Tourism Talk blog

Like it did with virtually everything else, the pandemic affected implementation of the 10-year Destination Strategic Plan (DSP) we launched in 2018. Some of the eight priorities in the DSP had to be shuffled in 2020, some received different levels of focus this fiscal year than originally expected,

In 2019, GRCVB launched its "All Access Wake County" program, which encourages all Wake County hospitality partners to provide stellar customer service to those with disabilities. The call from GRCVB to our partners is to go above and beyond what the ADA requires and make extra effort on...

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 benefits of being part of the Wake County hospitality community and a partner of GRCVB is the free listing every area business gets on visitRaleigh.com. (As an aside, the website garners almost three million uses every year, and some of those user eyeballs are landing on your listings.)

And we're back! After a pause due to unforeseen in-person circumstances (insert your unprecedented times here), Tourism Talk Live will convene once again on Thurs., Nov. 18, at 10:30am. We cannot wait to see you! If you're new to the term, Tourism Talk Live is GRCVB's quarterly update...

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....

The last 17 months have no doubt been unprecedented in their overall effect on the revenues, employment and economic performance in the hospitality sector. Contingency planning, recovery tactics and long-term resiliency are the objectives for the GRCVB and all our community partners. The old saying

We announced in the Tourism Talk blog on June 21 that there are several significant staff changes underway in the Destination Services Department here at the Bureau. As of July 31, 2021, Julie Brakenbury, CGSP ® , director of services since 2007, is taking her much-deserved retirement, while...

Once again... the announcement is bittersweet. GRCVB’s director of destination services Julie Brakenbury, CGSP ® , has announced her retirement. Just as with the retirement of Theresa Tyler in Dec. 2020, saying goodbye to these colleagues comes with mixed emotions; we’re happy for...