Marketing Budget Allocation FY 2022-2023

budget of $2,853,000.

Currituck Travel & Tourism also annually produces and distributes the Visitors Guide and the Wedding Planner along with various niche publications supporting County-owned facilities, campgrounds, vineyards & breweries, Knotts Island, etc. The Visitors Guide and the Wedding Planner are available for download on the www.visitcurrituck.com website. The Visitors Guide is also distributed through our visitors’ centers and through other distribution sites such as DOT welcome centers and other privately owned distribution centers.

What do we do for our tourism-related businesses?

In addition to a listing in the Currituck Travel & Tourism guides, Currituck County tourism-related businesses may display their brochures and rack cards in the visitors’ centers. They may also have a presence on our website and on VisitNC.com through our partnership with Visit NC, North Carolina’s visitor bureau. If your business is not currently listed, contact Michele Ellis, our Public Relations Coordinator, at 252.435.2947 and she will assist you in adding your information to the website.

There are also display cases to highlight business offerings in the Moyock Welcome Center available to businesses on a rotating basis.

Currituck Travel & Tourism communicates regularly with Currituck County tourismrelated businesses through e-newsletters and e-blasts. Our partnership with our businesses is very important to the overall mission of the department. Our visitor economy depends upon the visitor dollars spent and the sales tax generated by spending in our businesses.

Currituck Travel & Tourism maintains an alert system that utilizes our tourism-related business contact information in the event of a County emergency or information that needs to quickly be dispersed.

Want more?

The Currituck Travel & Tourism Department gives our businesses an opportunity every year to participate in our MORE card program. This card gives a discount to visitors when they visit a participating business. These cards are free and available at the Welcome Center in Moyock and the Visitor’s Center in Corolla.

The CorollaOBX app is a relatively new app for our visitors which can be downloaded to both iPhones and Androids. This app is intended for inmarket visitors to give them easy access to shopping, dining, attractions and events in Corolla and the Mainland. This app also lets them quickly locate beach access points and those that have parking and/or restroom facilities.

Coming soon to the VisitCurrituck website is the Explore and Plan tab which will provide the opportunity to download all the brochures and rack cards currently available in the physical visitors centers and also includes additional information for visitors to plan their trips. This is a value-added addition for our business partners as companies can get in front of those visitors who cannot visit a center in person.

Other Duties

In addition to tourism, the department manages and operates:

• Historic Corolla Park (including Whalehead and the Currituck Maritime Museum / Soon to add the Wildlife Resource Center)

• Historic Jarvisburg Colored School

• Assists with the marketing of the Currituck County tournament/ sports fields and the Currituck County Rural Center (CCRC)

Partnerships

Currituck Travel & Tourism partners with other organizations across North Carolina with the goal of further promoting our destination. These partnerships include:

• The African American Experience of Northeastern NC

• Historic Albemarle Tour

• Civil War Trails

• North Carolina Coast Host

• North Carolina Travel Industry Association

• Southeast Tourism Society

• National Trust for Historic Preservation

• Travel & Tourism Research Association

• North Carolina Maritime History Council

Recent Awards

While the tourism department does not do the work with the goal of winning awards, we are always honored when our efforts are recognized in the tourism industry as our destination competes in the same field as the bigger destinations such as Durham, Raleigh, Wilmington, Charlotte, and the Outer Banks. Most recently, Currituck Travel & Tourism was honored with the following:

North Carolina Travel Industry Association 2021-2022

• Best of Show o Judges select one shining example which best exemplifies the complete package of innovation, creativity and results.

• Tourism Achievement Awards o Platinum: Leisure Marketing (Large Bureau) - Simply Corolla, Find Yourself Here o Gold: Group Visitor Marketing (Large Bureau) - African American Experience of Northeastern North Carolina (AAENENC)

Southeast Tourism Society 2022

• Shining Example Best Marketing Award (Budgets over $500,000) - Simply Corolla, Find Yourself Here

• Shining Example Partnership Award for cooperative tourism workAfrican American Experience of Northeast North Carolina (AAENENC)