Category: Partner Info

The Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority (BRTDA) collects and maintains a variety of records. This information may provide useful insights to your business, and we are happy to share this public data with you. Find details on trends, markets, strategies, and more below. Please reach out with any questions or requests for additional information. Local TDA Revenues The Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority revenues come from occupancy taxes that are remitted to the Town. This  6% tax is charged on overnight stays in Blowing Rock, paid by our visitors. The BRTDA operates on a July-June Fiscal Year.  $1,870,092 in occupancy taxes was collected in Blowing Rock in the most recent fiscal year, 2023-2024. Occupancy tax revenues for 2023-2024 represent $31,168,200 in lodging sales alone. Lodging is understood to be, on average, a third of total spending on a trip. Using that, we can estimate that people who stayed overnight in Blowing Rock in the past fiscal year spent about $93.5 million. Total annual spending estimates can be divided to an estimated $256,176 PER DAY in visitor spending. Local taxes on all this spending offset the costs of providing services to residents, resulting in tax savings for locals. Chart: Total Occupancy Tax revenues over time, 2016-2024 Chart: Monthly Occupancy Tax revenues compared over time, 2018-2024 For additional historical numbers or data, please reach out! Please note that the BRTDA does not collect data on occupancy rates, average daily rate, or other details that private businesses are not required to share for public record.  Other Local Revenues Tourism is a big industry in Watauga County! Visitor Spending in Watauga County in 2023: $517, 510,000 Because of the state and local taxes paid by visitors, each Watauga County household saved an average of $649.11 in 2023.   Annual examination of the tourism industry in North Carolina is conducted by Visit North Carolina, the state’s tourism marketing organization. Follow these links for details about travel to and within North Carolina: Economic Impact of Tourism (available by county)Fast Facts Summaries BRTDA Annual Reports The Blowing Rock TDA fiscal year runs July to June. Blowing Rock TDA Annual Reports include tax collection numbers, activity summaries, noteworthy media moments, and more.   2023-2024 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report 2022-2023 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report 2021-2022 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report (report addendums: 2021-22 BRTDA Financial Audit, 2021-22 BRTDA Media Plan, Blowing Rock, NC Sustainable Tourism Management Plan) 2020-2021 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report 2019-2020 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report 2018 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report 2017 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report 2016 Blowing Rock TDA Annual Report BRTDA Research The BRTDA regularly participates in and occasionally commissions tourism research. These studies help us learn about our visitor or larger travel trends. Results from some of our most recent projects can be found here: Brand & Image Position Study, SMARInsights (Co-op with Visit NC) – 2023 Sustainable Tourism Management Plan, Roger Brooks International – 2021 Blowing Rock Database Survey Research, Magellan Strategy Group, 2018 Brand Perception Study, Magellan Strategy Group, 2017 Additionally, the BRTDA has contracted with Arrivalist and AirDNA to collect local data. These findings are reflected in Annual Reports. If you’re interested in specific insights on our travel markets and where our visitors spend their time, please contact us for more details. BRTDA Strategy and Planning The BRTDA creates a high-level marketing plan each year, and maintains a long-term strategic plan.  See the 2024-2025 Media Plan for the Blowing Rock TDA Here  (Audience and Campaign info. For full placement schedule, contact us!) See the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority’s Strategic Plan Here BRTDA Structure & Bylaws The TDA is governed by a volunteer board of 5 volunteer members, appointed by Town Council. Regular board meetings are open to the public, and are held quarterly at Town Hall (3:30pm on the first Tuesday of March, June, September, and December). Dates are listed in the Blowing Rock Community Calendar, available at Town Hall and the TDA offices. The Authority board seats are specific, with two seats for lodging representatives, two for tourism-related business representatives, and one for an “at large” community representative. When there is an opening on the board, interested individuals may apply through the Town of Blowing Rock Board Appointment Application. See the TDA Board Members Here See the Blowing Rock TDA Bylaws Here   The staff consists of four full-time employees. The TDA also enjoys a strong partnership with the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce, and works closely with the staff there. The Blowing Rock TDA offices are located at 132 Park Avenue, inside the Chamber of Commerce building in downtown Blowing Rock. See Employee Contacts Here Back to Partner Programs Page >> Media Resources Press Releases Accolades & Media Events & Story Ideas Photos & B-Roll Local Tourism Media Resources Press Releases Accolades & Media Events & Story Ideas Photos & B-Roll Local Tourism

Blowing Rock is a proud member of the Outdoor NC Partner Alliance. Through this program, the TDA staff is learning more about how to communicate good stewardship ideals to our visitors and businesses. It’s vital that we all step up and do our part to protect and preserve the places we love, from Blowing Rock parks to lands on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  As a Blowing Rock business, you have access to some of the great resources made available through our partnership with Visit NC and Outdoor NC. Below, find printable posters, some excellent resources for sustainability in business, and even a Leave No Trace training program (a great refresher even if you’re familiar)! Sustainable Business Resources Outdoor NC has compiled some excellent resources for us all: A Global Trends Report and a comprehensive Sustainable Business Resource guide. Share this information with your employees, managers, and any stakeholders in your business. Click on the images below to see the full files- both downloadable and printable PDFs. Global Trends Report Sustainable Tourism Business Guide, includes links Printable Posters & Handouts Some printable pieces that help remind us all to protect and preserve the places we love! A beautiful poster, plus a flyer and a tri-fold handout for the 7 principles of Leave No Trace. Click each image below for a downloadable and printable PDF file. 8.5×11 Leave No Trace Flyer Tri-fold Leave No Trace Pamphlet (prints front-and-back on 8.5×11) Resources to Share We have a special section of this website dedicated to responsible and accessible recreation. Visitors will find details on Leave No Trace Principles, plus some simple guides for those new to exploring our area.  There’s also some information about the accessibility of popular locations and attractions to help folks decide how to plan for their trip. This set of posts and guides are great for learning more about our local places, and for sharing with your audiences and employees. See our Outdoors For All page here > Online Training Program Everyone in the North Carolina hospitality or retail industry plays a crucial role to help promote Leave No Trace’s educational message with visitors and customers who are likely unaware of the negative impacts that can result from outdoor recreation.    Let’s help protect our outdoor resources with stewardship education, to help ensure that North Carolina’s thriving tourism and recreation economy continue to grow for years to come. Check out this easy-to-follow Leave No Trace training module here!

The BRTDA offers many resources to help with marketing and promotions for our local tourism partners!  BRTDA Website (this one!) BlowingRock.com is the official visitor information website for Blowing Rock. Qualifying tourism-related businesses in Blowing Rock, such as accommodations, restaurants, and shopping, are listed on the website free of charge. High Country attractions within a 15 mile radius may also eligible for listing on the website free of charge. Each business is listed with eye-catching photos to attract visitors, and has a link to that business’s website. We rely on industry partners to keep their information on the website current and relevant. How does this help me?A listing on the BRTDA’s website provides additional exposure for your business thanks to the 478,000 unique users who visit the website each year. Having your business listed also increases your own website’s search engine optimization (SEO). What do I need to do?Contact Lindsay Garcia with your business details if you are not currently listed on our site! Some businesses are automatically added to the website. Accommodations need to confirm occupancy tax compliance with the Town of Blowing Rock Finance Department (located at Town Hall) before being listed. Each listing needs an image, description, contact information, and a web link. Visitor Guide This brochure-style publication helps visitors plan their trip to and within Blowing Rock. Local attractions, activities, restaurants, and accommodations are listed for free. How does this help me?Your business may be listed or featured in the Visitor Guide, giving you added exposure. Approximately 75,000 printed Blowing Rock Guides are distributed annually, with additional digital copies downloaded from our website. Additionally, these Guides are available (in any quantity) without charge for you to display and give to your guests. What do I need to do? Make sure your business is listed on our website and up-to-date. We will announce in the Village Tattler e-newsletter as we update the Visitor Guide, so double check the accuracy of your listing then as well. For copies, come to the TDA offices on Park Avenue. Online Calendar of Events As a service to visitors and the community, the BRTDA maintains a listing of events happening in the area on our website. We encourage all our partners to submit special events and upcoming activities for listing. Events must meet certain guidelines, like being open to the general public. How does this help me?In addition to putting your event in front of potential visitors, the online calendar is how the BRTDA learns about your events. We use the online calendar to develop the calendars that are distributed in other communications and in the Information Center. It helps us know what to promote on our social media channels, too. What do I need to do?You can find the criteria for being included on the calendar and a submission form here. >>Submit your events as far in advance as possible, giving as much information as possible. Glow Time and Other Seasonal Promotions The BRTDA coordinates “Glow Time” promotions from Thanksgiving to Christmas. This features festive activities and holiday shopping with free listing opportunities for a “favorite thing” from each participating store. The Glow Time theme is promoted in seasonal paid ads and many social media features, all directed to a special web page that highlights seasonal activities. Similar promotions have been coordinated for Valentine’s Day and other special events. How does this help me?For retailers in particular, the Glow Time promotions can help increase visibility, especially on social media as we use our web content to build features. Lodging and attractions partners can also list specials or packages, all free of charge. Holiday travel and messaging is always a great theme to gain extra promotion for any business. What do I need to do? Keep an eye on announcements in The Village Tattler Newsletter to learn when seasonal promotions are happening. Retailers should choose an item to feature as their “favorite thing” and send details to Lindsay Garcia. All businesses should send their holiday features to us around the beginning of November. We will find the best fit for promoting it! Information Kiosks in Town The Blowing Rock TDA maintains the four information kiosks in town. Local businesses are marked on the maps, and a bulletin board is available for event posters How does this help me?Having a presence in the kiosks boosts visibility and knowledge of businesses. These kiosks are located in the center of town and at three main parking areas. Lots of visitors see these and stop to check them out! What do I need to do?Businesses are listed on the maps automatically, but keep us notified of location changes for your business. To post an event poster, the event must be open to the public and of potential interest to visitors. Contact Tracy or Amanda to inquire about current space on the bulletin board, and provide copies of the poster for posting. Social Media Shares & Features The Blowing Rock TDA has 82,000+ followers on Facebook, 41,000+ followers on Instagram, and a growing following on Tiktok and Pinterest. Fresh content is posted multiple times a week, and we love to highlight our local businesses! How does this help me?Being included in our social media posts can increase your reach on social media platforms. We regularly reshare business posts on Facebook and Instagram. We will also create original content that features businesses, from announcing big news at that business, to including them in seasonal promotions. What do I need to do?Tag us in your posts so we can find your content to share and repost those that will interest our audience. Reach out to our social media manager, Tyler Graves, via email or direct message on social platforms to ask about collaborating on a new feature. Also, participate in our other promotions to stay on our radar for inclusion in roundups or features on social media! Social Media Event Promotion Invite Blowing Rock, North Carolina to co-host your event on Facebook! Any event geared to attract visitors

Free One-on-one Assistance The Blowing Rock TDA’s skilled staff members stand ready to help our tourism industry partners make use of all our organization has to offer! From social media tips for your business, to ideas for promotions, we are happy to help. Whether your business is new or well-established, we invite you to schedule a meeting to review all the programs offered by the BRTDA and find those that fit your needs. We love to brainstorm and share what we have learned from other businesses and organizations! It’s a wise investment of your time. How does this help me?This is the easiest way to get expert guidance on your promotions, or learn about useful programs, all paid for by occupancy taxes. Plus, developing a relationship with the BRTDA is a great way to get connected to others in the industry who can become effective partners. What do I need to do? Contact Amanda Lugenbell and schedule a meeting. If you have particular interest in a specific area, you may be meeting with a different member of our staff. The Village Tattler Tourism Industry E-newsletter The Village Tattler is a weekly, business-to-business newsletter from the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority. It includes locally-relevant tourism news, updates on Blowing Rock TDA activities, event reminders, and promotional opportunities. The Tattler newsletter is useful for those working in hotels, shops, attractions, and restaurants along with local volunteers, county and municipality leaders, BRTDA board members, and other members of the community who want to stay up-to-date on the local tourism industry. How does this help me? The newsletter is full of information that you will find helpful. You will always be able to answer guests and customers when they ask “what’s going on in town this weekend?” It will also keep you in-the-know about ways you can get more involved with the BRTDA, such as participating with media, when to update guide & website listings, and more. If your business has been featured in the media, won an award, or has special events, the Tattler is a great way to share your news with your industry partners and colleagues. What do I need to do?To receive the newsletter, let us know you’d like to be added to the mailing list, or sign up here >>If you have something to you’d like us to include, reply to the newsletter for consideration! Research & Data Resources The BRTDA maintains data on local occupancy tax revenue, which shows seasonal trends and changes in visitation over time. Additionally, collected data from Arrivalist and AirDNA gives insights on our travel markets and where our visitors spend their time. The BRTDA also participates in and occasionally commissions visitor studies. How does this help me?As a tourism partner of the BRTDA, you have access to these valuable industry insights and research resources. These can help you understand your potential customer base, make marketing decisions, confirm staffing levels needed for various seasons, and more. What do I need to do?Find links to annual reports, results of BRTDA commissioned studies, local occupancy tax info, and more on our Local Data and Research page. If you are looking for a particular set of data or want to know which research can help you find the answer to specific questions, contact Tracy or Amanda and we’ll get the relevant information directly to you. 87% (104.5k) of the 120k trips in FY 2022-23 were made by visitors from these 10 areas. Source: Arrivalist, Smarinsights Photo Sharing & Resources The BRTDA has a selection of free, high-resolution destination & event photography available for partners to use on their websites or in promotions. It’s important for us to have up-to-date images of your business, too, so we invite you to send us any professional-grade images you have of your business. We use current images of local tourism-related businesses to tell specific and engaging stories on our website and social media, and we also send photos of local businesses to the media in response to inquiries. We can also take high-resolution photos of your business for use in your materials and in our promotions! How does it help me?The BRTDA’s image library and photo services saves our partners the time and expense of creating their own images. And when we have good images of your business, we can promote you more specifically and effectively. What do I need to do?Request use of destination & event images or schedule a time for our staff to visit your business to take photos by contacting Amanda Lugenbell. You may email existing photos you have of your businesses directly to us. Details on the photo program are available here >> Printable Calendars A monthly/weekly (depending on season) printable calendar of special events and activities that take place in and around Blowing Rock is available to share with visitors. How does this help me?Your guests will appreciate this item! Accommodations can leave this in their guest rooms or in a common area, such as a front desk. Other businesses may find it beneficial to have copies available as well. What do I need to do?Let us know if you’d like the printable calendar in your inbox. Field Trip: Industry FAM Tour The BRTDA currently offers one annual tour in early June, open to tourism-related business management and frontline staff, to familiarize them with our various industry partners. These fun tours help to increase participants’ awareness of the many things the Blowing Rock area has to offer. These experiences are open to anyone in our local tourism industry, but they’re particularly effective at educating lodging partners’ frontline staff so they can inform guests of the great things to do while in town. How does this help me?This is a great, FREE way for you and your staff to discover all there is to do in Blowing Rock, which you can in turn share with your guests. Happier, more informed visitors are more likely to stay longer and make a return visit. What do I

What is a TDA? A Tourism Development Authority (TDA) is created by the NC Legislature. It allows municipalities and counties to collect occupancy taxes which are to be spent on tourism development and promotion to visitors from outside their boundaries. How is the TDA funded? The Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority (BRTDA) is funded by the 6% occupancy tax collected from overnight stays by visitors at hotels and short-term accommodations inside the town-limits of Blowing Rock. The BRTDA does not receive funding from property taxes or any other government support. What is the Blowing Rock TDA’s job? The mission of the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority is to provide leadership and primary funding for promoting, developing, and supporting year-round travel and tourism to and within the Town of Blowing Rock to increase lodging sales, extend overnight stays, and boost visitor spending.  This makes the BRTDA the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Blowing Rock, tasked with increasing overnight stays and visitor spending in Blowing Rock. This is accomplished by promoting Blowing Rock to potential visitors through paid advertising, travel media, and our own media channels. The BRTDA also spends funds on projects to reduce the impacts of tourism, like sidewalk improvements, increased public parking, and responsible travel programs. How does the Blowing Rock TDA do its job? The BRTDA works to increase awareness of Blowing Rock and build connections among visitors. Through advertising, promotions, and public relations, we tap into travelers’ curiosity and desire to explore new places while also reinforcing connections with long-time visitors. This work shows up as paid advertising, website content, social media posts and interactions, press releases, printed brochures, educational programs for hospitality employees and students,  hosting media guests, and more. We work with industry partners to inspire travelers to experience specific places and things that make Blowing Rock unique. Why is this work important? The $517 million per year* that visitors bring into Watauga County boosts our local economy from top to bottom. Promotion drives visitors to book at hotels, buy tickets to activities, and dine at restaurants- all businesses that sustain local livelihoods. Tourism sustains more than 3,000 jobs within the county- that represents about 1 out of every 6 employees here. Watauga County currently ranks 15th among NC’s 100 counties for visitor spending. *2023 visitor spending data from Visit NC / Tourism Economics How do I become a BRTDA Tourism Partner? Tourism-related businesses in the Town of Blowing Rock are automatically partners! These are businesses that serve visitors on a regular basis: accommodations, restaurants, most retailers, & attractions. Nearby regional attractions and events, even if they are outside town limits, are also partners to the BRTDA because Blowing Rock visitors often plan trips around regional attractions and activities. There is no membership fee or cost to partners for TDA general promotions and programs.  Meet the Staff Tracy Brown Executive Director*marketing plans & budgets*board [email protected] Amanda Fife LugenbellAssistant Director*public & media relations*[email protected] Lindsay Wright Garcia Content Manager*Website listings & calendar*monthly promo [email protected] Tyler Graves Digital Community Manager*social media content*partner [email protected] See BRTDA Annual Reports & more tourism facts here >> Back to Partner Programs page >>