Tourism Talk blog

We love that festivals and signature events are back and in a big way! Dreamville Festival 2022 helped lead the way on April 2-3 at Dorothea Dix Park. The festival's PR team estimates the gate at 80,000 over these two, music-filled days. Here are just a few of the images that were collected by...

If you haven't visited the official Visitor Information Center (VIC) in downtown Raleigh recently, stop by and take a look. The walls are sporting a vibrant red which gives the space a new energy. Kessa Stevens, CGSP ® , GRCVB's VIC manager, is on hand to answer questions and provide...

New year, new channel. Today we're sharing the first "Tourism Talk: The Podcast," what we hope will be a regular part of the Tourism Talk lineup. In this inaugural edition, GRCVB executive vice president Loren J. Gold reports on North Carolina's recent esports tax incentive...

GRCVB and the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association (NCRLA) hosted a digital briefing on Dec. 15, 2021. In addition to updates from both organizations, callers heard from Ben Ellsworth, founder of Gigpro, an application that helps hospitality employers find shift employees quickly.

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

One of the best parts of my job at GRCVB is curating the Bureau's photo collection. Earlier in 2021, we told you about Visit Raleigh Studio, our online asset library that is available to any of our area hospitality partners and stakeholders. (If you would like to create an account at the...

Many of you are acquainted with Scott Peacock, who has served as GRCVB's director of public relations and international tourism since 2016. Scott is a consummate professional and has helped the Bureau and all of its partners achieve greater levels of recognition through his work with the media...

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

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....

We're making available the Official Media Kit for 2021‒2022, a collection of GRCVB-sanctioned avenues to promote your business or organization to potential visitors. Just as a reminder, every hospitality partner in Wake County already gets free, year-round exposure from the CVB,...