Author: Dennis Edwards

Dennis Edwards is the president and CEO for the Greater Raleigh CVB. Serving as president and CEO since April 2007, his role is to sell and market Raleigh/Wake County as a tourist and meetings destination. An Iowa native, Edwards is a graduate from the University of Northern Iowa where he received a B.A. with a major in public relations. He and his wife, Cindy, have two boys, Bryce and Drake. Learn more

The Wake County Board of Commissioners allocated $2.67 million of their American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the GRCVB in late summer 2021, which was included in our 2021-2022 fiscal-year budget and business plan. These funds brought our budget back to nearly pre-COVID levels and put us in a

Leisure Travel Leads Way to Recovery

Friday, September 24, 2021, 3pm by Dennis Edwards

How about some good news about the recovery of tourism to start this Monday morning? According to Tourism Economics, U.S. leisure travel volume for 2021 will reach 91% of its prior volume in 2019. Looking ahead to 2022, they expect 94% recovery and full recovery by the first half of 2023. Wake

Optimistic Recovery for Wake County Tourism

Thursday, January 21, 2021, 2pm by Dennis Edwards

The year 2020 was an extremely challenging and difficult time for the leisure and hospitality industry. However, as vaccines continue to be developed and distributed, we believe consumer confidence regarding travel once again will begin to rebound. There are indicators that Wake County tourism will