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...

Sharing the story of Raleigh/Wake County regionally, nationally and internationally takes a team effort—one that often involves partners outside our GRCVB offices. When our Convention Sales team meets with planners at conventions and events around the country, they often bring a taste of...

We’re happy to announce that the 2019‒2020 edition of the Official Visitors Guide to Raleigh, Cary and Wake County has been provided to the printer. We expect the Visitors Guides to ship mid-May, and you should start seeing them by late May. Here are a few notes about this year's...

Last week, GRCVB marketing, sports marketing and public relations staff attended the statewide travel and tourism industry conference, Visit North Carolina 365. Destination marketing organizations and others from across the state gather each year to network and hear the latest on Visit North

The story of Raleigh, N.C., at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2019 is one of collaboration. We talk about Raleigh being “a city that prides itself on our collaborative spirit,” which I suspect many cities say about themselves, but not so many do. You might have seen tweets and Instagram...

You have heard and seen us talking about the second annual Wake County Hospitality Job Fair, which happened last Tues., March 5, 2019. Over 55 employers were on hand to talk with several hundred applicants about job opportunities at their businesses. We are sharing some photos from the Fair below,

In the first Tourism Talk post of 2019, we outlined the three talking points GRCVB will be reiterating in much of our communication this year. The first of those and perhaps the most important is the Value of Tourism. We explained in detail why tourism matters to Wake County in the second post of

In all likelihood, you have seen a story about Raleigh/Wake County floating around the last few days from The Washington Post, written by Melanie D.G. Kaplan. If you missed it, you can read it here. It’s a stellar piece and highlights many of the visitor attractions, museums, restaurants,...

Tourism has a way of feeling secondary to other forms of economic development in a community, maybe because it represents a transient group of people or because some equate tourism with vacations, free sightseeing and off-hours entertainment. It tends to not carry the import that it deserves. But