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Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Advisory Board

Orange County · Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau
Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Advisory board meeting Arts and public artBudget and appropriationsEconomic development incentivesEnvironment and sustainabilityFees and utility ratesHousing and affordability

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved Call to Order and Approval of Minutes Approved unanimously

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau board met on 19 March 2025 with the future of its occupancy tax funding recently settled. The commissioners had considered three options, including diverting a third of the fund to other tourism initiatives, and instructed the county manager to leave the budget as it is while putting more money into the Arts Commission.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Staff walked the board through what the commissioners had weighed: leaving the visitors bureau fund alone, using two-thirds for bureau expenses and a third for existing county tourism work, or using a third for new county initiatives, along with whether to keep 15 percent of the fund in reserve. The outcome was to leave the budget in place.

On meetings business, the bureau is investing in CVENT, the platform meeting planners use to source venues, which lists about 300,000 venues worldwide. The spend buys banner advertising shown to planners looking at Raleigh and Charlotte, a feature letting planners copy the bureau into a request for proposals, and display advertising. One member said the Carolina Inn is seeing a 60-40 split toward meeting business, the first time since 2019.

MexTour 2025 will fill 55,000 seats at Kenan Stadium with tickets on sale from 1 April, and the bureau is subcontracting a Charlotte firm to reach Latino audiences. Members reported a new hotel planned on Rosemary Street with a rooftop bar, conference space and a parking contract with the town; Legion Road, a town-owned site designated for a park and housing, where the pond must be drained; an economic feasibility study for the coal ash site at 828 Martin Luther King Boulevard; and development on hold in the Blue Hill district.

How the votes went

The January minutes were approved unanimously, and the meeting adjourned.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Orange County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (5)

Staff or committee report · 3Minutes approval · 1Presentation · 1
  1. Call to Order and Approval of Minutes
    Minutes approval
    Approved unanimously
  2. Visitors Bureau Updates - Occupancy Tax Fund
    Staff or committee report Arts and public artBudget and appropriationsFees and utility rates
    The commissioners weighed three options for the occupancy tax fund, including diverting a third to other county tourism work, and instructed the manager to leave the budget in place while adding money to the Arts Commission.
  3. Soccer Update
    Staff or committee report Arts and public art
    MexTour 2025 will fill 55,000 seats at Kenan Stadium, with tickets on sale from 1 April. The bureau is subcontracting a Charlotte firm to reach Latino audiences.
  4. Attracting more meetings mid-week
    Presentation Economic development incentives
    The bureau is investing in CVENT, which lists about 300,000 venues worldwide, buying banner advertising against Raleigh and Charlotte searches and a feature letting planners copy the bureau into a request for proposals.
  5. Update from Board Members
    Staff or committee report Environment and sustainabilityHousing and affordability
    A new hotel on Rosemary Street with a rooftop bar and conference space; Legion Road, a town-owned site designated for a park and housing, where the pond must be drained; an economic feasibility study for the coal ash site at 828 Martin Luther King Boulevard; and development on hold in the Blue Hill district.
    • 828 Martin Luther King Blvd · no matching parcel on file
    • 828 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd · no matching parcel on file

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