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By Laura Williams-Tracy
 Thomas
Jefferson said he was a great believer in luck. The harder he worked, the more
he had of it. The same logic could be applied to North Carolina’s travel and
tourism industry. How lucky it is to be blessed with the highest mountains east
of the Mississippi River, peaks that tower over the 470-mile-long Blue Ridge
Parkway along the western frontier of the state. At the same time, North
Carolina’s crystal blue coast beckons sun worshippers to grand oceanfront
castles and comfortable beach cottages, where visitors enjoy the history of
lighthouses, pirates and wild horses. At both ends and in between, the state’s
moderate climate means someone is playing golf somewhere every day of the year.
Such congenial qualities, and more, have helped make North Carolina the
sixth-most visited state in the nation with some 43 million tourists coming here
each year — 71 percent of them coming from out of state.
Sixth place is an even more impressive ranking when you consider that the states
ahead of us are California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and New York — places
with the tourist magnetism of Disney amusement parks and the country’s largest
cities.
North Carolina is lucky to have three major interstate highways interlacing the
state. We’re also fortunate to be centrally located along the East Coast
within driving distance of some of the country’s largest population centers.
But is it all luck that has taken North Carolina’s tourism industry so far?
Hardly. State leaders as well as those working in the hospitality industry
recognize the economic impact of tourism, and they’ve made significant
investments over the years to continue luring tourist dollars into the state.
Tourism is the second largest industry in North Carolina, trailing only
manufacturing. Visitors spend $12.6 billion here each year, generating more than
$2.1 billion in tax receipts for federal, state and local governments. Tourism
is the economic engine that fuels many different industries, from general retail
and food service to lodging and entertainment.
And it supports jobs — some 196,400 of them. “Those jobs are sometimes
harder to see because it’s not like someone at a manufacturing center cutting
a ribbon and announcing several hundred new jobs,” says Lynn Minges, executive
director of the N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development. In fact,
Minges says, many counties in the state base their entire economies on tourism,
from their restaurants and hotels to their doctors and accountants.
A Better Place To Be
So how did North Carolina — always a favorite tourist destination — climb to
the ranks of the best destinations in the country, gaining two spots in the last
two years?
For years North Carolina promoted itself as the “Variety Vacationland,” a
successful campaign given North Carolina’s wide array of beaches, mountains
and heartland amusements. But that slogan focused too much on peak season summer
travel and didn’t give North Carolina credit for all the things to see and do
year-round, says Minges.
Today, the state’s tourism tagline is “A better place to be,” which
focuses on what the state has become known for — its natural scenic beauty
that promotes rest and relaxation. That’s a different identity than what some
of North Carolina’s neighboring states have cultivated — golf, resort
getaways and history.
By promoting North Carolina as a place for winter snow skiing, fall leaves on
display, year-around golf, and traditional summer vacations to the coast and
mountains, the numbers of visitors have risen, says Minges. Travel patterns have
grown year-round, attracting a greater share of the group tour market, improving
convention business and increasing the number of short weekend vacations.
The fallout in travel after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York
City and Washington, D.C., played right into the brand that North Carolina had
spent years nurturing. Studies showed after the attack that travelers wanted a
drive-to, safe destination that offered natural beauty and wholesome family fun.
North Carolina fit the bill.
Days after the terrorist attacks, officials at the convention and visitors
bureau in Asheville debated pulling some of their $1.5 million advertising
spending. But those who argued that the mountain region’s brand of rest and
relaxation was exactly what a weary public would want won out, says Kelly
Miller, vice president of the Convention and Visitors Bureau of the Asheville
Area Chamber of Commerce.
Despite the dismal travel months of September and October of 2001, hotel sales
in the Asheville area were up 14 percent for that fiscal year — a time when
most markets took an enormous hit. “For many Americans it’s an inherent
right that, by God, they are going to take a vacation,” says Miller.
“Asheville was a particular destination that gave them what they were looking
for.”
To some degree, industry watchers say, the heightened fear of terrorism and
reluctance to travel long distances helped North Carolina’s travel industry.
“People are driving rather than flying and doing things closer to home,”
says Gene Brothers, associate professor of tourism management at N.C. State
University. “We’re kind of back road and rural, and an enjoyable,
family-oriented attraction.”
Higher-profile, mass-crowd-attracting venues, on the other hand, might also
attract the interest of potential terrorists.
Discovering the State We’re In
Uncertainty about how the terrorist attacks, as well as the slumping economy,
would affect the state’s second-largest industry prompted a collaborative
effort between the N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development, the
N.C. Outdoor Advertising Association and the N.C. Press Association to encourage
travel in the state by North Carolinians. Just five months after the terrorist
attacks, the group unveiled a handful of billboards and print ads depicting the
three travel regions of the state — the mountains, Piedmont and coast. With $2
million to $3 million worth of advertising space donated by outdoor advertising
companies and member newspapers, the ads were meant to encourage people within
the state to rediscover the natural and cultural assets already located so close
to their homes.
With North Carolina residents responsible for 32 percent of the tourism already
occurring in the state, it was an important market not to ignore, says Minges.
With the campaign in place, the number of visitors to state parks increased in
2002 by almost 8 percent, with the strongest growth taking place at the
state’s coastal parks. Visits to the state’s top 25 tourist attractions,
which include the Blue Ridge Parkway, Concord Mills shopping center, Cape
Hatteras National Seashore, Carowinds Theme Park and the Biltmore Estate, were
up 6.4 percent for 2002.
Minges calls the program a tremendous success, and estimates that it has
generated some $4 million to $5 million worth of exposure for the state’s
amenities.
Becoming a Family Destination
Tourists in North Carolina travel here for a variety of reasons, and the
constant investment in offering new venues helps keep the trip from growing
stale, says Brothers.
With some of the state’s top attractions located in the mountains, that region
draws some 14 million visitors a year, the bulk during the summer months of June
through August. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the state’s top attraction,
garnering some 14 million visitors each year. The Great Smoky Mountains National
Park and Harrah’s Cherokee Casino are also in the top five state attractions.
But competition is fierce, and communities have to continue to add new product
to keep crowds coming back. “There is so much competition for the leisure
visitor’s dollar that destinations have got to reinvent themselves or become
extinct,” says Asheville’s Miller.
Asheville is the only city in the country that’s known to have instituted a
Tourism Product Development Fund, which raises money through an additional one
cent added to the room tax. The money cannot be used for operations or
marketing, but must be spent on brick and mortar projects that will offer new
venues to draw in visitors.
The latest project to benefit from the fund is The Grove Arcade, a
revitalization of the city’s first public market, which was planned by E.W.
Grove, founder of the Grove Park Inn. The Arcade includes shops, offices and
luxury condos as well as open stalls similar to a farmer’s market.
North Carolina’s sunny coastline draws visitors from across the state and into
Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, who access the coast through the extensive
roadway system. And events over the past few years, such as the preservation of
the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest brick lighthouse in North America,
have helped keep the trip fresh, says Carol Lohr, executive director of the
Crystal Coast Tourism Authority in Morehead City.
The lighthouse closed from November 1998 until May 2000 and then fueled
tremendous interest in scenic opportunities, as tourists came to see how it was
lifted and moved 2,900 feet away from the ocean.
Other amenities along the coast continue to draw interest, including the Wright
Brothers National Memorial, which will celebrate 100 years of flight this
December with an event expected to draw tens of thousands of people.
“Over the last 10 years we’ve seen an increase in our market share because
we are seen as a family destination,” says Lohr. “People are getting back to
their values and roots, and if they enjoyed summers as a child at the North
Carolina coast, they want to bring their children back here now.”
All across the state, cultural tourism, defined as a visit to a museum, historic
site, concert or other arts event, is the fastest-growing segment of the travel
industry and is among the top five activities people seek during their visits.
The North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources manages 27 sites around the
state offering a glimpse of history. Among the most popular are the N.C.
Transportation Museum in Spencer; Roanoke Island Festival Park near the site of
the Lost Colony outdoor drama; Tryon Palace, the state’s first capital; and
the USS Battleship North Carolina in Wilmington. All of the sites have costumed
guides and provide an interactive experience.
Those 27 sites drew some two million visitors in 2001, says Brenda Follmer,
director of public affairs for the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.
And it’s no wonder North Carolina draws visitors looking for a history lesson.
North Carolina has long supported the cultural arts, becoming the first state to
appropriate money to buy an art collection, which resulted in the establishment
of the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh in 1947. Winston-Salem was the
site of the country’s first Arts Council in 1949, and 16 years later, the N.C.
School of the Arts became the nation’s first state arts school.
Fanning the Flame of Sports
The arrival of major professional team sports to North Carolina with the NBA’s
Charlotte Hornets in 1988, the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in 1995 and the NHL’s
Carolina Hurricanes in 1997 have created a whole new reason for tourists to
visit the state.
Coupled with that is the growth in popularity of Carolina-grown stock car racing
and such premier golf events as the men’s and women’s U.S. Opens in the
Sandhills. This month, the inaugural Wachovia Championship will bring the PGA
Tour’s best to Charlotte’s Quail Hollow Club.
“North Carolina is known nationwide and internationally as a tourist
destination, and there’s no doubt that sports is a big part of that,” says
Scott Dupree, director of sports marketing for the Greater Raleigh Convention
and Visitors Bureau.
The Hurricanes’ storybook ride to the Stanley Cup finals last spring helped
propel Raleigh into the professional sports limelight and has helped it to
garner the NHL draft in June 2004 and put it in line to host the NHL All-Star
Game and its accompanying festivities in 2007.
Charlotte’s rapid rebound from the departure of the state’s first
professional franchise, the Charlotte Hornets, is further evidence of the
state’s ability to support professional teams. The Hornets, co-owned by the
Queen City’s No. 1 public enemies — George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge — were
allowed to leave for New Orleans at the end of the 2001-02 season. A new
Charlotte franchise already has been awarded to BET founder Robert Johnson,
however, and will begin play in a new arena in Charlotte in November 2004.
And stock car racing has become an ever-important element of the North Carolina
tourism economy. The Coca-Cola 600 race held every Memorial Day weekend at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord is annually the second most attended
single-day sporting event in the U.S. behind the Indianapolis 500. The track
also hosts two other NASCAR races during the year, as does North Carolina
Speedway in Rockingham.
Though not high-profile competitions, Dupree says North Carolina’s position as
a host to a multitude of youth and amateur sporting events — such as softball
and soccer tournaments — that provide a steady volume of out-of-town and
out-of-state visitors make up bread and butter business for the hospitality
industry. “Those events really have an impact on the economy even though they
go unnoticed by the general public,” says Dupree.
The highest of profile events was the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, a
championship that put North Carolina on a large international sports stage for
the first time in decades. The event brought in some 40,000 visitors a day to
the state during the peak four days of the tournament, and was broadcast
internationally, creating interest in other golfing countries about visiting
courses in the state.
Hosting the tournament in the Sandhills region, a small to medium-sized market,
at first appeared to be a challenge. But hospitality businesses from
Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill, the Triad and Fayetteville stepped up to provide
blocks of hotel rooms and made the championship a success, says Caleb Miles,
president and CEO of the Convention and Visitors Bureau – Pinehurst/Southern
Pines/Aberdeen area. The event put more than $100 million into the state’s
economy, and because of the multi-city collaboration, the benefits were spread
across the state. It was so successful, Miles notes, that “the USGA turned
around within a matter of months and booked 2005 (for a second men’s Open).
That’s the ultimate compliment.”
The women’s U.S. Open, contested just a couple of miles away at Pine Needles
in Southern Pines, has enjoyed similar success. The course hosted the
championship for the first time in 1996, again in 2001, and is on the books for
2007. It’s a terrific economic boost for Moore County, which offers the most
golf courses per capita of any county in the nation.
Women’s professional sports have their place outside of golf. The Triangle
town of Cary is home to the Carolina Courage, the defending Women’s United
Soccer Association (WUSA) champions. The team plays at SAS Stadium, a
state-of-the-art 7,000-seat facility. And while the NBA’s Hornets left for New
Orleans, the WNBA’s Sting continues to play hoops at the Charlotte Coliseum.
Inroads into the Market
Most visitors to North Carolina tourism destinations — some 84 percent —
arrive by car. So the state is extremely lucky, Brothers says, to have an
extensive road system that includes I-85 traversing from southwest north toward
Washington, D.C.; I-40 that runs from Wilmington west clear across the country;
and I-95, which offers rapid access from the central part of the state south to
Florida and north into New England.
Alabama has some similar amenities to North Carolina, including mountains and
coast and an attractive climate, but it’s only served by I-85, making it far
less accessible. “Location, location, location. We just happened to luck
out,” Brothers says.
He adds that investments by the state over the years in improving access to
tourism draws have been wise moves. One recent $90 million investment is the
Virginia Dare Bridge, which opened last August in Dare County, and shortens the
trip across the Croatan Sound to the Outer Banks by 10 to 15 minutes.
That’s a time savings that tourism officials say will help lure more
visitors from the Triangle, Piedmont and Western North Carolina. At 5.2 miles
long, the bridge is the longest in the Carolinas.
The state’s western region gained greater access to more tourist visits last
year when Continental Airlines began direct regional jet service from New York
City to Asheville Regional Airport, twice a day during the peak season. No doubt
weary New Yorkers will be taking advantage of the rest and relaxation venues
offered in the mountain region, including The Grove Park Inn’s $40 million
subterranean spa, which just months after it opened in February 2001 was named
by USA Today as one of the top 10 spas in the world. And they’ll need the rest
if they’ve spent the day touring the world-famous Biltmore Estate, one of the
nation’s top tourist spots.
Waiting for a Better Economy
Even with a host of natural amenities, a location that is a natural advantage,
efficient transportation and a growing national and international profile, the
tourism industry isn’t without its tests.
Even before the 2001 terrorist attacks dented enthusiasm for travel, the
state’s hotels and motels were feeling the effects of a slowing economy. From
a statewide high occupancy rate of 64.5 percent in 1995, North Carolina’s
hotels and motels saw occupancy drop to 54.9 percent in 2002. Hotels in the
state’s concentrated tourism areas, including the 23 mountain counties and
nine coastal counties, did not experience a drop in business nearly like the
state’s major metropolitan areas, says Jim Hobbs, president of the N.C. Hotel
and Lodging Association based in Raleigh.
During the prosperous 1990s, those areas attracted tremendous attention from
investors, who built new hotels and since 2000 alone have added some 2.7 million
available room nights in the state. (That’s not the number of hotel rooms, but
the number that are available over the course of 365 days a year.)
On the positive side, Hobbs says, room demand in North Carolina has remained
fairly consistent over the past three years, with only a small dip during 2001,
which is easily accounted for by the Sept. 11 attacks. “What the industry
needs is a return to growth and demand,” says Hobbs, “and that’s a
function of the economy we are in.”
The state’s current budget crisis also threatens the industry. Last year the
Department of Cultural Resources saw its budget cut by 15 percent, causing some
state-sponsored cultural sites to trim staff and hours. The North Carolina
Museum of Art, for example, closed an extra day of the week.
The Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development lost $800,000 in operating
expenses last year because of state budget cuts and expects the same this year.
Those cuts could affect advertising, which is one of the state’s few tools for
differentiating itself from its neighbors.
Competition, to be sure, is fierce. “There’s not much difference between a
visit to the Appalachian Blue Ridge in Virginia or North Carolina,” says
Brothers. “The one who gets his message out there is the one who gets the
visitation and, therefore, the dollars.”
Add to that the proliferation of Internet sites that offer discounted travel
deals and that everyone is looking for a bargain. Thus there’s an expectation
for hotels and venues to offer a lower rate.
Industry leaders say the state must recognize the impact of tourism as a clean
industry that doesn’t burden the state’s schools, nor does it inordinately
tax local community’s police and fire service.
“All the studies show that tourism is the new economy,” says Miller of
Asheville. “For a return on your investment, tourism expenditures for
marketing is a no-brainer. It’s a win-win.”
Brothers says while the travel industry is struggling, North Carolina remains in
an enviable position. “When the economy does turn around there are going to be
a lot of businesses that have failed in other states,” says Brothers. “With
places like Pinehurst, the Biltmore House and the Grove Park Inn, we’ll make
it through.”
Festival
of Flight Propels State Through a Banner Year
The
12 seconds of man’s first powered flight 100 years ago on North Carolina’s
coast are said to have changed the world. This year’s centennial celebration
of that first flight, while not world changing, is expected to have a huge
impact on North Carolina’s tourism industry. News coverage of the 99th
anniversary was worldwide, and so far during 2003, media have come calling from
Korea, Japan, Italy and the United Kingdom, to name a few.
“Throughout the whole year we’ll be celebrating,” says Lynn Minges,
executive director of the N.C. Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development.
The first flight is the subject of themed exhibits at museums across the state
and a popular choice for the cover of many travel guides.
The yearlong celebration is expected to be a tremendous boost for tourism in
North Carolina — and especially the Outer Banks. The estimated economic impact
this year alone is more than $15 million.
If you don’t want to wait until the Dec. 17 anniversary of the flight itself,
there will be plenty of opportunities to celebrate during the year. Fayetteville
will be a significant part of the yearlong flight celebration with its Festival
of Flight festivity from May 16-26. During those 11 days, which include the
travel-rich Memorial Day weekend, Festival of Flight will present arts
festivals, educational exhibits, events highlighting the city’s rich heritage
and an air show that will demonstrate just how far the Wright brothers’
invention has come.
Fayetteville, with its close connection to Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base,
will feature military aviation history and education. The celebration will
include the largest Memorial Day parade in North Carolina.
The state’s many other aviation-oriented attractions will host centennial
flight celebrations during the year and have their unique displays of vintage
aircraft on display, including museums in Hendersonville, Asheboro, Charlotte,
Fayetteville and Manteo.
The year’s events will crescendo Dec. 12-17, when Dare County hosts
dignitaries from around the world who will celebrate the flight. The celebration
will be marked by a precise recreation of the Wright brothers’ flight at 10:35
a.m. on Dec. 17, exactly 100 years to the minute of that flight.
The National Parks Service, which oversees the Wright Brothers National
Memorial, has partnered with the state First Flight Centennial Commission to
plan events for the week in Kill Devil Hills.
As part of the event, the monument has benefited from a $400,000 restoration and
work is under way on a new pavilion. Its use will be long-term, as during the
next five years more than 4 million people are expected to visit the Wright
Brothers National Memorial.
“Thousands of people come in and out of the Outer Banks every summer,” says
Lola Hilton, public information officer for the National Parks Service
Centennial Celebration, so the community is well equipped to handle the crowds.
“This is truly an international event, and it’s fortunate for us in the
state of North Carolina and Dare County to be the hosts.” -- Laura
Williams-Tracy
Travel
and Tourism Calendar
North
Carolina is home to hundreds of major events each year that draw tourists from
throughout the world. Below are several scheduled between now and the end of the
year that you might not want to miss.
May
3 — Brookhill Steeplechase. Eastern North Carolina’s only nationally
sanctioned steeplechase, this annual horse racing event attracts more than
12,000 spectators in Brookhill Farms in Clayton, just southeast of Raleigh.
Info: 800-849-8499.
8-11 — Wachovia Championship. Charlotte’s recently renovated Quail
Hollow Club is the site for the PGA Tour’s first return to the Queen City
since the 1970s. Info: 800-945-0777.
16-26 — Festival of Flight. The state’s first major celebration of
the Wright brothers’ inaugural flight will take place for 11 festive and
exhibit-rich days in Fayetteville. Info: 910-323-0003.
17 — The Winston. This annual event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in
Concord pits the top stock car drivers in an all-star race with millions of
dollars on the line. Info: 800-455-3267.
23-25 — SAS Carolina Classic. Golf’s future stars compete over 72
holes in a Nationwide Tour event at the highly regarded TPC at Wakefield
Plantation in North Raleigh. Info: 919-531-4653.
25 — Coca-Cola 500. The world’s best racers close out week two at
Lowe’s Motor Speedway with their longest race of the season — 400 laps at
speeds of around 180 mph. Info: 800-455-3267.
June
19 — WUSA All-Star Game. The world’s best female soccer players come
together to showcase their skills for one memorable night at SAS Stadium in
Cary. Info: 919-824-5900.
August
24 — Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic. More than 100 celebrities, 100
local and national sponsors, and 1,200 volunteers converge at Cary’s
Prestonwood Country Club to play golf and raise money in the fight against
cancer. Info: 800-849-8499.
September
19-21 — SAS Championship. The Champions Tour, where golf’s
50-and-older set go to bolster their bank accounts, returns to Prestonwood
Country Club in Cary for a third time. Info: 919-531-4653.
26-28 — Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn. This inaugural Champions
Tour tournament will bring deserved attention to Rock Barn Golf & Country
Club in Conover, a newly minted, masterful design by Robert Trent Jones Jr..Info:
828-459-1125.
October
4-Nov. 15 — Carolina Renaissance Festival. Held north of Charlotte,
this is a medieval amusement park, eight-stage theater, 18-acre circus, arts and
crafts fair, jousting tournament and feast — all rolled into one. Info:
877-896-5544.
11 — UAW-GM Quality 500. For the first time in its long history, the
fall NASCAR race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway will be run under the lights and in
prime time on a Saturday night. Info: 800-455-3267.
16-19 — Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. One of the PGA Tour’s most
storied stops moves from the spring to the fall; golfers will find a Forest Oaks
Country Club course that’s been renovated by Davis Love III. Info:
336-379-1570.
16-22 — International Home Furnishings Market. More than 75,000 buyers
and some 2,500 manufacturers are expected to descend on High Point for the
largest home furnishings trade show in the world. Info: 336-884-5255.
17-26 — North Carolina State Fair. The largest event in the state
returns to Raleigh, featuring craft demonstrations, livestock exhibits and
competitions, concerts, games, rides, side shows and food. Info: 800-849-8499.
November
9 — Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400. Traditionally, the Winston Cup
season champion has yet to be decided at this second-to-last race of the year at
North Carolina Speedway. Info: 910-582-2861.
December
12-17 — First Flight Centennial Celebration. Dignitaries worldwide will
descend on Kill Devil Hills in a celebration marked by a precise recreation of
the Wright brothers’ flight at 10:35 a.m. on the 17th. Info: 252-441-8144.
TBD — Continental Tire Bowl. Charlotte again is part of the college
bowl game frenzy, hosting football teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference and
the Big East. Info: 800-231-4636.
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