Greater Raleigh Tourism e-News
Welcome to the seventh issue of Greater Raleigh Tourism e-News … presented by the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB). This monthly e-News is the metamorphosis of two CVB communications tools (Visitor Advance and Matter of Fax). Please let us know about any news pertaining to Wake County's billion dollar visitor industry for possible inclusion in future issues.
IN VOLUME 1, ISSUE 7:
2003 Visitor Spending Tally ($1.082 billion)
New Convention Center Update
Cracking the Top 20 (Meetings Survey)
We're No. 25 (Best Sports Cities)
Softball Ponies Up for Fourth Year
2004/05 Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
Ad Sales Underway for 2005 Visitors Guide
2003/04 Annual Report Now Available
Assisted Bureau Bookings in July
In the News
Events in Greater Raleigh This Month
2003 Visitor Spending Tally ($1.082 billion)
Visitors to Wake County poured $1.082 billion into the local economy in 2003, or $2.96 million per day, according to the Travel Industry Association of America's (TIA) annual study. Wake County ranks No. 2 among North Carolina's 100 counties in terms of visitor spending, trailing only Mecklenburg County ($2.57 billion). Rounding out the top five are Guilford County ($863 million), Dare County ($598 million) and Buncombe County ($513 million).
The area's total of $1.082 billion represents a 0.3 percent increase from last year's figure of $1.064 billion and generated more than $87 million in state ($55.13 million) and local ($31.89 million) tax receipts last year. Equally important, those tax revenues generated $317.01 in total savings per local household in state and local taxes. Visitors to Wake County actually save residents taxes by generating tax revenues through their local spending that can be used for education, school construction, water, sewer and other necessities. If these tax revenues were not generated by visitors, the local taxpayers would need to provide the revenue if the level of service and amenities Wake County has were to be maintained.
New Convention Center Update
Earlier in August, the architectural team of O'Brien Atkins, Clearscapes and TVS presented some initial schematic designs for the new convention center. The feedback and suggestions received from an array of stakeholders will be reviewed and implemented the next two months before the Raleigh City Council and Wake County Commissioners vote on a schematic design on October 14.
The project's architects are designing the facility based on the assumptions that:
• much of Raleigh's identity is derived from its role as the capital of North Carolina.
• the design of the convention center should convey the transition from Raleigh's heritage to its emerging knowledge-based future.
• the building materials used in the convention center should reinforce this transition by using traditional materials in contemporary ways.
• the building should respond to the goals of the Livable Streets Program.
• the center's art should amplify North Carolina as the state of arts.
The architects will next meet with the elected officials and the public on September 14 when the subject of the presentation will be "Evolution of Character." The public meeting will commence at 5 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center. The elected officials will hold a joint meeting on October 14 to make a decision on the schematic design, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center.
The new convention center complex will result in 900 additional new jobs and more than $50 million additional economic benefit annually for Wake County. Click here for more details.
Cracking the Top 20
In the July/August issue of EXPO: The Magazine for Exposition Management, the publication picked 25 cities that offer exceptional value to the corporate or association pocketbook in a variety of categories like affordable hotel and meal rates. Raleigh checks in at No. 20 – up from No. 24 a year ago. Said EXPO, "The Raleigh Convention Center recently helped subsidize the transportation costs for the Magnet Schools of America national convention, while the Greater Raleigh CVB participated on the local steering committee and contributed to efforts resulting in a 35 percent increase over the projected attendance. The bureau can build customized web pages for attendees." Other bargain cities cited were No. 3 Greenville, S.C., No. 7 Columbia, S.C., No. 17 Richmond, Va., and No. 18 Greensboro.
We're No. 25
The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area sits No. 25 in The Sporting News' annual ranking of best sports cities – up from No. 26 a year ago and ahead of Cleveland, San Diego, Toronto, Cincinnati, San Antonio and Orlando. Others of note among 368 cities cited include No. 21 Charlotte, No. 74 Winston-Salem, No. 118 Greenville, No. 155 Wilmington, No. 188 High Point, No. 197 Greensboro, No. 253 Buies Creek, No. 289 Zebulon and No. 353 Fayetteville. Click here for the full list
Softball Ponies Up for Four Year
As expected, the Wake County hospitality industry received a big boost recently when it hosted for the fourth year the PONY National Fast Pitch Softball Tournament from July 26-31. However, the impact was larger than expected with approximately 270 teams from up and down the East Coast pumping more than $4.46 million into the local economy – up 14.3 percent from $3.9 million in 2003, $3.1 million in 2002 and $2.2 million in 2001. The City of Raleigh Parks & Recreation, the Town of Cary Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources and the GRCVB worked in partnership to attract PONY to the area, and both parks & rec departments officially hosted and managed the tournament that generated 18,638 hotel rooms nights.
2004/05 Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
From the blockbuster Matisse and Picasso exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of Art to exciting new retail opportunities at North Hills and Triangle Town Center and from significant sporting events like the CIAA Basketball Tournament and U.S. Open Golf Championship in nearby Pinehurst to hundreds of holiday and spring events, there are many ways to leverage CVB programs and assist your business goals through the area's billion dollar visitor industry.
Right now, some exciting cooperative partnerships have been developed starting this fall and holiday season that offer ways to join forces with CVB campaigns via online, magazine and newspaper advertising with rates starting from $250. For more information about these co-op marketing opportunities, please contact the Bureau's director of partnership and tourism marketing Shawn Braden at 919-645-2663 or sbraden@visitraleigh.com.
Ad Sales Underway for 2005 Visitors Guide
Advertising sales for the 2005 Visitors Guide to Raleigh and Wake County are underway with rates starting from $125 for this signature publication distributed to more than 300,000 people. For more information, please contact Candi Griffin at 919-645-2676 or adsales@visitraleigh.com. Space commitments are due by Monday, September 20.
2003/04 Annual Report Now Available
A printed version of the Bureau's 17th Annual Report can be obtained by contacting Linda Bonine at 919-645-2662 or lbonine@visitraleigh.com. More comprehensive information can also be accessed online with full details about sales, sports, leisure marketing, etc.
- NCAA Men's Basketball, 1st & 2nd Rounds, March 21-23, 2008 (5,000 TRN; $2.4 million EEI)
- Lifeway Christian Resources, July 29-30, 2005 (2,300 TRN; $2.16 million EEI)
- Great American Cross Country Festival, Oct. 1-2, 2004 (2,500 TRN; $610,000 EEI)
- NC Electric Cooperatives, four different meetings (614 TRN; $364,000 EEI)
- The Raleigh Ringers, November 4-6, 2004 (100 TRN; $199,000 EEI)
In the News
Various efforts resulted in recent coverage in the Association Management Magazine, Boston Herald, Bus Tours Magazine, Chicago Sun Times, EXPO Magazine, Grit Magazine, Meeting Professional, Meetings South, Multicultural Travel News, New York Daily News, Our State Magazine, Wall Street Journal, USAE and USA Weekend. On a media tour in San Francisco, public relations representatives pitched Raleigh to the likes of San Francisco Chronicle, Travel & Leisure, AAA VIA, Curve, Lonely Planet, KQED "Weir Cooking in the City, "KRON "Bay Area Backroads, "KUSF-FM, Epicurean Corner, Meetings East/South, Out & About and Platonic TV.
Said the Boston Herald on July 4, "North Carolina's capital city offers a relaxed, laid back and value-oriented opportunity to look at culture from another point of view, down-home Southern style."
According to Grit Magazine in August 2004 issue, "From the farm breakfasts to his filling lunches, Big Ed's means big-time country cooking in the heart of Raleigh."
The New York Daily News touted on August 1," John Edwards is now the official Democratic vice presidential nominee, but there is still plenty that American's don't know about presidential nominee John Kerry's right-hand man. Voters who want to learn more about where Edwards is coming from – literally – can head to … Raleigh, N.C., before Election Day for several local events … (BugFest, Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris, North Carolina State Fair)."
   |
