Tourism Talk blog

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

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

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.

GRCVB hosted its first hybrid Annual Meeting on Thurs., Aug. 19, 2021, virtually and in A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Here’s a summary of the meeting... Wake County welcomed 12.9 million visitors in 2020, which was a decrease of 29% from 2019....

The last 17 months have no doubt been unprecedented in their overall effect on the revenues, employment and economic performance in the hospitality sector. Contingency planning, recovery tactics and long-term resiliency are the objectives for the GRCVB and all our community partners. The old saying

We announced in the Tourism Talk blog on June 21 that there are several significant staff changes underway in the Destination Services Department here at the Bureau. As of July 31, 2021, Julie Brakenbury, CGSP ® , director of services since 2007, is taking her much-deserved retirement, while...

Past attendees received an Annual Meeting invitation email last week, but in case you didn't, we're also sharing the information here this morning. Please join us for the Bureau’s first hybrid Annual Meeting: The Next Normal: Perspectives from industry thought leaders about...

Once again... the announcement is bittersweet. GRCVB’s director of destination services Julie Brakenbury, CGSP ® , has announced her retirement. Just as with the retirement of Theresa Tyler in Dec. 2020, saying goodbye to these colleagues comes with mixed emotions; we’re happy for...

We believe there are some people in our area whom every hospitality partner ought to know (or at least know about). And we're planning to introduce you to them in a series of Q&A interviews during 2021. Today we want to introduce you to Whitney Knollenberg, Ph.D., assistant professor in the

Earlier in 2021, we published a Tourism Talk blog post about the Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee (GRELOC), an outgrowth of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRSA) focusing on esports and supported by Subnation and GRCVB. You can read more about GRELOC and its mission here.