For partners who missed our 2026 Annual Meeting earlier this month, GRCVB Board of Directors chair Melissa Chunn (general manager, Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel) shared updates on the Bureau's progress toward increasing visitor and convention business during fiscal year 2025-2026.

Some highlights from our Annual Report:

  • Wake County attracted 19.1 million visitors in 2025;
  • those 19.1 million visitors spent $3.4 billion on their trips; and
  • $342 million was added to local/state tax coffers as a result.

Partners can read the full report, including a breakdown of progress from each Bureau department, here. They can also review our 2026-2027 Business Plan here.
 

Annual awards

We celebrated outstanding hospitality partners with our annual awards (listed here in order of the event program and as presented by GRCVB president and CEO Dennis Edwards and board chair Chunn):

A collage of the award winners at the 2026 GRCVB Annual Meeting

 

"Museum Momentum" lightning talks

The 2026 Annual Meeting highlighted "Museum Momentum" in Raleigh and Wake County. Representatives from the destination's four key-attractor museums, Marbles Kids Museum, the North Carolina Museum of Art, North Carolina Museum of History and North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, presented on their significant current/upcoming developments. You can view each of their lightning talks (listed below in order of the event program).
 

Marbles Kids Museum
Jonathan Frederick, CEO


A collage of Marbles Kids Museum's presentation at the 2026 Annual Meeting featuring renderings and CEO Jonathan Fredericks.

 

N.C. Museum of Art 
Lizzie Newton, director of marketing and communications


A collage of North Carolina Museum of Art's presentation during the 2026 GRCVB Annual Meeting featuring renderings and director of marketing and communications Lizzie Newton

 

N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences 
Denise Young, Ed.D., director and CEO 


A collage of photos from the presentation for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, including Stumpy the whale and Denise Young, Ed.D. director and CEO

 

N.C. Museum of History
C.J. Roberts, executive director


A collage of the presentation from the North Carolina Museum of History during the 2026 GRCVB annual meeting featuring executive director C.J. Roberts and renderings for the updates to the museum.

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On signage displayed in the lobby during networking hour and on slides shown in the theater before and after the main program, the Bureau showcased the 14 other museums in Wake County that serve visitors. Some 15% of area visitors already report spending time at one or more of our museums during their trips, and momentum from the major museums' renovations and expansions will increase visitor capacity, satisfaction and spending even further.

With capital improvements taking place at our key-attractor museums (and many other new developments underway countywide), it is hard not to be excited about the future of our destination. We're looking forward to what the next several years have in store and hope you can join us for our 40th Annual Meeting in Aug. 2027.