2003/04 Accomplishments

• Assisted in a variety of ways to support the continuing plans for Raleigh's new convention center and headquarters hotel.
• Prepared with the convention center staff a marketing plan and budget for promoting the new convention center in fiscal year 2004/05.
• Assisted in booking 168 new meetings generating more than 39,000 room nights and $18 million in economic impact.
• Assisted with 46 definite sports bookings, for a combined estimated economic impact of $20.3 million and 72,000 total room nights.
• Assisted in the planning and hosting of the following major sporting events in 2003/04: NHL Entry Draft, NCAA Men1s Basketball Tournament First & Second Rounds, the CIAA Tournament, NCAA Women's College Cup, NCAA Division II Cross Country Nationals, Great American Cross Country Festival, and the PONY Softball Fastpitch Nationals.
• Provided visitor services to 130 groups, totaling an economic impact of $23 million.
• Overall visitor inquiries totaled 559,458, a 22.1% increase over the 2002/03 record year.
• The web site continued to be the leading source of visitor information by generating 90.8 percent of the overall visitor inquiries with total visitors increasing 30.5% to 508,015.
• The RaleighNow! cultural initiative received important financial support from participants, the private sector and grants/foundations, with total contributions exceeding $100,000 since its launch.
• The RaleighNow! web site (www.RaleighNow.com) generated approximately 620,000 page views and 9.1 million hits, while some 3,600 individuals became registered users by opting in to receive email updates about related programming and special offers.
• The TGIF weekend leisure program produced approximately 5,000 room nights and 100,000 web site page views.
• Partnership marketing efforts, including RaleighNow!, generated more than $565,000 in financial commitments and in-kind media support for GRCVB leisure programs, representing a 62% increase over the previous fiscal year.
• Worked with marketing agency Brogan & Partners to debut a new destination brand (City Life, Carolina Style).
• Rolled out a new redesign and marketing overhaul of the VisitRaleigh.com and RaleighSports.org/CarySports.org web sites.
• Selected a new Internet partner (USDM.net) to help implement an aggressive online marketing strategic plan.
• Online promotions provided big benefits as a Clay Aiken Friends & Family effort and a First Flight to Experience First Flight endeavor generated almost 7,000 email entries and 56,000 web site page views. A Canadian Golf and Hockey promotion and Tony Avent Spring Garden Tips produced more than 5,000 web site page views. Meanwhile, a museums promotion featuring Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit resulted in 43,300 page views and a Raleigh Rocks! Concert effort generated 6,500 page views to date.
• Coordinated radio promotions by leveraging $27,600 of giveaways in exchange for over 3,125 live or on-air radio mentions on 18 stations in Charlotte, Greenville, Greensboro and Wilmington for an in-kind media trade value of $212,400.
• Generated more than $1 million of editorial exposure about Greater Raleigh outside of North Carolina, while the overall media "hits" efforts were up 11.7% over the previous year.
• The GRCVB won 12 awards during the past year.
  
  N.C. Association of Convention and Visitor Bureau Awards:
  Platinum Award ¬ City Life, Carolina Style Print Campaign
  Platinum Award ¬ Annual Report
  Gold Award ¬ VisitRaleigh.com Web Site
  Gold Award ¬ The New York Times Museums Co-Op Insert
  Gold Award ¬ Tourism eNews
  
  Communicator Awards:
  Award of Distinction ¬ NHL Entry Draft Brochure
  Award of Distinction ¬ 2004 Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh & Wake Co.
  
  Raleigh Public Relations Society:
  Best in Division and Gold Award ¬ RaleighNow.com Web Site
  Silver Award ¬ Raleigh Rankings Sales Flyer
  Honorable Mention ¬ 2004 Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh & Wake Co.
  Honorable Mention ¬ Greater Raleigh Monthly Calendar of Events