2005/2006 Objectives

Advocacy
• Raise Bureau and industry profile and increase role in decision-making processes through visitor industry awareness campaign.
• Address infrastructure issues affecting the viability of the area as convention and visitor destination, including signage, way-finding, parking and transportation.
• Assure appropriate marketing resources for new convention center.
• Foster statewide support and building of a new State Visitor Center.

Meetings/Conventions
• Restructure internal efforts through hiring of new Director of Sales and additional staff to promote new and existing meeting facilities and hotels.
• Focus on top 50 target conventions for the new convention center and downtown hotels.
• Implement programs for small meetings at limited-service properties and for markets with greatest potential: corporate, association, direct selling, education, government and religious.
• Redesign web site to enhance the meeting planner experience for information, promotions and bookings.
• Introduce meetings/conventions online advertising opportunities.
• Develop new Meeting Planners Guide.

Sports Marketing
• Focus on GRCVB's "12 Most Wanted" sporting events.
• Support community effort to successfully host the 2006 MEAC Basketball Tournament and help it achieve record growth in Raleigh and Wake County.
• Cultivate new markets such as wrestling, gymnastics, lacrosse, cheerleading and "extreme" sports.
• Continue to develop and expand http://www.raleighsports.org/, the official web site of the sports event industry. Create and launch http://www.carysports.org/, which will focus exclusively on Cary events and facilities.

Destination Marketing
• Roll out a new experience-based VisitRaleigh.com web site.
• Implement aggressive online media and marketing programs.
• Boost RaleighNow web site traffic in partnership with USDM.net via robust search engine optimization and listing and linking strategies.
• Further define the Raleigh area as one of the region's top cultural destinations by promoting notable museum exhibitions like Jane Goodall at NC Museum of Natural Sciences, The Potter's Eye at NC Museum of Art and The Enemy Within at Exploris. Also develop marketing plan for blockbuster Monet exhibition in late 2006.
• Enhance emphasis on Raleigh and Cary areas as one of the region's top live music destinations through partnership with ALLTEL Pavilion, RBC Center, Koka Booth Amphitheatre, NC Museum of Art's Park Theater, City of Raleigh's Alive After Five, Budweiser Downtown Live and Ticketmaster via the Summer Rocks promotion.
• Better position the Bureau as the "online marketing partner" for hotels by researching and testing new direct booking products that track and measure online activity to give an accurate measure of results for hotel partners.
• Form a Destination Online Booking Alliance task force to analyze how the TGIF weekend and all future promotions should be revised to accommodate the tracking, pricing and selling challenges with the need to develop inclusive packages for museum exhibitions including Monet in 2006.
• Pursue less traditional print advertising and more cooperative marketing programs, cross promotion partnerships, media added value, online and in-kind media partnership opportunities.
• Continue working with a public relations agency to gain national media coverage of Greater Raleigh by promoting the many major events and facilities planned for the area.

Services
• Work with local partners to successfully host the following major sporting events: MEAC Basketball Tournament; NICK Soccer Tournament; Great American Cross Country Festival; NCAA Men's Soccer College Cup; NCAA DIII Softball National Championship; State Games of North Carolina and 13 NCHSAA state championships.
• Conduct industry education research for the Raleigh area.