2003-2004
Frequently Asked Questions

How is DCVB funded? Do local property taxes support these efforts?
What exactly does DCVB do?
Why is this important to Durham?
Is DCVB part of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce? Don’t
both organizations do almost the same thing?
Why do travelers visit Durham?
But does Durham really have enough to offer visitors?

Q: How is DCVB funded? Do local property taxes support these efforts?
A: In the early 1980s, visitor officials worked with the General Assembly to pioneer a local option tax to self-fund visitor promotion and marketing and relieve the general funds of local government of that responsibility. By the end of the 1980s, Durham had formed DCVB and used a portion of the “room occupancy” tax paid by overnight visitors to fund it as a provision to authority from the General Assembly to levy this tax.

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Q: What exactly does DCVB do?
A: DCVB engages in activities that both attract and serve visitors to Durham. This fuels the local business climate and helps broaden the local tax base.

DCVB implements about 275 programs or strategies each year that will:

• generate positive awareness of Durham as a destination for pleasure and business visitors;
• stimulate interest and desire in groups and individuals to visit Durham; and,
• increase the length-of-stay of visitors to Durham.

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Q: Why is this important to Durham?
A: When visitors come to Durham, they bring “new money” into the economy. They spend millions of dollars on visitor products, including dining, lodging, entertainment, features, transportation, and retail. This spending provides income for local businesses (assuring that these businesses stay viable and available for our own use), jobs for local residents, and tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments. More than 5 million visitors spent $444 million in Durham in 2003, including $147 million in federal, state, and local taxes. Without these visitor-generated taxes, residents would likely pay higher property taxes in order to sustain the current quality of life and level of government services that Durham enjoys.

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Q: Is DCVB Part of the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce? Don’t both organizations do almost the same thing?
A: DCVB and the Chamber are strategic partners but very different and distinct organizations. DCVB is a local tourism development authority, chartered as a provision to state legislation granting Durham authority to levy a special local option "room occupancy and tourism development tax." This tax was pioneered by visitor officials to self-fund visitor promotion and relieve local government of that responsibility.

The Bureau’s sole focus is to birth the Durham, N.C. “brand” and weave it into promotion and marketing of Durham to draw visitors and optimize visitor spending. Visitor-related economic development fuels both the local business climate and the Durham tax base.

The Chamber of Commerce is a private, membership advocacy group for the general needs of the local business community. It is funded by memberships, special projects, and a contract with the County to conduct traditional economic development by attracting expanding and relocating businesses.

Sometimes in very small communities, a CVB gets its start within a Chamber and then evolves to a separate organization.

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Q: Why do travelers visit Durham?
A: For many reasons:

• Over 75% are drawn to Durham for leisure purposes compared to 25% for business, including conventions.
• Some are here to attend a conference or meeting. Durham has more than 7,000 guest rooms and 300,000 square feet of meeting space—enough to host nearly 85% of all meetings held in the U.S.
• Many are here for festivals, historic sites, performing arts and entertainment, museums, gardens, spectator sports, golf, state parks and recreation, and of course, nationally acclaimed dining and shopping.
• Some are here to do business at the universities, Research Triangle Park, or with other large corporations and small businesses based in Durham.
• Some are here on personal business, such as healthcare, weddings, and funerals or to visit friends and relatives.

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Q: But does Durham really have enough to offer visitors?
A: For 80% of people who travel to Durham, this is the primarily destination. Durham has much more to offer than other, similarly sized cities and many of its visitor features are acclaimed nationally or throughout the Southeast.

Durham is what is known as a cultural or heritage destination, and as many people are drawn to this type of destination as they are to theme parks, beaches, or mountains. Cultural tourism focuses on cuisine, festivals, performing and visual arts, history, sports etc.

Increasingly, travelers are taking shorter trips called getaways or extending business and convention trips for pleasure. Durham’s location is also convenient—equal distance from all parts of the State and within a day’s drive or an hour’s flight for more than half the nation’s population.

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