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 6:
Interactive Convention Center Experiences
Heidi Ho
Three New Friendly Faces
Sense-sational Fall
'Tis the Holiday Season
Cracking the Top 20
Triangle Teamwork
More PR Pitching
November 17 Industry Update Meetings
2006/07 Meeting Planners Guide Advertising
2006 Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
Sales/Sports News
Assisted Bureau Bookings in September
Events Through Next Month
Interactive Convention Center Experiences
Check out the latest progress and see what the new Raleigh convention center will look like upon completion in Spring 2008. Enjoy these views from a live Construction Cam or take a virtual tour of the new facility to feature 150,000 square feet of exhibition space, 32,000 square feet of ballroom space and 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
Heidi Ho
The Bureau bids a fond farewell to assistant director of sales Heidi Walters who will be moving a few blocks north in downtown Raleigh to join the North Carolina Division of Tourism as its international sales director on November 1. Her primary duties include the management and oversight of the German and United Kingdom marketing activities for the Division. Walters spent a decade in meetings and conventions sales at the GRCVB and is the immediate past president for the Carolina's Chapter of Meeting Professionals International. Her new contact information is hwalters@nccommerce.com.
Three New Friendly Faces
The GRCVB recently added three new national sales managers to its team in Stephen Jackson, Jana Rae Oliver and Loretta Yingling.
Pictured (l-r): Kathleen Murphy, Kumi Anzalone, Stephen Jackson, Jana Rae (J.R.) Oliver, Loretta Yingling and Loren Gold.
Jackson joins the Bureau from the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC, were he had extensive training in hotel operations, guest services and sales. He also spent time in Las Vegas with the MGM Grand in a variety of positions. Jackson graduated Magna Cum Laude from North Carolina Central University with a degree in hospitality and will be handling the multicultural meetings market that encompasses groups from the African American, Hispanic and Gay and Lesbian communities, along with the national association market in Colorado, Texas, California and Washington.
Oliver spent a decade working at the CVB in Tucson, Ariz., most recently as convention manager handling all convention center users for the Bureau. She also has convention center operations experience as a booking manager for the facility. Oliver has extensive experience in the religious market with primary focus on the Midwest market (excluding minority and fraternal) with her primary focus being on the medical associations from Illinois. Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky and Tennessee will be her secondary focus.
Yingling possesses an extensive hotel background most recently working with MHI Hotels selling the Hilton Wilmington (NC) and calling on corporate, association and government accounts in the Triangle area. She also has worked for the former Holiday Inn (now the Clarion) State Capital and the Sheraton Chapel Hill. Yingling will be handling the Northeast, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic (DC, MD, VA) and NC markets for all groups (except religious, minority and fraternal) of 51 rooms peak or more that don't require the new Convention Center.
Sense-Sational Fall
The Bureau's fall promotion touts all the sense-sational activities taking place throughout the Capital City area. It features a dedicated online promotional page, online marketing campaign to 250,000 potential visitors, radio advertising in the Triad and Eastern North Carolina and statewide newspaper co-op and dedicated public relations push.
'Tis the Season for Holiday Promotions
Yes, it's that time of year again. Time to crank up the publicity machine and bring visitors to Greater Raleigh for the holidays and experience why holidays are indeed different here. What follows are seven GRCVB programs designed to do just that: (1) The 2005 TGIF holiday promotion features a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree to either Crabtree Valley Mall or Triangle Town Center when booking a TGIF hotel rate at one of 23 participating hotels; (2) A dedicated online holiday promotional page; (3) A unique online email campaign with 17 partners to a quarter million consumers, two-page holiday spread in November and December issues of Our State Magazine with various partners and radio spots in the Triad and Eastern North Carolina highlight some of the holiday advertising efforts; (4) The 2005 Greater Raleigh Holiday Calendar is complete with shopping information and details on more than 100 events throughout Wake County. More than 55,000 calendars will be distributed in the weeks ahead; plus all the information is featured on the Bureau's web site; (5) Editorial in state and regional magazines; (6) Calendars and news releases sent to almost 400 media outlets in NC and the Southeast; and (7) Appearances by GRCVB staff on radio talk shows in Eastern NC
Cracking the Top 20
Raleigh boasts four of the 10 most popular of North Carolina's 385 public and private museums and historic sites. The first-ever ranking of the state's museums and historic sites was conducted by Carolina Publishing Associates of Matthews, publishers of the annual Carolina Heritage Guide and Carolina and Virginia Field Trips Magazines. Asheville's Biltmore Estate topped the list, followed by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, No. 7 North Carolina of Art, No. 8 Exploris, No. 10 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and No. 19 North Carolina State Capitol.
Triangle Teamwork
The CVBs in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill joined forces with NC Tourism to host six freelance travel journalists from October 6-11. The scribes hailed from Atlanta, Birmingham, Charleston, Newark, New York and Philadelphia and their outlets included Cooking Light, NY Daily News, Every Day with Rachel Ray, NY Sun, NY Post, Food & Wine, Philadelphia Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Providence Journal, Dallas Morning News and Huntsville Times. Among the Raleigh restaurants enjoyed were Duck & Dumpling, Enoteca Vin, Frazier's, JK's, Mura, Nana's Chophouse along with traditional treats like Big Ed's and Cooper's.
More PR Pitching
The communications team embarked on a North Carolina public relations road trip to Wilmington (WWAY-TV Good Morning Carolina, Wilmington Magazine, Wilmington Star News and Living Southern Style), Greensboro (Greensboro News & Record) and Charlotte (Charlotte Observer, AAA Go Magazine and Taste & Travel radio). It also attended the Society of American Travel Writers annual convention in Las Vegas and worked a media marketplace featuring some 200 journalists and public relations partner DCI pitched story ideas at the Travel Media Showcase in Niagara Falls – the 2006 event will be held in Fayetteville.
November 17 Industry Update Meetings
The GRCVB will update the industry at a pair of meetings on Thursday, November 17. A Hotel/Lodging Strategy Meeting will take place from 8:30-10:30 am at the Embassy Suites Cary/RDU, while the Attractions/Venue Presentation on Thursday, November 17 at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences from 3 - 4:30 p.m. For more information about the November 17 meetings, please contact the Bureau's director of partnership and tourism marketing Shawn Braden at 919-645-2663 or sbraden@visitraleigh.com.
2006/07 Meeting Planners Guide Advertising
Sign up by November 7 for a $1,500 featured listing in the Bureau's next Meeting Planners Guide, the bi-annual, four-color premier sales piece. This publication is distributed by the GRCVB sales team statewide, nationally and internationally via proactive selling efforts, sales missions, strategic marketing campaigns and at the top industry trade shows. By purchasing an ad unit of 2 pages (4 times the size of the previous printing), the hotel or meeting facility may include floor plans, event space specifications, amenities list, four-color pictures and descriptive copy – plus receive added value exposure on our web site. For more information, please contact the Bureau's director of sales Loren Gold at 919-645-2669 or lgold@visitraleigh.com.
2006 Destination and Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
There are many ways to leverage CVB programs and assist your business goals through the area's billion dollar visitor industry. Many beneficial cooperative partnerships have been developed that offer ways to join forces with CVB campaigns via online, magazine 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 six online endeavors and four new opportunities to advertise on VisitRaleigh.com.
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.
Sales/Sports News
The sales staff submitted formal proposals for almost $1.2 million of future business (2010 American Philatelic Society, 2009 National Association of Truck Stop Operators and 2006 Excel Property Management). Along with the Raleigh Convention Center, it recently prospected for lots of future business at the recent HSMAI Affordable Meetings Tradeshow in Washington, DC. Meanwhile, the sports squad partnered with the Town of Cary to submit bid for the 2006 and 2007 USA Youth Team Tennis Southern Section Championships, which would be held at Cary Tennis Park in August of each year.
Assisted Bureau Bookings in September
Promise Keepers, June 13-18, 2006 (300 TRN; $2,046,950 EEI)
Ray Price Harley Davidson BikeFest, Oct. 7-9, 2005 (400 TRN; $513,600 EEI)
5th Marine Division, Aug.21-22, 2007 (929 TRN; $443,334 EEI)
Coastal Cup Inline Hockey Series Championship, May 12-14, 2006 (756 TRN; $260,421 EEI)
TRN=total room nights; EEI=estimated economic impact
   |
