Greater Raleigh Tourism e-News
Welcome to the eighth issue of Greater Raleigh Tourism e-News … presented by the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau (GRCVB). This monthly e-News is the metamorphosis of two CVB communications tools (Visitor Advance and Matter of Fax). Please let us know about any news pertaining to Wake County's billion dollar visitor industry for possible inclusion in future issues.
IN VOLUME 1, ISSUE 8:
2006-08 CIAA Bid Being Finalized
Painting the Town with Matisse and Picasso
New Convention Center/Hotel Update
2004/05 Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
Ad Sales Wrapping Up for 2005 Visitors Guide
2003/04 Annual Report Now Available
Assisted Bureau Bookings in August
Sales News
In the News
Four More Awards
Events in Greater Raleigh This Month
2006-08 CIAA Bid Being Finalized
The Bureau team is working with many area partners (City of Raleigh, County of Wake, RBC Center and local steering committee) to put the finishing touches on a bid to keep the CIAA Basketball Tournament in Raleigh through 2008. The bid is due Monday, September 27 and other suitors for the event include Charlotte and possibly Atlanta, Tampa and Washington. A decision is expected in November 2004.
A major selling point will certainly be the tournament's record-breaking success in Raleigh at the RBC Center with total turnstile attendance surging from 42,811 in Winston-Salem in 1999 to 54,730 in Raleigh in 2000 to 74,729 in 2001, 80,446 in 2002, 80,788 in 2003 and 90,855 in 2004 (a 112-percent increase over 1999). When complimentary tickets utilized for community initiatives, sponsor and school administrator passes and free youth group entries are accounted for, attendance for 2004 CIAA week topped 104,000. Raleigh will also host the event in 2005.
The economic impact for the area was $7.8 million in 2000, $8.8 million in 2001, $9.7 million in 2002, $10.2 million in 2003 and $11.5 million in 2004. Equally important, the 2004 tournament generated more than $983,000 in tax revenue alone from only hotel, meal and sales taxes. The CIAA Tournament, which is the Triangle region's largest annual sporting event, also generated 25,887 total hotel room nights, a 24.1-percent increase from the previous year.
Painting the Town with Matisse and Picasso
Featuring many works never before seen in the Southeast, Matisse, Picasso and the School of Paris exhibition will be at the North Carolina Museum of Art from October 10 to January 16. The Bureau has teamed with the Museum and numerous partners on a multi-faceted marketing campaign to benefit the area's visitor industry.
Twelve hotels are offering dedicated Matisse/Picasso packages being sold by AAA Travel, while Ticketmaster is distributing 60,000 inserts and selling online tickets as part of the Bureau's TGIF promotion involving 28 hotels and two malls. Fifteen partners have joined a cutting edge online campaign that will reach more than 2 million consumers, while some eight participants are part of Charlotte Observer newspaper and Our State magazine co-ops. Plus five stakeholders took part in AAA's email blast to 300,000 subscribers in the Carolinas.
Besides statewide exposure in Woman's Day, Southern Living and Our State Magazine, the campaign is also supported by direct mail, numerous public relations efforts and radio trade promotions. In addition, the Charlotte market features dedicated placements in the Charlotte Observer, Gourmet, InStyle, Travel & Leisure, Food & Wine and 30 second spots on six Time Warner cable television stations and the Triad market features 60 second spots on four radio stations.
New Convention Center/Hotel Update
Last week, the architectural team of O'Brien Atkins, Clearscapes and TVS presented some additional schematic designs for the new convention center. The feedback and suggestions received from an array of stakeholders will be reviewed and implemented the next month before the Raleigh City Council and Wake County Commissioners vote on a schematic design on October 14, beginning at 6 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center. It also appears that the agreement with Noble Investment Group to build the 400-room Marriott hotel will be finalized over the next month.
The project's architects are designing the convention center facility based on the assumptions that:
• much of Raleigh's identity is derived from its role as the capital of North Carolina.
• the design of the convention center should convey the transition from Raleigh's heritage to its emerging knowledge-based future.
• the building materials used in the convention center should reinforce this transition by using traditional materials in contemporary ways.
• the building should respond to the goals of the Livable Streets Program.
• the center's art should amplify North Carolina as the state of arts.
The new convention center complex will result in 900 additional new jobs and more than $50 million additional economic benefit annually for Wake County. Click here for more details.
2004/05 Cooperative Marketing Opportunities
From the blockbuster Matisse and Picasso exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of Art to exciting new retail opportunities at North Hills and Triangle Town Center and from significant sporting events like the CIAA Basketball Tournament and U.S. Open Golf Championship in nearby Pinehurst to hundreds of holiday and spring events, there are many ways to leverage CVB programs and assist your business goals through the area's billion dollar visitor industry.
Right now, some exciting cooperative partnerships are still available this holiday season that offer ways to join forces with CVB campaigns via online, magazine and newspaper advertising with rates starting from $250. For more information about these co-op marketing opportunities, please contact the Bureau's director of partnership and tourism marketing Shawn Braden at 919-645-2663 or sbraden@visitraleigh.com.
Ad Sales Wrapping Up for 2005 Visitors Guide
Advertising sales for the 2005 Visitors Guide to Raleigh and Wake County are wrapping up with rates starting from $125 for this signature publication distributed to more than 300,000 people. For more information, please contact Candi Griffin at 919-645-2676 or adsales@visitraleigh.com. Space commitments are due by Friday, September 24.
2003/04 Annual Report Now Available
A printed version of the Bureau's 17th Annual Report can be obtained by contacting Linda Bonine at 919-645-2662 or lbonine@visitraleigh.com. More comprehensive information can also be accessed online with full details about sales, sports, leisure marketing, etc.
Assisted Bookings in August
2005 and 2006 State Games of North Carolina (6,000 TRN; $3.2 million EEI)
2005 and 2006 NC Junior Closed Tennis (2,000 TRN; $538,000 EEI)
The Soul Saving Station for Every Nation, July 5-10, 2005 (625 TRN; $451,500 EEI)
Howard Alan Events, October 22-24, 2004 (500 TRN; $291,000 EEI)
Fountain Pens International, June 2-5, 2005 (240 TRN; $261,840 EEI)
Extreme Street Riders, June 24-26, 2004 (400 TRN; $162,000 EEI)
Sales News
Kumi Anzalone (right) has joined the Bureau as its new sales manager with an emphasis on the Education and Hobby markets. Previously, she worked for five years in the Raleigh area as International Program Manager for the North Carolina Division of Tourism and Film and as Director of Sales at the Hampton Inn Capital Boulevard North.
Future business was prospected at the American Society of Association Executives annual meeting, Meeting Professionals International – Carolinas Chapter meeting and the Society for Government Meeting Planners board retreat. The sales department also hosted site visits for the North Carolina International Dyslexia Association (March, 2006; 400 people); Market America (summer of 2005, 2006 and 2007 for 15,000 people); The Order of the Amaranth (October 2004; 250 people); and Southern Association of College Admissions Counseling (April 2008; 550 people).
In the News
Various efforts resulted in recent coverage in Convention South, Food & Wine, Jezebel, The Meeting Professional, Richmond Times Dispatch and Southern Living. Public relations representatives pitched Raleigh to 250 of the world's top travel writers at the recent Society of American Travel Writers convention. In addition, the Bureau hosted journalists on assignment for the Toronto Star and Passport Magazine with upcoming coverage in the pipeline.
Raved Food & Wine about Enoteca Vin its October issue, "Hip, friendly and affordable, Enoteca Vin in Raleigh, North Carolina, just might be the perfect American wine bar. Credit Ashley Christensen, a flat-out great cook, and Chrish Peel, a sommelier on the rise."
According to Convention South in its September issue, "Business is booming in the capital city of Raleigh, N.C., with nearly $1 billion in capital improvements under way or planned for the next few years."
Southern Living profiled Parker and Nicole Kennedy in its September issue, "Parker Kennedy's Caffe Luna brings a taste of authentic Tuscan cuisine to Raleigh, while his wife, Nicole, enhances the restaurant's Italian flavor with her paintings."
Four More Awards
For the first time, four GRCVB publications were honored in the 25th annual "American Graphic Design Award" competition by Graphic Design USA magazine. The 2004 Visitors Guide to Raleigh and Wake County, NHL Entry Draft Brochure, Raleigh Rocks Concert Flyer and Baseball and Tennis Bid Covers were award winners. Only 12 percent of entrants were selected as award recipients in judging by a nationwide panel.
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