Tourism Talk blog

I consider myself something of an art aficionado. Before I moved to Raleigh in 2005, I worked on a college campus and was good friends with some of the art faculty there, and they taught me how to think more deeply about art. For example, sometimes a piece of art carries deep and nuanced meaning and

Because of the 2019 Annual Meeting and previous Tourism Talk blog posts, you may already know that one of the key talking points for GRCVB this year is the value of tourism. Why does tourism matter and what difference does it make in the local economy, to the vibrancy of our area and to each of us

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...

The 2019 GRCVB Annual Meeting, “Why Tourism Matters,” is in the books. Here are some scenes from our favorite day of the year. The theme What we hoped our guests would take away from this event was summarized in the theme—Why Tourism Matters—specifically how visitors and...

If you haven’t had a chance yet, you still have a few days to register for GRCVB’s Annual Meeting on Wed., Aug. 21, 2019, at the Raleigh Convention Center. (Registration closes on Wed., Aug. 14, 2019). We hope you have noticed that the theme of the ticketed luncheon is “Why...

Part of our job at GRCVB, specifically in the Marketing and Communications Department, is to create and maintain the destination photo library. Over the last 10+ years, we have accumulated more than 30,000 new images of Wake County, of area hospitality partner locations and venues, of events and

Invitations for the 2019 GRCVB Annual Meeting are in the mail queue (both snail mail and email). If you haven’t gotten yours already, be watching for it to appear in the next few days. We love Annual Meeting season around here because it’s our chance to show area hospitality partners,...

Sharing the story of Raleigh/Wake County regionally, nationally and internationally takes a team effort—one that often involves partners outside our GRCVB offices. When our Convention Sales team meets with planners at conventions and events around the country, they often bring a taste of...

We’re happy to announce that the 2019‒2020 edition of the Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh, Cary and Wake County has been provided to the printer. We expect the Visitors Guides to ship mid-May, and you should start seeing them by late May. Here are a few notes about this year's...

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...