The Granville County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) has received a top honor for marketing from the North Carolina Travel Industry Association. The TDA earned the coveted platinum award in the Community Relations category for its innovative approach to communicating and building relationships within a community. The partnership between the TDA and members of the community was the result of a recent re-branding effort, in which the tourism brand “Uniquely Carolina” was created for Granville County Tourism’s new marketing campaign.
As part of the re-branding process, the TDA and the Hughes Marketing Group (brand consultant) interviewed over 100 county stakeholders for their ideas and input. Focus groups were also incorporated, with more than 650 participants completing surveys online and through intercepts. A final community outreach session, broadcast on Facebook Live, reached an additional 680 people who viewed the presentation on social media, with more than 60 people in attendance to see the results of the marketing campaign in person. Attendees included representatives of the tourism industry and the TDA Board, as well as interested residents and government/community leaders.
“Tourism is not the charge of a single person or department,” says Angela Allen, Executive Director of the TDA. “Everyone in a community impacts and is part of attracting visitors, and – more importantly – greeting, interacting with and making a visit to the community either positive or negative.”
“The primary challenge,” she added, “was to get folks to partner with us in developing our new brand. In the process, we broke through walls by incorporating our stakeholders in this effort. This award validates the community approach we used to promote tourism in Granville County.”
For more information on this community relations effort and the re-branding of Granville County Tourism, contact Allen by email at angela.allen@granvillecounty.org or by phone at 919-693-6125. Those interested can also visit the new website at www.visitgranvillecounty.com.
To learn more about the North Carolina Travel Industry Association, visit nctia.travel.
