About the Visitors Bureau

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau office is open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Our Visitors Center is open during the same hours and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (but closed on major holidays). The address is 501 West Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill. (See bottom of page for staff contact information.)

The Visitors Bureau is a department of Orange County Government under the Orange County Economic Development Commission (EDC) and has a 12-member board of directors.

Mission and Purposes

The mission of the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau is to develop and coordinate visitor services in Orange County and to implement marketing programs that will enhance the economic activity and quality of life in the community.

The purposes for which the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau was formed are:

  • To position Orange County as a desirable meeting or vacation destination to select visitor markets, with careful consideration of the needs and assets of the communities that comprise Orange County.
  • To work in cooperation with community organizations to achieve an effective, coordinated and comprehensive marketing program with high-quality collateral materials, programs and services.
  • To serve as a countywide leader in developing strategies for consistently providing quality visitor services to the travelers who visit Orange County.
  • To encourage longer stays, increased spending and repeat visits of travelers to Orange County.
  • To examine the range of visitor services available, to identify unmet needs and to encourage private businesses to meet those needs, as appropriate.
  • To operate in a manner that contributes to the economic development and quality of life that comprise Orange County.

Funding

No property taxes are used to fund the Visitors Bureau.

The Visitors Bureau is funded by occupancy taxes collected from guests of county accommodations. Orange County collects a 3% occupancy tax (effective July 1, 2008) from all guests, which the Board of Commissioners has dedicated to the operation of the Visitors Bureau. The Town of Chapel Hill levies an occupancy tax of 6% (which includes the county’s 3%) and allocates a portion of these receipts to the operations of the Visitors Bureau.

The bureau’s current budget (2006-2007) is $750,000.

Administrative Staff

Laurie Paolicelli, Executive Director
Linda Ekeland, Director of Sales
Patty Griffin, Communications Director
Dale Chodorow, Publications Coordinator
Tina Fuller, Administrative Assistant
Susan Rice, Visitors Center Coordinator

Our Affiliations

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau is a member of the following regional, state, national and international tourism- and business-development associations:

Destination Marketing Association of North Carolina
(formerly the North Carolina Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus)

Destination Marketing Association
(formerly the International Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus)

Travel Industry Association of America

Annual Reports

Annual Report 2005-2006
Annual Report 2006-2007

Tourism Metrics

PowerPoint Slide Presentation

Welcome to Chapel Hill Slide Show

Welcome to Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau

501 West Franklin Street – Chapel Hill, NC (USA) 27516
Toll-free (888) 968-2060 – Phone (919) 968-2060 – Fax (919) 968-2062
Website: visitchapelhill.org
Email: info@visitchapelhill.org


Did You Know?

The Visitors Bureau was founded in 1992 with a staff of one (only an executive director). Today, the organization has a full-time staff of six tourism professionals.