Jackson County Chamber & Jackson County Visitor Center Cashiers Area Chamber & Jackson County Visitor Center

Report for January 1, 2013 – September 30, 2013

Websites/Total Outreach: 674,615 (www.mountainlovers.com): 126,233 views, 56,066 visits (www.FlyFishingTrail.com): 112,059 views, 22,379 visits (www.cashiersareachamber.com): 73,198 (www.tourdecashiers.com): 316,347 (www.blueridgedouble.com): 45,337 (www.destinationcashiers.com): 1,441 (pending legacy improvements)

Social Media/Page Access: 51,954-127,919/people per week Jackson County Chamber & Visitor Center Facebook page: Reaching 9,000-26,415/people per week Western North Carolina Fly Fishing Trail Facebook page: Reaching 8200-17,600/people per week Cashiers Area Chamber & Visitor Center Facebook page: Reaching 6,281-22,512/people per week Tour de Cashiers Facebook page: Reaching 1,551-6,006/people per week Cashiers Trail Mix Facebook page: Reaching 26,922-55,746/people per week Post relevant information on each page every day, at least once a day, but generally twice a day. Share links to our media coverage in various newspapers, tv segments, and to other sites that are posting our press releases and photos, thereby increasing our Fan base and exposure.

Visitor Guide/Total Circulation: 90.459 State Welcome Centers in NC, SC, GA, TN, FL, VA: have requested and received 43,400 NC Mountains Visitor Guides and Cashiers Area Visitor Guides. Visitor Guides - On site disbursement and direct fulfillment (direct mailing/phone requests): 38,841 Visitor Guides – Mailed directly to AAA offices: 7588 Visitor Guides – Mailed to other Chamber offices: 630 Total Number of Visitor Guides disbursed through 9/30 (all categories combined): 90,459 (Does NOT include the number of times the visitor guide was downloaded or viewed directly from www.mountainlovers.com or www.destinationcashiers.com ).

Visitation: Number of Visitors serviced on site – Jackson County Visitor Center: 17,324 Dillsboro Visitor Center: 8519 South Jackson County Visitor Center: 2,420 (delayed tracking)

Total number of visitors: 28,263 (does not include the five (5) kiosks we stock with information 365/24/7 or visual displays on rotation)

**Phone calls answered: 3,392 (partial year)

Fly Fishing Trail Maps & Noteworthy Info:

About 102,100 maps disbursed since the inception of the WNC Fly Fishing Trail four years ago. In 2013: 5705 fly fishing maps mailed directly to State Welcome Centers & 9,610 maps mailed directly to interested fishermen. Total: 15,314. We also just mailed another 2,000 maps to Welcome Centers this week if you want to include this.

Trout City: Recognized by the NC Fish & Wildlife as National Heritage Trout Waters, with 3 towns cooperating to achieve this recognition (Sylva, Dillsboro, Webster). Officially received this recognition in March 2013. One of only eight places in NC recognized for designated Mountain Heritage Trout Waters. Jackson County has the most water/mileage of any place in NC. Excellent publicity as a result (newspaper, tv segments) and most importantly, we opened the door to a new fly fishing customer that can fish here for three days in the designated waters for only $5 license. (This recognition took 11 months to achieve. Technically, I organized this and did this with Chamber money and time, but the primary beneficiary is the TDA and Trail obviously. This did not cost the TDA any money).

In May – we hosted the Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee. Very successful and we received terrific publicity and national recognition.

• The Southeastern Fly Fishing Festival is returning to the Ramsey Center May 16 & 17, 2014. This will be their second year in Jackson County. Last year, the event filled up the Best Western, Jarrett House, and 16 rooms at the Holiday Inn Express. We expect attendance to increase this year. We are working with the coordinators of the event and have already started promoting it through our Fly Fishing Facebook page and website, with very positive results. • Dillsboro Luminairies – it rained, but great attendance two of the four nights, with three merchants reporting ‘best sales of the year’. • The Hard Candy Christmas Show in November had gate attendance of 4202, a slight increase over the 2012 show. • The Dillsboro Pottery Festival reported record high attendance of 2755 (increase of 600 over previous year), receiving 79,854 inquiries through their website, 42 potters participated. TDA grant money of $1200 was awarded to this event. • Colorfest in Dillsboro: attendance was estimated by the DMA to be 900.

“Holiday & Winter Events Get Underway in the Cashiers Valley,” Seasons – 4 page feature in Winter 2013 edition of Season magazine (Lifestyle publication with Atlanta and southeastern US distribution)

2014 Mountain Youth Challenge featuring World #1 tennis champions Andy Roddick/Jim Courier and Grammy Award-winning Steep Canyon Ranchers – announced for July 25 & 26 (regional audience of more than 2,500 expected). Post-event coverage of more than $50K earned media value last year. Advance stories were handled by former TDA public relations consultant (value unknown). 2014 Cashiers Trail Mix Mountain & Team Run Adventure – announced for September 13 (regional audience of more than 500 expected). Post-event 4-page coverage in November 2013 edition of Views Magazine (upscale southeastern US publication with Florida concentration).

Other Festivals and Activities: In May – we hosted the Tours de Cashiers across Jackson County. Very successful and we received very positive advance and post publicity and regional recognition. Southeast regional participants. In July – we hosted The Mountain Challenge, a high-profile tennis exhibition featuring world no. 1 players. Promoted “Play On” to audience of more than 1,500 drawing from Atlanta, Charlotte and Florida markets. In September – we hosted the Cashiers Trail Mix, an inaugural 5-mile mountain trail run and team adventure event designed to generate additional visitation during a traditional seasonal slump period. Received Atlanta and Florida publicity and athlete participation.

TDA Grant Recipient Activities/Evaluations Pending: Sculpture on the Green Biennial Exhibition/Cashiers – national magazine advertising Mountain Wildlife Days/Sapphire – WLOS news coverage and regional advertising GCAMA Blues, Brews & BBQ Festival/Cashiers – 1,500 regional attendees Western NC Pottery Festival/Dillsboro GCAMA Groovin’ on the Green/Cashiers – sustained attendance throughout season GCAMA Leaf Festival/Cashiers – record attendance; regional advertising and coverage Dillsboro Merchants Association/Dillsboro (2 Applications) Town of Sylva

Overall TDA Publicity:

Produced fourteen (19) press releases through 9/30.

*Generated more than 400 articles in newspapers, magazines, and on website based publications plus more than electronic impressions with additional lifestyle magazine story development underway.

Television exposure: UNC TV – Easter Hat Parade in Dillsboro UNC TV – NC Weekend – fly fishing segment (from 2012, repeat) WJHL TV – (tri-cities): Fly Fishing segment UNCH TV – ‘Charlotte Today” - visit Dillsboro segment WLOS – Mountain Wildlife Days in Sapphire WLOS – Mountain Challenge in Cashiers US Tennis Channel – Gimbelstock feature programming Golf Channel & others – USGA Senior Amateur Championship in Cashiers (compilation underway) Other – working with WLOS and interested local parties to explore drive market travel segment

Media Missions: Participated in the February Atlanta Media Mission organized by the NC Division of Tourism Participated in the June Media Mission organized by Pineapple Public Relations

Individual Travel Writer Visits: We have hosted five (7) travel writers this year with specific interests in Dillsboro, Cashiers, Fly Fishing, Balsam Mountain Inn’s Songwriters in the Round, live music throughout Jackson County, waterfalls, pottery and handmade crafts, and sporting activities/outdoor recreation.

Travel Trade Shows: Participated in the Charlotte Spring Home Show (March) & Atlanta Home & Garden Show (April).

Governor’s Conference & NC Division of Tourism events:

Sent our PR representative to the NC Division of Tourism’s March Governor’s Conference. We shared booth space with Cherokee, featuring our Fly Fishing Trail. Julie also attended the NC Division of Tourism’s mid-year marketing conference in Asheville in September. We have been 100% responsive to every request sent to us by the NC Division of Tourism regarding individual travel writers or group tours. We hosted Director of Tourism Marketing for the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film & Sports Development, his colleagues from the Public Relations and Film Offices, and statewide ad agency representatives for onsite Cashiers Area visit. Also worked with Film Commission and facilitated scout applications for possible production sites.

NC Beer Month – offered by the NC Division of Tourism. We participated in March & April and had 1 brewery, 3 restaurants, and 2 accommodations participate in the statewide promotion.

Visitnc.com – we have consistently updated the state website with event information, as well as entering accommodation, retail, and restaurant info with a comprehensive overhaul of Cashiers Area data

Group Tours: • Blue Ridge National Heritage Group Tour – May, visited Dillsboro, spent 1 night and 2 days, we hosted the group for a light reception and toured them as well. • AAA Tour Bus – Julie has ‘stepped on’ to three different buses this year and talked with groups and supplied materials. • Dan & Udean’s Bus Tours – Julie has ‘stepped on’ to two different buses, supplied materials. • 2013 Republican State Convention/Cherokee – supplied tourism information to organizing committee in preparation for 1,000+ delegate meeting in 2014

*101 Total Articles – they are all in a scrapbook you can take with you. Here is a list of the more notable/recognizable publications:

• USA Today • The Huffington Post • NC Sportsman Magazine • SC Sportsman Magazine • Atlanta Journal Constitution • The Charlotte Observer • Blue Ridge Country Magazine • Blue Ridge Digest • Smoky Mountain Living Magazine • AAA Go Magazine • Carolina Traveler Magazine • Views Magazine • Atlanta Home Magazine • Seasons Magazine • Carolina Living • Views Magazine

Many regional newspapers and publications such as Asheville Citizen, the Mountain Xpress, Fun Things to Do in the Mountains, Stay & Play in the Smokies, Transylvania Times, Hendersonville Times, Black Mountain News, Gaston Gazette, etc.

Featured Media Summary –July/August 2013 (Press Release “Tennis Great Andy Roddick Mountain Challenge in Cashiers, NC”) Generated more than 300 news items, television coverage and lifestyle magazine articles. In addition, numerous internet references significantly improve search engine optimization for “Cashiers.” Highlights of coverage, valued at more than $50,000 include:

Greenville Business Magazine The Sun News (Myrtle Beach, SC) Upstate Biz SC News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) WISTV NBC-10 (Columbia, SC) WGCL-TV CBS-46 (Atlanta, GA) The State (Columbia, SC) Atlanta Business Chronicle WCIV-TV ABC-4 (Charleston, SC) WSFX-TV FOX-26 (Wilmington, NC) WCSC CBS-5 (Charleston, SC) WECT NBC-6 (Wilmington, NC) WHNS-TV FOX-21 (Greenville, SC) WTNZ FOX-43 (Knoxville, TN) WBTV CBS-3 (Charlotte, NC) WTOC CBS-11 (Savannah, GA) Charlotte Business Journal Columbus Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, GA) Island Packet (Bluffton, SC) WTVM ABC-9 (Columbus, GA) WMBF NBC-32 (Myrtle Beach, SC) WWBT NBC-12 (Richmond, VA) WXTX-TV FOX-54 (Columbus, GA) WRIC ABC-8 (Richmond, VA) Fayetteville Observer WSET-TV ABC-13 (Lynchburg, VA) KALB-TV CBS-2 / NBC-5 (Alexandria, LA) WSFA NBC-12 (Montgomery, AL) WAFF NBC-48 (Huntsville, AL) WDSI-TV FOX-61 (Chattanooga, TN) WAFB CBS-9 (Baton Rouge, LA) WSMV-TV NBC-4 (Nashville, TN) WALB NBC-10 (Albany, GA) WTLH-TV FOX-49 (Tallahassee, FL) Orlando Business Journal WDAM NBC-7 (Hattiesburg-Laurel, MS) New York Business Journal WDRB FOX-41 (Louisville, KY) San Francisco Business Times WBRC-TV FOX-6 MyFox Birmingham San Antonio Business Journal (Birmingham, AL) Sacramento Business Journal WMC NBC-5 (Memphis, TN) WKRN ABC-2 (Nashville, TN) WMBB-TV ABC-13 (Panama City, FL) WLOX ABC-13 (Biloxi, MS) WBOY-TV NBC-12 (Clarksburg, WV) WLTZ-TV CW-38 (Columbus, GA) WBMA-TV ABC-33 / ABC-40 (Birmingham, AL) WLTZ-TV NBC-38 (Columbus, GA) WAVE NBC-3 (Louisville, KY) WLBT NBC-3 (Jackson, MS) Miami Herald The State Journal (Charleston, WV) Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, KY) Triangle Business Journal Birmingham Business Journal South Florida Business Journal Telegraph-Macon (Macon, GA) Tampa Bay Business Journal Business First of Columbus WGFL-TV CBS-4 (Gainesville, FL) Memphis Business Journal WFXG-TV FOX-54 (Augusta, GA) Nashville Business Journal WFXR-TV FOX-21/27 (Roanoke, VA) Jacksonville Business Journal WFLX FOX-29 (West Palm Beach, FL) Tampa Tribune WRCB-TV NBC-3 (Chattanooga, TN)

** Phone calls – we did not keep track of phone calls until June. This is our June – September 19th totals. January – May – I only included long distance calls that could be seen from a telephone invoice. The total number is probably closer to 3500, but since we didn’t write down every call til June, I can’t prove that.