Raleigh Area to Host 2011 NHL All-Star Game

North Carolina's Capital City Readies for Major Professional Sporting Event

Raleigh, NC -- The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau is preparing to "roll
out the red carpet" for thousands of hockey fans and spectators during the 2011 NHL
All-Star Weekend, January 27-29. Major venues including the RBC Center and the
Raleigh Convention Center, along with the area's 132 hotels, are preparing for this
major international sporting event expected to bring in an estimated $10 to $20 million
in economic impact.

The 2011 All-Star Game will mark the fourth time that the Raleigh area and the Carolina
Hurricanes have hosted a major NHL event. Previous major events include the Stanley
Cup Final in 2002 and 2006, as well as the NHL Entry Draft in 2004. It marks just the
second major-league All-Star Game to take place in North Carolina, as Charlotte hosted
the 1991 NBA All-Star Game.

"Anytime you can showcase the Greater Raleigh area by hosting an event of this
magnitude, it's a wonderful thing," said Dennis Edwards, president and CEO of the
Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. "Positive exposure by hosting the All-
Star Game will help validate the fact that we have a variety of first class facilities and
amenities, along with a community that is capable of servicing a multitude of meetings,
conventions and sporting events."

Throughout the next nine months the Raleigh area will be in the final stages of a
planned $3 billion renaissance. Projects including the new world-class N.C. Museum of
Art and Terminal 2 at Raleigh Durham International Airport will be completed. Major
visitor initiatives including the Nature Research Center at the NC Museum of Natural
Sciences, the Contemporary Art Museum will open in late 2011. These major attractions
- many of which offer free admission - along with five hotels scheduled to open prior to
the NHL All-Star Weekend, continue to make the Raleigh area a premier leisure and
meeting destination.

ABOUT THE GREATER RALEIGH CONVENTION AND VISITORS BUREAU
The Greater Raleigh Convention & 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.