Posts by Jonathan Freeze, CDME

Author: Jonathan Freeze, CDME

Jonathan Freeze, CDME, has built a career in the marketing of places, directing the Greater Raleigh CVB's marketing efforts since 2008. Though a firm believer in the science of marketing, Jonathan also began his career as a writer and creative wordsmith. In 2021, he contributed a chapter recounting recent destination stewardship work in Raleigh to the book Tourism Microentrepreneurship (Emerald Publishing). Learn more

Like most industries, the CVB industry has evolved tremendously since its formation. Unlike some industries, though, individual CVBs almost always have collaborated and had a strong industry association (now called Destinations International, est. 1915) that helps to shape evolution of the business.

Each year since revamping its community engagement strategies officially in 2018, GRCVB has arranged its communications with local community stakeholders around annual themes of import, and this year is no different. In calendar years 2019 and 2020, Bureau staff created and implemented a multilevel

One of the important responsibilities that GRCVB bears for Wake County is the collection and constant monitoring of tourism-related statistics. As you can imagine during the past year, we have seen some jubilant highs and jarring lows as tourism numbers, across the board, have been reported. As is

As announced in the GRCVB Annual Meeting on Aug. 26 and further outlined in our Sept. 30 Coronavirus Briefing, the Bureau is currently investing in two major photo/video projects around Wake County, to respond to special needs being felt by the destination’s customers as well as by our area...

Last year I wrote about the philosophy behind developing festival/event tourism in our area and plugging data into a cycle of improvement that leads to more positive impacts from these events. This week I want to be more specific about how GRCVB can help area festival/event organizers who are

Once a year or so, I overhear someone say that the Raleigh area doesn't have a brand. Having been project manager for development of the Raleigh, N.C., Destination Brand Strategy in 2014-2015, however, I know that we have at least one brand platform countywide! The problem is that we...

In past posts, we’ve covered visitor profile research and shared stats about Raleigh area visitors’ current makeup (studied biennially by GRCVB); we’ve also covered the economic significance of producing visitor-friendly festivals/events here and how economic impacts can be...

Back in 2015, GRCVB first expanded its promotion of signature experiences for visitors of all types, developing a Things to Do webpage that showcased a curated collection of personal tours and hands-on encounters in Raleigh/Wake County. All these experiences were suited for small groups (e.g.,

In past discussions of Visitor Math, I have summarized findings of big-picture (macro), annual research projects from the Greater Raleigh CVB, such as the 2016 Report on the Economic Impact of Tourism. (A 2017 report will be published this summer.) In this post, I want to describe how even small

In follow-up to past posts featuring GRCVB’s tourism research, let’s delve even more into the makeup of the average visitor to Raleigh/Wake County. Today’s stats give us insights into how we can optimize promotions to the area’s overnight visitors, including cooperative...

Tourism Talk blog

Author: Jonathan Freeze, CDME

Adding Value to the Historic Work of Destination Marketing

Discerning Themes That May Define 2021

Area Tourism Data Indicating Gradual Rebuild

GRCVB’s New Photo and Video Projects with Partners

Economic Impact Analysis Now Available for More Events

Keeping the Destination Brand Promise is Hard Work

Visitor Math: Benefits of Awareness Research

Signature Experiences: Putting People First

Tracking of Tourism Leads to Increased Impact from Events

Visitor Math: From + Where + What

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Author: Jonathan Freeze, CDME

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