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Recent Hub & Spoke
Activity
Many more visitors are expected to visit the
towns of Northeastern North Carolina as a result
of a “Hub & Spoke” marketing initiative
sponsored by the North Carolina’s Northeast
Commission.
Local tourism officials were selected by the
Commission to represent the 16-county region at
recent tourism market places. Russ Haddad and
Lynn Lewis represented the region at the 2008
American Bus Association Marketplace, a six-day
international event beginning February 2nd at
the Virginia Beach Convention Center. During
the event, they marketed the region to many
companies using regional marketing materials and
prepared bus trip itineraries.
In January, Tanya Young and Sara Catherine Adams
spoke with 24 motorcoach operators present at
the NC Motorcoach Association Annual Meeting and
marketed the benefits of “Hub & Spoke” traveling
within North Carolina’s Northeast Region. “Most
of the tour buses are passing through our area
on the way to the Outer Banks, so the operators
were grateful to learn about the historical
locations we have along the route. The tour
operators like the ‘Hub & Spoke’ idea because it
helps them organize their tour groups around a
geographical area or a specific theme,” said
Young.
The sample motorcoach itineraries were prepared
by NET, the Northeast Tourism group led by Nancy
Nicholls, Tourism Development Authority Director
for Chowan County. NET prepared the itineraries
during a one-day retreat at Hope Plantation in
Windsor. Sample itineraries begin at one of the
larger towns in the region where 50 people can
stay together in hotels and eat together at
restaurants, then provide options for visiting
two to three smaller towns within an hour drive
of each hub. “This ‘Hub & Spoke’ concept allows
small towns to reap the benefits brought by a
group of 50 travelers spending the day in the
small town. These groups will have the
opportunity to visit the local attractions,
spend money in the local shops, and what’s even
better, once they visit the small town, they are
more likely to visit again and again,” said
Nicholls.
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