Interview: Dennis Edwards

Back to normal?

Travel is starting to return but at a slow pace. Still, the second half of the year looks promising

Dennis Edwards

President & CEO – Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau

How is Raleigh attracting travelers to bolster the sector’s recovery? Part of the problem we have with COVID-19 is that every state has different restrictions related to mass gathering requirements. In North Carolina, the largest number of people we can have indoors is 30% capacity or up to 250 people, while other states have 50% capacity to no capacity limitations. On the leisure side, there is some activity from visiting friends and relatives. Weddings are starting to return as well.

Business travel is coming back slowly. Many corporations and organizations still have their employees working from home, so until employees start returning back to the offices, business travel will still be somewhat limited. We believe that probably around late summer or early fall, business travel will start recovering in some capacity.

Sports is our shining star right now. Despite all the challenges, youth, amateur and collegiate sports are still taking place in this market. We’re starting to see the return of sports meetings and conventions, with a few small meetings. Until the mass gathering limitations are lifted, everything of large capacity is going to be a little bit slower to return.

Our 3Q21 and 4Q21 calendar looks like a normal convention center calendar. We have a lot of events and conventions on the books. If they’re allowed and able to meet, those will continue to happen. Ultimately, leisure travel is what is really going to spark the rebound. Eighty-one percent of the American public say they intend to take a trip in the next six months. That’s up 16% since January 2020.

What is your near-term outlook for Visit Raleigh and its markets? We anticipate seeing a recovery by the second half of 2021. If you think about weddings, many of the weddings in 2020 were postponed until 2021. On top of the people who want to get married this year. So, the wedding business is going to be huge. We do see many conventions coming back as well.

Another market that we really have started to own is esports. We’re blessed to have a number of people and companies in the gaming industry, including Epic Games, right here in our backyard. We have about 20 gaming companies in the region. All of our universities and colleges now offer some kind of gaming curriculum. Plus, our PNC Arena and Raleigh Convention Center are both wired and geared now for gaming competitions. We have three major esports competitions coming this fall including the esports collegiate championships. It’s an up-and-coming market.