National State Tourism Directors Mercury Awards > Advocacy and Grassroots Campaign

Visit NC's Recovery Efforts: Punching Above Their Weight

About This Entry:

Visit North Carolina’s talented yet lean 12-member team delivers consistently for the nation’s ninth most populous state. Consistently outspent by its competitors, the team maximizes a marketing budget ranking 32nd among 50 states to effectively lead and creatively collaborate with partners in 100 counties to establish North Carolina as the nation’s sixth most visited state.

With a laser focus on its mission and responsibility to unify and lead North Carolina’s tourism industry, the resolute and nimble Visit NC team responded in full force to the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic with a strategic, comprehensive communications and marketing effort to return North Carolina’s vital travel economy to health in a safe and responsible manner.

This was a crisis destination marketing organizations across the state never imagined. Recognizing the disruption and uncertainty stay at home orders, closings, cancelations, staff layoffs and more were causing, the Visit NC team began by dividing up its list of partner cell numbers and proactively making personal contact with every DMO leader in the state to connect, inform and identify the most valuable areas of support Visit NC could provide each partner. Many partners were struggling to even find time to ask for help, and in many instances, weren’t sure what to ask for or what kind of assistance might be available. The insights gained from this outreach and consistent communication with a very appreciative partner base helped Visit NC smartly and rapidly shape its multi-faceted recovery efforts and tailor assistance appropriately.

Throughout the recovery efforts, Visit NC’s pillars of consumer understanding; diversity, equity and inclusion; sustainability; partnership; and accountability have remained in evidence every step of the way.

Campaign Strategy:

Visit NC’s COVID-19 recovery efforts for North Carolina’s tourism industry were proactive, comprehensive and creative, including these representative highlights:

Expanded research initiatives to gain critical and timely insights informing Visit NC’s efforts and those of travel industry partners. A better understanding of shifts in consumer sentiment guided strategies and messaging and set the course for navigating through the pandemic as smartly and effectively as possible.

Maintaining and strengthening communications with industry partners across all 100 counties was paramount. Complementing more routine eBlasts, travel advisories, board meetings and listening tours (albeit virtual), the team conducted the Visit NC Webinar Series, 33 sessions keeping partners informed and better equipped to lead recovery within their own communities. Nearly 800 participants also benefited from Visit NC 365, a two-day educational conference hosted by Visit NC, where 49 new partner co-op programs for the coming year were also introduced.

Crafting Count On Me NC, a $10 million bilingual public safety initiative and mutual pledge empowering consumers and businesses to help keep everyone safe and protected – a collaboration with the NC Restaurant and Lodging Association, NC Dept. of Health and Human Services and NC State.

Creating #CookItForwardNC, a grassroots effort supporting North Carolina’s hospitality industry and
unemployed workers.

With interest in, and impact on, the outdoors reaching new heights, Visit NC launched Outdoor NC,
a partnership with the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics to educate visitors and residents on appropriate behavior and care for natural spaces.

Complementing and extending exposure for Count On Me NC, Visit NC executed a $5 million marketing credit program helping 130 partners amplify safe travel messaging for their destinations within 39 co-op advertising programs. The team also administered $1.5 million in partner marketing grants.

Drive Thru Vacations, an organic social media effort served as an interim bridge between
Count On Me NC and the easing of travel restrictions allowing a return to inspiring travel.

With travel restrictions eased and vaccinations rates increasing in Spring 2021, Visit NC returned
to more active travel promotion with the launch of a new multi-channel brand campaign,
“Get Back to a Better Place.”

Results:

Collaborating closely with partners, state agency allies and industry advocates, the 12-member Visit NC team has accomplished much on behalf of NC’s travel and hospitality community, including:

Third-party research revealed Count On Me NC awareness went from zero to 25% in a matter of months with 75% of NC residents more likely to wear masks and 68% more likely to avoid large gatherings.

Programmed 33 sessions for Visit NC’s Webinar Series and the two-day Visit NC 365 Conference attracting nearly 800 virtual participants.

#CookItForwardNC helped the NC Restaurant and Lodging Association double the participation rate in the NC Restaurant Workers Relief Fund during the campaign.

Drive Thru Vacations, the mini, three-month campaign bridging Count On Me NC and “Get Back to
a Better Place,” generated 600,000 impressions and sparked travel inspiration at Visit NC’s nine
Welcome Centers.

The Outdoor NC sustainability initiative has attracted nearly 30 paid Alliance partners already including destinations and statewide partners such as NC State Parks, NC Green Trail and Cycle NC.

Visit NC’s Marketing Credit Program provided 130 destination marketing organizations, representing 92 of 100 counties statewide, with $10,000 to $100,000 each based on their size determined by prior occupancy tax collections. Partners benefited from 39 marketing, advertising and research programs implemented by Visit NC. All 130 partner programs were completed prior to a December 30 legislated deadline.

Visit NC’s Marketing Grant Program made an additional $1.5 million available to help DMOs experiencing reduced ability to market their destinations due to revenue loss. Visit NC consulted with the NC Travel Industry Association in distributing these incremental funds. Total of 120 grants were made to 82 different organizations. Ninety-three of those grants were distributed to 56 counties within the state’s more economically distressed areas.

Early response to the Spring launch of the “Get Back to a Better Place” campaign has been encouraging with video completion rates 11-24% above benchmarks and arrivals pacing ahead of forecast. Partners’ enthusiastic participation in Visit NC’s 49 co-op marketing opportunities for the coming year is another hopeful signal of a strong recovery to come.

Please see PPT file for work samples.

Why This Is A Finalist: 

Thorough, well thought campaign. Very deep in its engagement.