Enhancing global tourism appeal in Charlotte

With nearly 30 million annual visitors,¹ Charlotte, North Carolina, was already a major U.S. travel destination. But, as a data-driven organization, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) looked to secure more resources to measure international visitor trends as it worked to increase the city’s appeal as a global tourism destination.

Action

  • CRVA partnered with Visa Destination Insights to access relevant spend intelligence to help it better understand visitor behavior and spending habits, inform decision making, and enhance marketing ROI.
  • The partnership helped CRVA shift its approach from relying on anecdotal signals to utilizing timely, more granular insights to help it uncover seasonal travel patterns and unique growth opportunities.
  • Nearly one-third of all of Charlotte’s international travel comes from Canada. With insights drawn from aggregated Visa spend data on Canadian travelers in Charlotte, CRVA created tailored promotional campaigns based on their preferences and interests.

Status

From 2015 to 2019, Canadian visitors to Charlotte increased by 4.1% on an annual basis.²

  1. Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority.
  2. Visa Destination Insights. CRVA case study, 2022.