Raleigh, NC - Visitors, meeting planners, sports-events rights holders and media now have access to three new and redesigned resources to help in planning a visit to the Raleigh area. The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB) has launched a complete redesign of its website, visitRaleigh.com, a companion mobile site, visitRaleigh.mobi, as well as republished the award-winning Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh, Cary and Wake County. All of these comprehensive and integrated, visitor-centric marketing tools provide a rich visual overview of the area and introduce the area's more than 11.7 million annual visitors to the dynamic, unique, unexpected and celebratory aspects of Greater Raleigh.

The dramatically redesigned web and mobile sites were created by Simpleview Inc., a leader in destination marketing and web development, through the direction and creative guidance of the GRCVB marketing team.

For visitors looking for things to do, places to stay, where to eat and events taking place, visitRaleigh.com makes the task of planning a visit to the area simple, compelling and user-friendly. The eye-catching design and visual elements of the site are centered around the GRCVB's Destination I.D. marketing initiative, which encourages visitors to identify their travel personality type and plan activities around specific interests. Destination I.D.s include: Adrenaline Junkie, Creative Genius, Fashionista, Foodie, Free Spirit, Lifelong Learner and Music Maniac.

Highlights of the new site include:

• Easy to access visitor navigation to Things to Do, Deals and Special Offers, Restaurants and a Calendar of Events with mapping capability.
• A robust social media section where visitors are encouraged to ‘Get Social with Us' and which aggregates Facebook and Twitter feeds and encourages sharing through other social media platforms including Pinterest, Reddit and Tumblr.
• An award-winning video gallery highlighting more than 120+ destination videos on various aspects of the Raleigh area.
• Striking new photography, which provides a snapshot of the beauty, personality and many diverse offerings of the area.
• Feature stories and engaging editorial on the notable people, places and events that make the area one-of-a-kind.
• Special secondary navigation for tourism Industry Professionals - meeting planners in the sales process, planners utilizing convention services programs, sports-rights holders, group tour operators, media and local tourism partners.

"Having a visually-appealing, and most importantly user-friendly website, for both leisure and business visitors, is one of the most important tools that we can provide as a destination marketing organization," said Dennis Edwards, president and CEO of the GRCVB. "Working with a vendor like Simpleview gave us the confidence that best practices would be implemented and that it would have the functionality for us to consistently freshen the site with new content, images, videos and useful information."

With the launch of visitRaleigh.com also came the introduction of a companion multi-device mobile website, visitRaleigh.mobi. The purpose of the new mobile site is to give visitors another smart way to visit Raleigh, by putting a guide to all things "Greater Raleigh" in the palms of area visitors' hands. The mobile site provides on-the-go access to updated events, one-touch mapping, special deals and offers, hotels and restaurants and social media links.

The third piece of visitRaleigh's marketing arsenal is the latest edition of the Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh, Cary and Wake County. The guide has now hit the shelves at North Carolina Welcome Centers, area hotels, attractions, the Greater Raleigh Visitor Information Center, RDU International Airport, or by calling the GRCVB at (919) 834-5900 or (800) 849-8499 or e-mailing the Bureau at visit@visitRaleigh.com.

The Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh, Cary and Wake County is the premier resource for visitors planning a trip to the Raleigh area. This year's guide features 66 pages of current information in an easy-to-read magazine format and features comprehensive information on local attractions, cultural opportunities, shopping information, sports and recreation options, as well as 140+ Greater Raleigh hotel accommodations.

This year's guide features editorial written by Elliot Acosta (eatRaleighblog.com), Valerie Marino (trianglemusicblog.com) and Jason Frye, an award-winning travel writer. Stories throughout the guide highlight Greater Raleigh's Can't Miss List in all of the Destination I.D. categories. New to the guide is a four-page, pull-out map highlighting 75 can't miss attractions in Greater Raleigh and a map of Wake County.

"Once again the GRCVB's marketing and communications departments have produced a guide that showcases the best-of-the-best in Greater Raleigh," said Edwards. "Visitors can use this resource, in conjunction with the website and mobile site to make the most out of their visit and truly experience why the Raleigh area is consistently named one of the best places in the nation to live, work and play."

The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, as the official destination marketing organization of Raleigh and Wake County, accelerates sustainable economic growth and development by increasing visitor and convention business.