Tourism Talk blog

The results are in, and Wake County hotels had a very strong 2019. Hotel occupancy ran 73.8%, up 5% over 2018; our occupancy rate outperformed the state average of 65.6% and the national average of 66.1%. The county average daily rate for the year finished at $109.22, up 2.5%, while rooms

It is easy to find things to look forward to when you live and work in a booming area like Wake County. We have a lot to anticipate in 2020, but let's start with these eight visitor-related developments. First up—a treasure trove of new culinary offerings... High-profile restaurants and...

Last year I wrote about the philosophy behind developing festival/event tourism in our area and plugging data into a cycle of improvement that leads to more positive impacts from these events. This week I want to be more specific about how GRCVB can help area festival/event organizers who are

If you're reading this Tourism Talk blog post, you most likely received it through our Tourism Talk E-newsletter, which goes out to partners throughout Wake County each Mon. morning. And if you've been a partner with GRCVB for long, you've probably received an invitation to one of our...

I’m sure you contend—in your work—with some of the same dilemmas that we do at GRCVB. There are many valuable ideas and projects that we could tackle, but the resources of time, people and funds are limited. So we, like you, have to prioritize—from among the options, we...

Ah, Dorian. You threatened and howled, but all in all, we fared pretty well in our neck of the North Carolina woods in the wake of your fury. But we also know we’re not out of hurricane season yet, and there may be some additional stormy weather headed our way. With that in mind, here are...

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...

It’s the time of year when we release the Official Media Kit for 2019‒2020, a collection of GRCVB-sanctioned avenues to promote your business or organization to potential visitors. Just as a reminder, every hospitality partner in the county already gets free, year-round exposure from...

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

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