Tourism Talk blog

Sports was hit especially hard by the pandemic. And sports will lead our recovery here in Wake County. Those statements provide a good summary about the importance of the sports event industry to our local economy. Looking back, the local sports industry was basically crushed by the onset of the

The Greater Raleigh Esports Local Organizing Committee (GRELOC) is a diverse group of civic, sports and business leaders who support the growth of esports and gaming activities here. The group, which aligns to one market segment being pursued by the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance (GRCVB's...

For the last few weeks, we have been telling you about Visit Raleigh Studio, a project we've been working on during this time of COVID, designed to benefit all of Wake County’s hospitality community. Parts of the Studio were funded through CARES Act dollars, invested with us by the...

Last week, we were delighted to share with you a project we have been working on at GRCVB during the pandemic (and before). Visit Raleigh Studio is a curated collection of digital assets (video footage, including from aerial drones at over 75 sites around the county), 360° virtual tours of 90

The year 2020 was an extremely challenging and difficult time for the leisure and hospitality industry. However, as vaccines continue to be developed and distributed, we believe consumer confidence regarding travel once again will begin to rebound. There are indicators that Wake County tourism will

Do you remember that old Mac Davis song "Happiness is (an unnamed Texas city) in the Rearview Mirror"? We're going to paraphrase it to "Happiness is 2020 in the Rearview Mirror." With the end of this unexpected and unprecedented year in front of us and vaccines loaded onto...

It's hard to find employees these days who stay with the same organization for decades. Long gone are the days when staffers spent their entire careers in the same job and retired in their sixties with the customary gold watch and a retirement party. But we have a rarity in our mix in that...

You may already know that GRCVB was the recipient, through Wake County, of $1.25 million in CARES Act funding, designated specifically for post-COVID tourism-related recovery through Dec. 30, 2020. We have been completely transparent in how the Bureau has put CARES Act money to work, in

One of the important responsibilities that GRCVB bears for Wake County is the collection and constant monitoring of tourism-related statistics. As you can imagine during the past year, we have seen some jubilant highs and jarring lows as tourism numbers, across the board, have been reported. As is

We have been reporting on GRCVB's launch of a comprehensive marketing campaign supporting area tourism's rebuild and recovery, themed “Wish You Were Here” (WYWH), in Aug. 2020. Through WYWH messaging, we are doing our best to persuade potential visitors (individual families...