Tourism Talk blog

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...

By now, pretty much everyone has heard of esports, right? It’s the fastest-growing sports market in the world. Sometimes it feels as if esports is taking over the world! But in the events industry, esports is still a relative baby. A newcomer to the scene. So much rapid growth, so much...

The Wake County Destination Strategic Plan (DSP) is garnering international attention. The Destinations International Annual Convention is happening this week in St. Louis, where over 1,400 representatives from convention and visitors bureaus from around the world will be attending. I have been

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,...

Hospitality tax stakeholders City and County leaders hosted a hospitality tax stakeholders meeting at Marbles Kids Museum on June 19. I would like to congratulate the County Manager and Raleigh City Manager and their staffs on developing the proposal and for the transparency of the process. I

One key recommendation from the Destination Strategic Plan (DSP) was a call for sports tourism strategies to grow the area’s reputation around esports, including hosting competitive video-gaming events. Six Major Raleigh With that in mind, we're pleased to announce that Ubisoft ® in...

At GRCVB, there seems to be a cycle of buzzwords that we use in our meetings and hallway conversations. In the last year or two, I have heard master plan, disruption, deep dive and "move the needle" tossed around quite a bit. One phrase that has always been around but that we’re...

We continue to make progress on Destination 2028. Esports and event metrics Esports was a major opportunity under the Sports priority of the Destination Strategic Plan (DSP). I'm pleased to report that we have booked our first esports event, which will bring in more than 3,500 competitors and