TDA Looks to Boost Tourism to Area -
Wentworth, N.C. — With the summer travel season upon us, the Rockingham County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) is gearing up to attract more visitors to the area. Over the last few months, the TDA has been busy implementing its new three-year marketing plan, which includes new tactics to promote local venues for social events such as family reunions and weddings, and recruiting more sporting events.
Social events such as family reunions/weddings are now a leading reason for leisure travel throughout the state and country. The TDA is working to grow this segment of tourism in Rockingham County with a new Special Events Guide that is now complete. The Special Events Guide is a “virtual” guide that is available on www.ncnorthstar.com under the “News & Publications” page.
“We produced this guide in-house and are offering it online so interested parties can print it out themselves. We will print copies in-house as needed to provide in visitor/information packets that go out by request all over the country and to anyone in the community who would like a copy,” said Robin Yount, vice president of Tourism. “The guide is a comprehensive, county-wide source of all the venues that can accommodate a variety of special events—from big weddings to family reunions to small business retreats and meetings. And because it is a virtual brochure, we will be able to update it frequently.”
To request a copy of the Special Events Guide, contact Robin Yount in the Rockingham County Partnership office at 336.342.8138 or ryount@ncnorthstar.com.
Another new component to the TDA’s marketing plan is the development of a Sports Venue Guide, which will also be a virtual brochure. The TDA plans to work to attract more annual sporting events throughout the entire county by promoting local parks, rivers and other outdoor recreation attractions to regional and national sports associations. “It’s no secret that sporting events are a major component to our tourism industry. These events attract hundreds of out-of-town guests who usually stay in our local hotels for two to three nights,” said Yount. “We have just begun to develop our Sports Venue Guide and plan to have it complete by June so we can begin to work on securing events in our community for 2011 and beyond.”
Just like the Special Events Guide, the Sports Venue Guide will be available for download on www.ncnorthstar.com and copies will be printed by request.
One big advantage the TDA now has to attracting more visitors to Rockingham County is the opening of the Mayo River State Park “hub” at Mayo Mountain. The TDA is working with the staff at the state park to conduct a grand opening event in the next couple of months to generate more buzz for the park.
“We are so excited to finally be able to say that the Mayo River State Park is now open,” adds Yount. “Having this park open will help us better market outdoor recreation in the county. The picnic shelter and grounds there also give us another venue for special events like family reunions or company picnics. And of course we anticipate the state park will be a draw for more river paddlers and paddling organizations.”
The TDA has also jumped on the social networking bandwagon. “You can now find us on Facebook as Rockingham County: North Carolina’s North Star. We invite people to become a fan of our page to stay up-to-date about tourism-related events and news,” said Yount. If you are not a member of Facebook, you can find a link to the TDA’s page from www.ncnorthstar.com.
Another part of the TDA’s electronic marketing is the availability of all its brochures on the Web for downloading. “The majority of travel planning is done solely online now so we wanted to make sure all our guides are available through our Web site,” added Yount.
“We also want to remind people to visit the “What’s Happening” page on our Web site frequently because we are constantly posting new events,” said Yount. “There is a lot happening in Rockingham County, especially in the downtown areas and we encourage local residents to experience their own community.”
Some of the major upcoming events include:
•Morehead Memorial Hospital 50th Anniversary Celebration-May 1
•Town of Wentworth Community/Farmers’ Day- May 1
•6th Annual Eden Rifest-May 8
•8th Annual Piedmont Pottery Festival- June 5
•15th Annual Charlie Poole Music Festival-June 11-13
•Carolina ‘Shine Fest-July 31-August 1
•Dan River Boat Race-August 7
•Riverfest-September 17-18
•19th Annual Reidsville Downtown Fall Festival-October 9
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