EVENTS COME

What EVENTS COME does

EVENTS COME, doing business as Come See Wilson, is the operating brand of the Wilson County Tourism Development Authority (WCTDA), a local government tourism promotion authority headquartered at 228 Goldsboro Street in Wilson, North Carolina. The organization is responsible for marketing Wilson County as a visitor destination, promoting local attractions, events, and dining, and administering grant funding to stimulate tourism. It is funded entirely by the North Carolina hotelier tax, collecting over $1.25 million annually that it reinvests into marketing programs, sports tourism funding, and grants to local events, museums, and businesses.

The organization operates a digital tourism platform consisting of three primary components: the comeseewilson.com website with an integrated events calendar and attractions directory, the Visit Wilson NC mobile application available on iOS and Android that enables trip planning, custom itinerary creation, and social sharing of plans, and a digital/print Visitor's Guide published as a downloadable PDF. It also maintains a multi-channel presence across Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, distributes visitor guides, and operates a Visitor's Center. The marketing content is produced by a small in-house team covering event coordination, social media, photography, and videography.

The business model is a non-commercial, tax-funded public sector model rather than a venture or private equity profile. WCTDA has no pricing, no customer transactions, no investor base, and no fundraising activity; all revenue is derived from the NC hotelier tax. Its 'customers' are tourists and visitors seeking information about Wilson attractions and events, and its 'partners' are local government entities, arts organizations, chambers of commerce, sports complexes, and museums that receive promotional support and grant funding. Operations are governed by a Board of Directors with City and County representatives, and the staff is led by an Executive Director overseeing a small team of marketing, content, and information specialists.

Name

EVENTS COME

Legal name

Wilson County Tourism Development Authority

Website

https://comeseewilson.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

EVENTS COME (Come See Wilson) is the Wilson County Tourism Development Authority, a non-profit government body that promotes tourism in Wilson, NC via events calendars, a mobile app, visitor guides, and grant programs, funded entirely by North Carolina hotelier tax.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing and Tourism Promotion Services

NAICS

All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries (713990), Promoters of Performing Arts, Sports, and Similar Events (7113), Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900), Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Permitting, Reservations & Visitor Information Services (Passes, Booking, Visitor Centers) (THAAAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Sports & Recreation Festivals (Fun Runs, Local Games Days) (MPAGAEAN), Cultural & Community Festivals (Ticketed) (THAJAFAI), Travel & Adventure Shows (MPAGAFAD)

Keywords

• Destination marketing services
• Visitor guide content
• Events calendar platform
• Tourism promotion authority
• Travel trip planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Wilson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Hotelier Tax Collection: The Wilson County Tourism Development Authority is funded completely by the NC hotelier tax. They collect over $1.25 million annually and use revenue to encourage people to visit Wilson, fund sports tourism, and give grants to events, museums, and local businesses.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

EVENTS COME (Come See Wilson) operates as the Wilson County Tourism Development Authority, promoting visitation to Wilson, North Carolina through a mobile app (Visit Wilson NC), a categorized events calendar, digital and print visitor guides, and an attractions directory. The authority funds sports tourism and distributes grants to local events, museums, and businesses to stimulate tourism, with all activities funded by NC hotelier tax revenue exceeding $1.25 million annually.

Product overview

EVENTS COME (Come See Wilson) operates as a tourism marketing platform for Wilson County, North Carolina, managed by the Wilson County Tourism Development Authority. The platform consists of a mobile application (Visit Wilson, NC), a comprehensive events calendar, digital visitor guides, and an attractions directory. These components work together to promote local tourism by helping visitors discover events, plan itineraries, and explore the city's attractions and dining options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Visit Wilson NC Mobile App Mobile application for iOS and Android that helps visitors plan trips and explore attractions, events, and activities in Wilson, North Carolina. Users can create custom itineraries, share plans with friends, and stay updated on local happenings.
• Come See Wilson Events Calendar A comprehensive events calendar accessible online, featuring categorized local events including sports, music, art, kids activities, fairs and festivals, gardening, shopping, eat and drink, and more across Wilson County.
• Wilson County Visitor Guide A visitor guide available as a downloadable PDF and in print, providing information on attractions, dining options, and local experiences in Wilson, North Carolina.
• Wilson Attractions Directory An online directory showcasing local attractions including Whirligig Park, Wilson Rose Garden, Gillette Complex, Lake Wilson, Imagination Station, and numerous other recreational and cultural venues in Wilson, NC.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $1.25 million annually in hotelier tax revenue reinvested into tourism promotion

Named customers4 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• City of WilsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner providing city services and support for tourism initiatives in Wilson, NC.
• Wilson CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCounty government partner supporting tourism development efforts.
• Historic Downtown WilsoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain street organization promoting historic downtown commerce and tourism.
• Wilson ArtscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArts organization operating Wilson Arts Center and promoting cultural tourism.
• Wilson Chamber of CommercemajorGTM or Marketing PartnerBusiness organization supporting local commerce and tourism promotion.
• Economic DevelopmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWilson Economic Development entity supporting business and tourism growth.
• Whirligig Park & MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor attraction featuring folk artist Vollis Simpson's wind-powered sculptures, central to Wilson tourism.
• NC Whirligig FestivalmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerAnnual festival celebrating Wilson's iconic whirligig sculptures and folk art heritage.
• Wilson Parks & RecreationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCity department maintaining parks and recreational facilities for visitors.
• Imagination StationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScience and history museum providing educational tourism experiences.
• Wilson City Little LeagueminorGTM or Marketing PartnerYouth baseball organization hosting tournaments at Gillette Complex.

Scale indicators2 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Destination DC: Long-established Washington DC destination marketing organization operating an official visitor website, event calendar, and mobile trip-planning app. A scaled exemplar of the same DMO model Wilson County TDA executes at a city/county level.
• Visit North Carolina (Visit NC): State-level DMO promoting North Carolina tourism through a unified events calendar, visitor guides, and destination app — directly comparable content/distribution model to Come See Wilson, but at statewide scale.
• Brand USA: National destination marketing organization for the United States. Operates visitor guides, event listings, and a discovery app — the same owned-channel digital strategy deployed by Come See Wilson at the national level.
• Visit Orlando: Major destination marketing organization operating an event calendar, visitor guide, and visitor app for Orlando. Same destination-marketing operating model as Come See Wilson but at materially larger scale and budget.

Direct peers

• Visit Raleigh (Greater Raleigh CVB): DMO for Wake County/Raleigh, NC operating visitor guides, events calendar, and destination app. Comparable NC-based tourism authority promoting urban/county attractions, dining, and events to drive overnight visitation.
• Visit Asheville (Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau): County/regional destination marketing organization (DMO) for Asheville, NC. Operates an official visitor website, visitor center, events calendar, and visitor guide to promote tourism — the same model Come See Wilson uses for Wilson County, NC.
• Visit Charlotte (Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority): Destination marketing authority for the Charlotte region running visitor center, event listings, sports tourism grants, and digital visitor guides. Closely mirrors Wilson County TDA's grant-funded sports tourism strategy and event calendar model.
• Visit Greenville NC: Neighboring NC DMO for Pitt County/Greenville, NC promoting local attractions, events, and dining. Comparable small-market Eastern NC destination marketing organization with overlapping competitive geography to Wilson County.

Others

• Visit Widget (mobile app platform for DMOs): White-label mobile app platform used by tourism authorities to launch trip-planning apps — comparable to the Visit Wilson NC app operated by the Wilson County TDA.
• Simpleview CRM/DMO platform: Leading CRM and CMS platform provider built specifically for destination marketing organizations. Many small DMOs like the Wilson County TDA rely on Simpleview-style technology stacks to power their event calendars, visitor guides, and mobile apps.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xinstagram.com/wilson_tda
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@wilsoncountytda?si=ZVtVkugOM-0jePN5
• Facebookfacebook.com/WilsonCountyTDA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about EVENTS COME