2019 FY ANNUAL REPORT
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AN
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DY M A R I O N
VLN BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Randy Marion Randy Marion Auto Group Chairman Woody Washam Carolina Trust Bank Vice-Chairman Joe Harwood The JHS Group, Inc. Community Affairs Barbara McCall Ladd, McCall & Associates, CPAs Treasurer Cathy Bentz Bentz & Associates, PA Assistant Treasurer
Joe Kindred Kindred Restaurant
Diana Merrifield At-Large
Vinay Patel SREE Hotels
EX-OFFICIOS: Ryan McDaniels LNREDC
Denis Bilodeau Cornelius Commissioner
Melinda Bales Huntersville Commissioner
Michael Jaycocks Huntersville Parks & Recreation
Bill Russell LN Chamber of Commerce
Jeanna Hoffman Daly Seven, Inc. Joe Douglas Captiva Restaurant Group, LLC Andrew Durstewitz D9 Brewing Company Jim Fuller Davidson Commissioner Boris Bunich Beacon Investment Management Group (IMG) Cissi Lyles Davidson College
NC TOURISM FACTS: •
In 2018, domestic visitors spent a record $25.3 billion statewide, an increase of 5.6% from 2017.
•
Visitor expenditures directly supported 230,560 jobs and generated more than $6.3 billion in payroll income across NC.
•
NC continues to be the 6th most visited state in the nation with 51 million visitors in 2018. Source: NC Dept. of Commerce
In FY 2019, VLN affiliated events brought in
128,633 attendees who spent
$23,642,697 That means....VLN returned
$28.19 to the community per every dollar funded
ACCOMMODATIONS FUNDING vs. ESTIMATED ECONOMIC IMPACT
RETURN ON INVESTMENT
ESTIMATED ECONOMIC IMPACT
$23,642,697.40
ACCOMMODATIONS FUNDING
$838,654.16
RECRUITING THE FANS...
VISITLAKENORMAN.ORG Website FY Comparison:
Your Adventure Awaits at the Lake
laketoberfest
sheepdog trials
americarna live
sept 7-nov 3
Oct 12
nov 9-10
nov 30
get your tickets now at carolina.renfestinfo.com (704) 987-3300
www.visitlakenorman.org
@visitlakenorman
• Google Paid Search • OurState.com • Plus More Media Sites
THE LAKESIDE OF CHARLOTTE
CAROLINA RAPTOR CENTER
@VisitLakeNorman
2019
% CHANGE
USER SESSIONS
294,851
405,066
37.4% ↓
PAGE VIEWS
654,692
847,782
29.5% ↓
DOWNTOWN DAVIDSON
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): VLN website rankings from the 5 major engines based on search term “Lake Norman”. (Non-sponsored, non-advertised results - content driven ranking)
SEARCH ENGINE
VLN.ORG RANK
#1
Bing/MSN
#1
Yahoo
#1
Ask
#2
Aol
#1
SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook – 14,151 Likes Instagram - 3,806 Followers Pinterest – 884 Followers Twitter – 4,480 Followers You Tube – 38,619 Views Trip Advisor – 4.5 out of 5 rating
CORNELIUS 6 DAVIDSON 6 HUNTERSVILLE
CHARLOTTE CYCLEBOATS
2018
↓
amazing maize maze
Digital advertising efforts reached over 26,849,504: • VisitNC.com • CharlottesGotALot.com • Carolina Renaissance Festival
FISCAL YEAR
LAKE NORMAN’S UPCOMING FALL EVENTS
↓
Print advertising included NC Travel Guide, Charlotte Visitors Guide, Parents Magazine, Garden & Gun Magazine, Our State Magazine, Outside Magazine, Carolina Panthers Yearbook and several other printed publications reaching 4,050,408.
RAMSEY CREEK PARK
VisitLakeNorman.org
AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS GENDER
41.1% MALE
58.9% FEMALE AGE DISTRIBUTION
30
0
6.72%
5
9.98%
10
17.44%
15
20.81%
20
21.74%
23.32%
25
18-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65+
...WITH THE RIGHT AUDIENCE Visitor profiling assists in providing the appropriate services for guests & in determining potential markets to target. VLN uses demographic analyses to create an accurate picture of our audience. Currently, families make up the largest part of our visitor base, followed by groups.
Average Visitor Walk-Ins Per Day March - October: 10 people November - February: 7 people WEB AUDIENCE | Top 10 RANK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLACE OF ORIGIN North Carolina Georgia South Carolina Illinois Virginia Florida New York Ohio Pennsylvania Tennessee
VISITOR CENTER | Top 10 RANK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLACE OF ORIGIN North Carolina Ohio Florida Pennsylvania New York Virginia New Jersey California South Carolina Maryland
METRO AREAS | Top 10 RANK 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PLACE OF ORIGIN Charlotte, NC Atlanta, GA Raleigh-Durham, Fayetteville, NC Greensboro, High Point, Winston-Salem, NC New York, NY Chicago, IL Washington DC/Hagerstown, MD Nashville, TN Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, SC/Asheville, NC Philadelphia, PA
AMBASSADORS & INTERNS The VLN Ambassadors & Interns contribute a tremendous amount of time, energy, skill sets, & support services - all of which are paramount to VLN’s success. These ultimate team players help operate our Visitor Center, man event booths, respond to inquiries, provide assistance with VLN initiatives & act as personal tour guides.
VLN STAFF Sally Ashworth, CDME
Travis Dancy, CSEE
Cyndi Bartley
Rodrigo Carreon
Executive Director ashworth@lakenorman.org Operations & Marketing Director bartley@lakenorman.org During FY2019, we had 26 ambassadors and 10 interns work here at VLN volunteering for 4,576 hours. The independent sector’s estimated value for volunteer time is $24.69 per hour for 2018. The total volunteer time value equates to $112,982.
Director of Sales tdancy@lakenorman.org Visitor Services & Marketing Coordinator rcarreon@lakenorman.org
FY19 AWARDS Gold Award
Best Community Relations - Ambassador and Internship Program
Platinum Awards
Best Meetings & Convention Marketing - Meetings Venue Guide
TESTIMONIALS
Mission Statement
Visit Lake Norman is a non-profit organization dedicated to positively impacting our local and regional economies through tourism. We are committed to generating economic benefits for our towns of Cornelius, Davidson, and Huntersville by bringing national and regional events to the area and by marketing our destination to the broadest base of potential visitors possible.
Organization Vision
Visit Lake Norman is the destination marketing leader of the Lake Norman region, representing all communities through the promotion and development of our resources for the maximum economic benefit to our towns, businesses, and residents.
19900 West Catawba Avenue Cornelius, NC 28031 | Suite 102 (704) 987-3300 | visitorcenter@lakenorman.org @VISITLAKENORMAN