NewsLink - September 16, 2015

Weekly e-newsletter for VisitNC partners

September 16, 2015

IN THIS ISSUE:

NC Fall Of Fame update

Canadian fam visits Yadkin Valley area

Call Center, N.C. Welcome Centers offer invaluable resources

NC Fall Of Fame update

First, thanks to those partners who have already begun sharing their fall imagery with Visit North Carolina following last week's preview of the fall campaign. With autumn temperatures starting this week and forecasts of a brilliant leaf season, there's excitement to see even more of the beauty and exciting activities to come this fall.

There is a change to the hashtag for the Fall Of Fame campaign: please encourage sharing from partners and visitors with #NCFallOfFame. While due diligence was done, including searching past uses of #FallOfFame, we discovered that last week an company product had just launched a photo contest using #FallOfFame. In order to fully brand Visit North Carolina's efforts for this year and in the future, please use #NCFallOfFame to share, track and curate fall content and encourage others to use it to do the same.

This discovery reinforces the need in any campaign, especially the fast-moving social media space, to continually search for other uses and initiatives and to have backup plans outlined in case conflicts arise. Hashtags are especially difficult to "own" or to trademark, so finding the most distinctive hashtags for a brand or destination is especially important to avoid duplication and consumer confusion.

An updated overview of the campaign includes:

In addition to the fall reports that start in late September with imagery and fall color updates from State and National Parks partners across the state, Visit North Carolina will be curating user-generated content to show even more real-time fall activities.

Visit NC social media accounts will ask users to tag their posts #NCFallOfFame, the most outstanding of which will be pulled into a special page on VisitNC.com and featured in display advertising during October and November. All partners are invited to use #NCFallOfFame to contribute to the NC Fall Of Fame as well, starting as soon as they see relevant fall color of all kinds, from foliage to events to food and more. The NC Fall Of Fame seeks to showcase to travelers all the ways visitors are inspired by their fall activities, so much that they can't help but share them - and inspire more travel in the process.

Digital media will also support the NC Fall Of Fame campaign, including standard display publishers like Dstillery, Quantcast and AdRoll, native publishers including Bidtellect and Nativo (a high-performing new addition to the summer campaign), brand wraps on Weatherbug and the traffic-driving browser medium StumbleUpon. For more information about the plan and publishers, contact Mark Shore at (919) 447-7760.

Updates to follow on the campaign landing page and creative. For now, let's help build the #NCFallOfFame for 2015.

And as a reminder, Visit NC is always looking for great seasonal photography of landscapes and activities across the state, so if you have shareable photo assets, please send them to the LGA content team via Jarvis Holliday.

(clockwise from top lf) Pat Lee (Sun Media), Nadia Duriavig (Yummy Mummy Club), Laila Maalouf (La Presse), Amy Trainum (WSOC-TV) and Stephanie Freed Burns (Connect Worldwide).

Canadian fam visits Yadkin Valley area

Visit North Carolina partnered with the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce and Visit Winston-Salem on a Yadkin Valley media tour that featured visits to wineries in Surry, Wilkes and Yadkin counties. Three Canadian journalists recruited by Visit North Carolina explored Winston-Salem and nearby wineries before joining a group of nine southeastern media representatives in Elkin. The group toured and tasted at Adaggio Vineyards, Brushy Mountain Winery, Herrera Vineyards, JOLO Winery & Vineyards, Jones vonDrehle Vineyards, Raffaldini Vineyards and Winery, Round Peak Vineyards, Sanders Ridge Winery and Shelton Vineyards. A stop at Surry Community College to check out the vineyards and winery at the heart of the Viticulture & Enology program added depth to the wine story aspect.

The itinerary also highlighted attractions and activities that lend appeal to Yadkin Valley destinations. Journalists visited Old Salem, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Historic Rockford, downtown Mount Airy and other spots, and also paddled the Yadkin River. Stops along the Surry Sonker Trail rounded out the culinary story aspect, which included barbecue as well as fine dining at wineries and other restaurants.

One of the Call Center operators at NCCIW

Call Center, N.C. Welcome Centers offer invaluable resources

While Visit North Carolina has transitioned from the N.C. Dept. of Commerce to the private sector, it's still important to remember the invaluable resources that remained with NCDOC: namely, the Call Center at the N.C. Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh and the N.C. Welcome Centers along the interstates.

The Call Center was recently spotlighted by WGHP (Greensboro-High Point-Winston-Salem) on how the Greensboro Area CVB had done a presentation there, highlighting the National Folk Festival, which was coming to Greensboro. By visiting the Call Center, GACVB Director of Marketing Amy Scott explained it put Greensboro and the festival in the minds of the operators for callers who needed information and potential travel tips about sights to see and things to do. In addition to pointing out how much people appreciated a real person answering the state's tourism hotline, the story looked at the women who answer the phone calls to 1-800-VISIT NC, the information they're able to provide and how much the women appreciate their jobs.

To schedule a presentation at the NCCIW, contact Supervisor Teresa Smith at (919) 715-5900.

I-40 West NC Welcome Center at a Travel & Tourism Week event in 2014

The nine N.C. Welcome Centers are located along the interstates coming into the state. These travel counselors are, quite often, the first impression many visitors have when traveling to/within North Carolina. Tourism-related businesses may display their brochures at no cost at each or all of the Welcome Centers after a simple brochure approval process. Partners are also encouraged to work with the Welcome Centers, especially the one(s) located closest to them as they may discover ways to better promote their areas, through displays, furnishings or even coming to a Center for a day to promote their area to travelers stopping by. In addition, partners should consider participating with a Welcome Center during National Travel & Tourism Week when each center has one day where it features partners and activities to travelers.

If partners haven't visited their closest Welcome Center, they should as this allows them the chance to put their destination, attractions, accommodations and more, fresher in the mind of those travel counselors. Even those near a Welcome Center should consider a visit as sometimes local residents stop in. For instance, one local writer stopped by and discovered "9 things I didn't expect to find at the N.C. Welcome Center on I-77." Those places closest to a Welcome Center shouldn't presume travelers will bypass their areas just because they're close by.

For more information about North Carolina's Welcome Center program, contact Visitor Services Program Manager Wally Wazan at (919) 715-3322.

N.C.-filmed Captive opens in theaters this Friday

The N.C.-filmed Captive opens nationwide in theaters this Friday with special preview screenings taking place on Thursday. The drama filmed primarily in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties in 2013. According to documents filed with the state, the production had a direct in-state spend in excess of $2 million. The story is based on a non-fiction book by Ashley Smith, from when an inmate who escaped from the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta in March 2005, held Smith hostage in her home.

Season 2 Sleepy Hollow now available on DVD

Season 2 of Fox's Sleepy Hollow is now available on DVD. The TV series filmed primarily in New Hanover, Brunswick, Craven and Pender counties. While Fox renewed the series for a third season, the production moved to Georgia. When Season 1 filmed in North Carolina in 2013, it had a direct in-state spend in excess of $45 million, according to reports issued by the N.C. Dept. of Revenue; while information for the second season hasn't been released yet, it's expected to be a similar amount.

Previous fall color at Grandfather Mountain

Experts: Fall color in N.C. could be best in years

Plan for a spectacular fall leaf season in western North Carolina. Experts in biology at Western Carolina University say 2015 could be one of the best leaf color seasons in recent memory, saying unusually dry weather is causing colors to pop. Experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say occasional heavy rain through the growing season helped the area stay out of drought, but the drier than normal soil usually means brighter leaf colors.

Lake Glenville access area during construction in Nov. 2014, with boat launch and fishing pier (photo courtesy Jackson County TDA)

Tuckasegee gains attention in quest to build economy for Jackson County

With easier access to the Tuckasegee River expected to attract still more paddlers and anglers to Jackson County, local officials increasingly view the river as vital to a robust local economy . "It's now a strong catalyst for increased visitation and economic activity," Jackson County Economic Development Director Rich Price said this week. "The river-entry points have provided residents and visitors unprecedented access to one of our most valuable and enjoyable resources."

Four river-access sites in Jackson County are new with a fifth expected to be completed soon; these were built as part of a 2003 settlement with Duke Energy. All five sites are handicap accessible. Officials estimate 60,000 fishermen, drift boaters and paddlers each year are using the dam-controlled Tuckasegee. The 60-mile-long river flows through Jackson and Swain counties before ending in Fontana Lake. Swain's portion of the river has four access sites.

NC GreenTravel: What does it mean to be green?

One of the most common questions tourism businesses face when examining sustainable practices is "What does it mean to be green?" The Center for Sustainability, Tourism, Natural Resources and the Built Environment has defined sustainable tourism as "actions that contribute to a balanced and healthy economy by generating tourism-related jobs, revenues and taxes while protecting and enhancing the destination's sociocultural, historical, natural and built resources for the enjoyment and well-being of both residents and visitors." While this might seem like an easy definition to understand, it can become complicated. Questions such as "Can a business be completely sustainable" or "How do you measure the total environment impact" quickly arise. And while these questions are difficult, the crux of sustainable tourism is quite simple. It means being committed to evaluating the broader impacts of business decisions to include areas of environmental and social impact. So while everyone can debate the specifics of zero waste or local foods, all should be able to agree that actions that help a business' bottom line that are more environmentally and socially responsible, are more sustainable. For more information on sustainable tourism, visit NC GreenTravel or contact Tom Rhodes at (919) 707-8140.

For the week of Sept. 17 on North Carolina Weekend, enjoy the great outdoors at the Roanoke Cashie River Center in Windsor. Tempt your taste buds at Pike's Old Fashioned Soda Shop in Charlotte. Discover a variety of activities at Hill Ridge Farms in Youngsville. Get back to nature at Neuseway Nature Center in Kinston. And relax at the Bed & Breakfast on Tiffany Hill in Mills River. (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.

The average household size of a North Carolina overnight visitor party in 2014 was 2.4, yet the average travel party size was 1.9. Only 23 percent of visitor parties included children on their trips. For more North Carolina visitor profile information, visit the 2014 North Carolina Visitor Profile or contact Tourism Research Director Marlise Taylor at (919) 447-7748.

Upcoming Industry Meetings & Events

Sept. 17 - N.C. Sports Assn. Meeting, Cary

Sept. 17-18 - MPI-CC Education & Business Exchange, Chapel Hill

Sept. 21-22 - N.C. Restaurant & Lodging Assn. Expo, Raleigh

Sept. 22 - Visit North Carolina's Listening Sessions, Cherokee & Asheville

Sept. 23 - Visit North Carolina's Listening Sessions, Tryon & Morganton

Sept. 24 - Visit North Carolina's Listening Sessions, Boone & Winston-Salem

Oct. 7 - Visit North Carolina's Listening Sessions, Wilmington & Lumberton

Oct. 13 - Visit North Carolina's Listening Sessions, Durham & Henderson

Oct 14 - Visit North Carolina's Listening Sessions, Pinehurst & Asheboro

Oct. 15 - N.C. Coast Host Meeting, Goldsboro

Oct. 21-25 - Visit North Carolina Sales Mission, Milwaukee/Chicago