Maui Invitational to Asheville.' There was a very meticulously thought out process to look at how we mitigate - and that's the keyword mitigate - risk to the participants and to our community. We are not looking to bring anything into our community that puts our community at risk at all." |
JetBlue adding 5 nonstop routes to RDU
JetBlue Airways is making a bet on Raleigh-Durham International Airport - even as it continues to recover from the pandemic. Last week, JetBlue announced plans to launch five new daily nonstop destinations into RDU this year. Flights from Cancun, Mexico, Montego Bay, Jamaica, Fort Myers, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, are slated to start Nov. 19. A flight from Los Angeles, Calif., begins Dec. 18. |
Chetola among 'Gotta Get away' suggestions
In its "Gotta Get away: Resort living," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution included Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock among its suggestions. The article explained, "Guests at Chetola Resort will find endless amusement on the property's 78 acres with more than a dozen on-site activities, a spa, dining and the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains all around. Try paddleboarding, canoeing or kayaking on Chetola Lake, or follow the paths to the adjacent Moses Cone Park, a 3,600-acre spread with 25 miles of old carriage trails.... Rejuvenate body and spirit at the full-service spa, and when it's time to retire, Chetola has three options: one of eight individually appointed rooms in the Bob Timberlake Inn B&B in the property's old manor house; the recently renovated Chetola Lodge, with 42 rooms and five suites with lake or woodland views; or one of the many condos, ranging in size from one to four bedrooms, on the resort's grounds." Resort and nearby activities plus onsite dining were also noted. |
Hendersonville sites highlighted in 'Fall's Almost Here' for apple fun'
The New York Times, in its 'Fall's Almost Here. Can We Still Go Apple Picking?', included Hendersonville for favorite fall activities such as visiting orchards. Of Hendersonville's mention, the article noted, "Apple-picking, pumpkin patch visits and corn mazes are fall traditions at many businesses. In Hendersonville, the annual North Carolina Apple Festival celebrates the area's fruit growers and has, in recent years, drawn some 250,000 attendees to town. This year, the September event was largely canceled, but area orchards remain busy." Grandad's Apple N' Such noted they're seeing more families than group visits. The article explained, "The orchard, one of 20 on the regional Crest of the Blue Ridge Orchard Trail, isn't taking reservations, but is monitoring the number of visitors to ensure social distancing, and recommending its slower hours, early in the morning or late in the afternoon, to avoid congestion. It runs a tractor-pulled train on the weekends, but has kept the jump pillow, where children may collide, closed this year." |
'Off the North Carolina shore, a deep dive into history'
In "Off the North Carolina shore, a deep dive into history" a Washington Post writer went open-water scuba diving off Hatteras Island. The writer explained, "I've wanted to dive off Hatteras ever since I heard it was a thing. There are hundreds of wrecks in the area, dating from the Civil War era to post-World War II. Dozens are in diveable range because of a confluence of factors, chief among them that a major north-south shipping lane passes close to the cape. Before the advent of electronic navigation, many ships succumbed to storms, shifting shoals, the vexing collision of the northern Labrador and southern Gulf currents, or, during World Wars I and II, German submarines. But I always had other priorities in the Outer Banks - wind, waves and beach time. That changed this summer when my family and I booked two consecutive weeks on Hatteras Island, a stanza that allowed me to dive with minimal FOMO on other activities." |
For the week of Sept. 24 on "North Carolina Weekend," the program repeats the episode that originally aired July 23, which highlighted "arts around the state." Features include the Tiffany Glass Exhibit at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem; Blue Ridge Craft Trails around Hendersonville; the glass scene in Asheville; the National Tea Pot Show at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor; Sawtooth School for Visual Art in Winston-Salem; and Studio 32 in Sunbury. (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. |
Resources for travel industry regarding COVID-19
As the travel industry is facing challenging times in the ever-changing situation of COVID-19 and its effects, there are several useful resources available to help with information, communications, planning and guidance. |
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