Greater Raleigh Tourism e-News
Welcome to the Greater Raleigh Tourism e-News … presented by the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB). Please let us know about any news pertaining to Wake County's billion dollar visitor industry for possible inclusion in future issues.
IN VOLUME 2, ISSUE 5:
Labor Day Highlights
Cracking the Top 25
Chart Climber
Cheers to Restaurant Accolades
New Look 2006 Visitors Guide
2005/06 Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
2004/05 Annual Report Now Available
Sales/Sports News
Assisted Bureau Bookings in July
Events Through Next Month
Labor Day Highlights
Labor Day is officially regarded as the end of summer - a time for backyard barbecues, a new school year, community parades and the start of cooler temperatures. The Greater Raleigh area is hosting summer's last celebration with unique festivals, events, exhibits and concerts.
Thanks to these activities, and two college football games at Carter-Finley Stadium (ACC opener between NC State and Virginia Tech and Aggie-Eagle Classic between NC A&T and NC Central), the Bureau is helping to boost a traditionally slow holiday weekend for the area visitor industry. Learn more. 
Cracking the Top 25
Here's another selling point to assist future sports marketing efforts as the Bureau's sports sales squad helped book $26.5 million of future business last year. The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area sits No. 23 in The Sporting News' annual ranking of best sports cities – up from No. 25 a year ago and ahead of Nashville, New Orleans, Cleveland, Orlando, Kansas City, Green Bay and Toronto. Others of note among 388 cities cited include No. 28 Charlotte, No. 73 Winston-Salem, No. 121 Greenville, No. 174 Greensboro and No. 295 Zebulon.
Chart Climber
Another accolade sure to assist many destination marketing efforts is Forbes Magazine rating the Raleigh region as the 4th Best City for Singles in their annual poll – up from No. 17 a year ago. The fifth annual listing of America's Best Cities for Singles ranks 40 of the largest metropolitan areas in six different categories: nightlife, culture, job growth, number of other singles, cost of living alone and coolness. Joining our area in the top five were Denver, Boston, San Francisco and Washington. Learn more.
Cheers to Restaurant Accolades
Kudos to Bloomsbury Bistro, Enoteca Vin, Fins and Second Empire, which were among 76 selected nationwide this year by Distinguished Restaurants of North America for its annual DiRoNA award.
Four area restaurants -- Biaggi's, Capital City Chop House,
Nana's Chophouse, and Zely & Ritz – were among 13 Greater Raleigh establishments to join the elite circle of 2005 Wine Spectator award winners. Leading the list is Angus Barn, which for the 17th year in a row, is one of only a hundred or so restaurants worldwide to earn Wine Spectator's Grand Award. Enoteca Vin won the next-highest accolade with the Best of Award of Excellence Award.
New Look 2006 Visitors Guide
Befitting all the product improvements throughout the area with new openings, renovations and construction, the GRCVB is following suit by rolling out an entirely new concept with its 2006 Visitors Guide to Raleigh and Wake County.
It will partner with Our State Custom Publishing (OSCP) - which also produces the highly-acclaimed Our State Magazine - as OSCP will handle the majority of production, design, editorial and advertising elements of a traditional magazine size publication (four color from cover to cover). Though bidding a fond farewell to its long-time digest size guide, it will continue to honor advertising agreements for 2006 and keep the ad rates close to previous year levels. The 2006 edition is slated to arrive on December 8 with ad sales running now through September 23.
For ad information, contact Bill Hammond at 800-948-1409 or bhammond@ourstate.com. Other questions can be directed to Martin Armes at 919-645-2654 or marmes@visitraleigh.com.
2005/06 Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
There are many ways to leverage CVB programs and assist your business goals through the area's billion dollar visitor industry.
Some exciting cooperative partnerships have been developed that offer ways to join forces with CVB campaigns via online, magazine, newspaper and guidebook advertising with participation rates starting from $250. The Bureau has been able to negotiate unprecedented affordable rates in Southern Living and Our State Magazine, not to mention four online endeavors.
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.
2004/05 Annual Report Now Available
A printed version of the Bureau's 18th 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, destination and partnership marketing, etc.
Sales/Sports News
The sales staff hosted a site visit for Zeta Phi Beta and submitted formal proposals for almost $4.25 million of future business (2009-2013 Turfgrass Council of NC and 2008 National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association). Along with the Raleigh Convention Center, it recently prospected for lots of future business at the American Society of Association Executives Annual Convention in Nashville as 2,000 meeting planners were on hand who help decide where a portion of the $119 billion-a-year meetings industry spends it money. Meanwhile, the sports squad partnered with the Carolina Mudcats to submit paperwork to the NCAA indicating interest in hosting a college baseball super regional at Five County Stadium in 2007 or 2008.
Assisted Bureau Bookings in July
- NCSU Veterinary School, March 14-18, 2007 (1,260 TRN; $677,160 EEI)
- USA League Southern Section Mixed Doubles, Oct. 21-23, 2005 (1,200 TRN; $262,800 EEI)
- International Chinese Statistical Association, June 2-7, 2007 (394 TRN; $207,078 EEI)
- NCAA Women's Basketball 1st & 2nd Rounds, March 2007 (1,100 TRN; $191,900 EEI)
- Bullfrog STA Junior Designated Tennis, Oct. 1-3, 2005 (1,045 TRN; $188,385 EEI)
- NC Chapter – American Planning Association, Oct. 22-25, 2008 (300 TRN; $174,600 EEI)
TRN=total room nights; EEI=estimated economic impact.
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