County gears up for air show
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 27, 2017 9:57 AM
A $30,000 advertising and marketing campaign is planned for the Wings Over Wayne Air Show.
The air show will be held May 20-21 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and feature the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels. The show coincides with the 75th anniversary celebration of the 4th Fighter Wing.
The $30,000 will be split among the county, city of Goldsboro and Goldsboro-Wayne Travel and Tourism.
Ashlin Glatthar, Goldsboro-Wayne Travel and Tourism director, offered three options to Wayne County commissioners during a recent meeting.
"I will preface this to say I did this same presentation for City Council about a month ago now... they opted for option two," Mrs. Glatthar said. "But there is a contingency on there."
The contingency was that the county match the city's contribution, she said.
Option two includes TV, radio, print, billboards and online advertising that would cover all of eastern North Carolina save for the far northeastern corner and Outer Banks. Westward, it would nearly reach Charlotte.
The coverage would stretch into southern Virginia and northern South Carolina reaching an estimated 3.2 million people.
Option one was radio advertising only reaching less than one million people across eastern North Carolina not including the Outer Banks, she said.
The third option would include TV, radio, print, billboards and online and would cover all of eastern North Carolina west to Charlotte; north to Richmond, Virginia; and south to Charleston, South Carolina.
It would reach an estimated 5.5 million people, she said.
County Manager George Wood said he had earlier spoken with City Manager Scott Stevens about the options.
Wood said he told Stevens he could support option two.
Wood said that in another two years the county might could consider expanding the marketing effort since the Maxwell Regional Agricultural Center and multi-sports complex would be open.
"Maybe what you do there is try to tie some specific events there that add on to Wings Over Wayne that would then give a reason to stay some additional days," Wood said. "Then at that point you may want to do a little bit more.
"This ($10,000) is in keeping, I think, in what we budgeted last year. So I am in agreement to do option two and that would be my recommendation to you. We will just take it out of our contingency line items because we always know with Wings Over Wayne that are going to get request for additional money."
Commissioner Joe Daughtery asked if any proceeds from hotel occupancy tax revenues would be used.
"She needs to supplement that amount." Wood said. "She is using some of that."
The air show is a spotlight for the county, and it is time to shine, Mrs. Glatthar said.
"So the reason I am requesting the additional funding is because I kind of want that extra muscle to match the power and caliber of that type of event," she said. "I think we get overlooked a lot. We are between Raleigh and the beach. I think this is our time to like, 'Wait a minute, don't forget about us. We keep building. We keep bringing industries here. We keep getting new facilities.'
"I think for the Wings Over Wayne Air Show, we are at a different point than we were two years ago with our newly landscaped Streetscape downtown."
Then there are the new multi-sports complex and agriculture and convention center that are under construction, she said.
"You just have a lot more to showcase in Goldsboro," Mrs. Glatthar said. "This is an event that attracts so many different kinds of people. This is the kind of event that people are willing to travel for.
"So I think it is a really good platform for our city and our county to broadcast and to share with people coming into town -- what they will be coming back for in the future for, our ag center and complex."
It is an interesting way not only to promote and market the air show, but to brand Goldsboro as well, she said.
"This is the thing, we never have a hard time filling our hotels," Mrs. Glatthar said. "My investment as travel and tourism is to get more occupancy tax, to really fill our hotels so that we can get a return on our investment.
"So outside of an hour drive, and hour and a half, two hours, they are gong to need a place to stay, but also they are going to be eating more meals, using more gas -- just staying a little bit longer because they are not going to make that trip a day visit. That is where our return investment is going to come in handy -- that sales tax that we are going to see from those purchases."
Chairman Bill Pate said the investment made by the city and county promoting the last air show two years ago has more than repaid.
Commissioner Joe Gurley asked if there would be enough overflow traffic to affect the Kinston, Wilson, Smithfield and Selma areas.
"I am sure they benefit off of the air show," Mrs. Glatthar said. "That is one thing that I have not looked into, to maybe get their assistance."
It is not too late, Gurley said.
The problem is if the county goes to those areas, those areas will come back to Wayne County to ask for help when they have an event, Commissioner Wayne Aycock said.