Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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JAN. 28 - FEB. 3, 2015 UCW 15 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM TOURISM BENEFITS CUMBERLAND COUNTY The Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau works to position Cumberland County as a destination for meetings, tournaments and individual travel. The bureau is funded by taxes paid by visitors staying overnight in hotels. Although county taxpayers do not fund efforts to increase tourism, they receive the benefit. According to the NC Department of Commerce, the economic impact from tourism to Cumberland County is $471 million per year. Additionally, Cumberland County tourism supports 4200 jobs and generates $35.54 million in local and state taxes. RESULTS TO DATE FY 14/15 At the half-way point of the 14/15 fiscal year, we are proud to announce that the bureau has: - Booked 46 groups for future business in Cumberland County. These groups represent 11,500 room nights at county hotels and an economic impact of $3.5 million. - Welcomed 6,200 local and out-of-town visitors at three visitor centers - Attended nine trade shows where staff secured 21 leads for future group business for Cumberland County - Distributed three email promotions to 21,000 past visitors and potential visitors. - Secured 50 pieces of publicity in out-of-market publications. - Implemented two tourism programs to promote hotels to current and future visitors. - Opened a retail store selling locally-made items, including salsa, soap, t-shirts, postcards and more. We look forward to providing our results in this column at the end of each quarter. BLACK HISTORY MONTH February is Black History Month, and our community has lots of special events throughout the month. We've collected these events in our calendar -we invite you to take a look and make plans to attend one or more events. Consider inviting your friends to town to attend with you. Get information on 75+ February events and and find hotel rooms for your guests at VisitFayettevilleNC.com. A few highlights from February's calendar: - Feb 1: Dancing Stories with April Turner at the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex - Feb 15: Evidence Dance at Fayetteville State University - Feb 27: Red, White, Blue and Black: United States Colored Troops in North Carolina at the Museum of the Cape Fear Historical Complex - Through Feb 28: Words and Pictures: Illustrated Works by Kadir Nelson at the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County African-American Heritage Trail The African-American Heritage Trail consists of sites that provide a historical glimpse into the life of African-Americans who resided in Fayetteville and Cumberland County. The hard labor bourn by slaves, the entrepreneurship of free blacks, the devotion to religion and education, service to our country and the desire to learn and preserve valuable history await to tell the visitor a grand story. The bureau developed the 23-site trail in conjunction with a panel of historians. The trail includes a detailed history plus the significance of each site along the trail. Download a pdf of the trail at VisitFayettevilleNC. com/CulturalHeritageTrails or stop by and pick up a Cultural Heritage Trails Guide. FEATURED ATTRACTION Download , a mobile app for exploring Fort Bragg Communities. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melody Foote Director of Communications Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Liberty Point Bulletin Does your advertising leave you feeling this way? Advertising can be pretty complex. You may not know which way to turn. ere is a sign you can rely on — ours. Call us today so that our professionals can make the most of your advertising investment. Free Papers Working For You Another sign we're working for you. 484-6200 wwwupandcomingweekly.com