The Durham Sports Commission is officially established

The Durham Sports Commission has been officially established by the Durham City Council and the Durham Board of County Commissioners to recruit sporting events to Durham. It will be a new department within the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau, funded by the local hotel “bed tax,” and it will be under the direction of an appointed board. These are the newly appointed Durham Sports Commission members:City of Durham Appointees: Desmond Scott – Owner, Prime Athletic Training and Fitness Institute, Dan Hill – Founder of Hill Chesson & Woody benefits consulting firm, Omar Beasley – owner MC Bail Bonding. Durham County Appointees: Ingrid Wicker-McCree – Athletic Director of NCCU, Tommy Hunt – retired, Atlantic Coast Conference, Dwight Perry – Ophthalmologist/Partner at NC Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat. Durham Chamber Appointees:George Habel – Durham Bulls Baseball Club, Chris Kennedy – Senior Deputy Director, Duke Athletics, Terrence Holt – Holt Brothers Construction LLC.

Visitor spending up 8.5 percent since 2012

More than nine million people visited Durham over the last year, spending approximately $831 million in the area, generating about $47 million in tax revenue for local government, according to the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau’s annual report. Of those visitors, approximately 5.4 million visited Durham for day leisure, 2.6 million for day business, 1 million for overnight leisure and 300,000 for overnight business.

Durham had record tourism and visitor spending numbers for 2014

The city of Durham has reported record tourism and visitor spending numbers for 2014. In 2014, Durham hosted 9.31 million visitors who spent a total of $830.8 million – an average of about $2.3 million per day. The bulk of the visitors, 92 percent, were domestic. The total spending represents an 8.5 percent increase over 2012’s total. The Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau released the figures. The report tracks data every two years.

DCVB to host PR seminars

The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau will hold two hour-long PR seminars on Thursday, July 30 at the Visitor Information Center, 101 E. Morgan St. Social Media Marketing.

DCVB Honored With ConventionSouth’s Prestigious Annual Readers’ Choice Award

The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau has been honored with ConventionSouth's prestigious Annual Readers' Choice Award.

The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau Receives MarCom Awards

The Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau received two 2012 MarCom Creative Awards along with three honorable mentions. They received a Platinum award for the 2010-2011 Annual Report and a Gold award for their Mini-Meeting Planners Guide.The MarCom Creative Awards is an international awards competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communications practitioners. Entries were judged by industry professionals who looked for companies and individuals whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.

Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce Honors Businesses, Organizations for Excellence

The Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce honored the following organizations during their annual Business Excellence Awards dinner:

The Durham Literacy Center, Urban Ministries of Durham, Park West Barber School, Southern Energy Management and the Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club received Business Excellence Awards.

Time Warner Cable Business Class's Justin Lyle-Purdy received the Connector of the Year Award; The King’s Daughters Inn was presented the Sustainability Award for its triple-bottom line sustainable efforts; The first-ever Entrepreneur of the Year Award was presented to Thundershirt Company; IBM and its employees were honored with the Duke Energy Citizenship & Service Award for their volunteerism in the Durham community.

Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility were presented to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, American Journal Experts, LLC, Deloitte, the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau, Hill, Chesson & Woody Employee Benefits Services, ICF International, McKinney, Rho, Inc., Shodor Education Foundation and the U.S. EPA – RTP Campus.

Rotary Club Recognizes Outstanding Rotarians of the Year

The Rotary Club of Durham recognized two individuals as Outstanding Rotarians of the Year: Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau President & CEO, Shelly Green for her leadership of the club's involvement with the healthy nutrition program during Fall, 2010 at YE Smith Elementary School and a Group Study Exchange with Belgium in April and Malcolm White for his role as chair of the Million Meals food packaging project.

MPI Supplier of the Year Awarded to Corey Bizzell

Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau's Director of Sales, Corey Bizzell, has been named Meeting Professionals International Carolina Chapter's 2011 Supplier of the Year. Honorees are selected for the prestigious award based on MPI-CC service including International and Chapter participation, industry contributions and community service, and professional/career advancement.