city of durham convention and visitors bureau

What city of durham convention and visitors bureau does

The City of Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau, operating under the consumer brand "Discover Durham," is the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Durham, North Carolina. Founded in 1990 and governed by the Durham Tourism Development Authority, it functions as a non-profit entity providing free visitor services including digital tools, curated editorial content, event calendars, and a physical Visitor Info Center in the Trust Building at 212 W Main St. Its core products include the discoverdurham.com website (built on Experience Builder technology), a mobile application available on iOS and Android, printed Durham Visitor Guides, eight-plus district/neighborhood guides, themed travel itineraries, and dedicated meeting, group, and event planning services supported by a sales team handling RFPs and venue comparisons.

The organization's business model is funded through hotel occupancy tax revenues administered by the Durham Tourism Development Authority, classified as a recurring-revenue stream rather than visitor-facing fees. Discover Durham serves four primary customer segments: leisure visitors and tourists, meeting and event planners, sports fans and athletic event attendees, and relocation seekers. It also administers two sub-brands—Durham Sports Commission (sports tourism) and Durham Next (community/economic development)—under the same organizational umbrella, expanding its scope beyond traditional DMO functions.

Distribution operates through a hybrid of self-serve digital channels (website and mobile app, globally accessible), a direct sales team for enterprise meeting planners (phone, email, in-person), a physical Visitor Info Center in downtown Durham, and printed guide distribution through partner hotels. Marketing channels include content marketing, email newsletters, social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), staff-authored blog editorial, and earned media placements such as The New York Times. The organization has achieved Destination Marketing Accreditation Program distinction from Destinations International.

Name

city of durham convention and visitors bureau

Legal name

Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau

Website

https://durham-nc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The City of Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau ("Discover Durham") is the official non-profit destination marketing organization for Durham, NC, funded by hotel occupancy taxes. It provides free visitor services—including a website, mobile app, curated itineraries, and a physical Visitor Info Center—to leisure tourists, meeting planners, and sports travelers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing and Tourism Promotion Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Recreation & Activity Services (Hiking, Boating, Climbing, Fishing—Guided/Authorized) (THAAAGAF)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Visitor information services
• Convention sales
• Meeting planning services
• Tourism promotion

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tourism Promotion Funded by Hotel Occupancy Tax: Discover Durham is funded by the Durham Tourism Development Authority through hotel occupancy tax revenues. As a destination marketing organization (DMO), it operates as a non-profit entity providing free visitor services and does not charge visitors directly for information, itineraries, or planning resources.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Discover Durham is the official destination marketing organization for Durham, NC, providing free tourism information, curated visitor guides, district guides, event listings, and travel itineraries to leisure visitors through its website and mobile app, alongside a dedicated Sales and Partnerships Team that supports meeting and event planners with venue selection, RFP handling, and hotel/venue connections for conventions and group business. The bureau also operates a physical Visitor Info Center in downtown Durham and curates community content promoting more than 200 Black-owned businesses and diverse cultural experiences.

Product overview

Discover Durham operates as the official tourism marketing and sales agency for Durham, NC, offering a unified digital platform that combines a mobile application, comprehensive visitor guides, and an extensive content website. The product portfolio centers on the Discover Durham Mobile App (available on iOS and Android), the Durham Visitor Guide, District Guides covering multiple neighborhoods, an Event Calendar with submission capabilities, Meeting and Events Planning Services for group bookings, and curated Travel Itineraries for various traveler segments. These offerings work together to provide destination marketing, event discovery, trip planning, and venue booking services for leisure visitors, business travelers, and event planners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Durham Sports Commission: Sports-focused division promoting Durham as a sports tourism destination
• Durham Next

Products and services

• Discover Durham Mobile App A mobile application available on iOS and Android that provides visitors with comprehensive Durham travel information, maps, guides, and event listings directly from their mobile devices.
• Durham Visitor Guide A comprehensive printed and digital travel guide covering Durham's attractions, dining, hotels, events, and cultural experiences for visitors.
• District Guides Detailed guides for various Durham neighborhoods and districts including Downtown Durham, Hayti/West End/East Durham, NCCU & Fayetteville Street, Southpoint & Research Triangle Park, 15-501 Corridor, Rockwood & Lakewood Districts, North Durham, and Ninth Street & Duke University.
• Event Listings and Calendar Comprehensive event discovery platform featuring annual events, weekly events, and event submission capabilities for visitors to find and plan activities in Durham.
• Meeting, Groups & Events Planning Services Professional event planning services for conferences, retreats, and celebrations including venue connections, venue comparison tools, RFP submission, and sales team support for meeting and event planners.
• Travel Itineraries Curated trip planning resources including retail therapy itineraries, history itineraries, family-friendly itineraries, rainy day activities, outdoor adventure guides, and sports fan guides.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 Black-owned businesses featured in the Discover Durham directory, supporting inclusive tourism promotion.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

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

• Durham Tourism Development AuthoritycoreOthersThe Durham Tourism Development Authority is the governing body of Discover Durham, providing oversight and hotel occupancy tax-based funding. Discover Durham's social media policy notes that posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions and positions of the Durham Tourism Development Authority.
• Durham Sports CommissioncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerDiscover Durham, the Durham Sports Commission, and Durham Next share social media accounts for the purpose of marketing Durham as a destination, promoting Durham features, properties, and events, and engaging fans. The Durham Sports Commission focuses on sports-related tourism promotion.
• Durham NextmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerDurham Next is a community nonprofit building a prosperous Durham for everyone by actively pursuing transformative projects, programs, and community-based opportunities that attract visitors and newcomers and build a thriving environment for residents. They share social media accounts with Discover Durham and the Durham Sports Commission.
• Durham Arts CouncilmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDiscover Durham partners with the Durham Arts Council to promote arts and cultural attractions in Durham, including the Carolina Theatre, DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center), and visual arts venues.
• Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDPAC is consistently ranked among the top venues in the country and anchors the American Tobacco Campus entertainment district. Discover Durham actively promotes DPAC as a major draw for overnight visitors, featuring Broadway blockbusters, concerts, comedy, and thought-provoking speaker events that drive hotel demand.
• Local Hotels and AccommodationscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDiscover Durham partners with Durham hotels and inns by featuring them in its Places to Stay directory, providing distribution and booking referral. In return, hotels serve as distribution points for printed visitor guides.
• Duke Arts PresentsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDuke Arts Presents curates free concerts and events on the American Tobacco Campus lawn during summer months, which Discover Durham promotes to visitors as part of its event programming coverage.
• Nasher Museum of Art at Duke UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerParker & Otis, a Discover Durham-featured gift shop and café at the American Tobacco Campus, was selected by the Nasher Museum to operate its official gift shop, extending the visitor experience from museum to retail.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Simpleview: CRM, CMS, and digital platform vendor purpose-built for DMOs—Powers Discover Durham's Experience Builder site and is the dominant enabling-technology peer across the DMO industry.

Direct peers

• Visit Asheville (Convention & Visitors Bureau): Asheville CVB specifically focused on convention sales—Mirrors Discover Durham's National Sales Manager/Group Sales function and provides a near-perfect analog for meetings-driven DMO operations in a similar-sized NC market.
• Explore Asheville: Asheville's destination marketing organization—A mid-sized North Carolina DMO with comparable mission, hotel-tax funding model, and curated content/email/app playbook targeting leisure and meeting visitors.
• Visit Charlotte: Charlotte's official DMO—A larger Southeast city bureau operating the same hybrid leisure/meetings sales model with hotel-tax funding, comparable institutional partnerships (NFL/NBA teams), and similar destination-marketing-accreditation status.
• Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance: Sports-focused tourism sub-entity in Raleigh—Mirrors the Durham Sports Commission's role inside Discover Durham's brand portfolio and provides a direct comp for sports-tourism sub-brand operations.
• Visit Raleigh: Convention and visitors bureau for Raleigh, NC—Direct comp within the same state DMO ecosystem, with comparable scope (single-city leisure + meetings + sports marketing) and overlapping Research Triangle demand pool.

Broad incumbents

• Visit Denver: Denver's DMO—A larger quasi-governmental tourism organization with the same leisure + convention + sports marketing mix and hotel-tax funding base, offering a scaling benchmark.
• Visit North Carolina: The state-level DMO that Discover Durham sits underneath in the destination-marketing hierarchy. Operates the same tourism-promotion mission at a statewide scale and is a natural upstream partner and comparable for funding/marketing benchmarks.
• Destination DC: Washington, DC's official destination marketing organization—A larger, more established DMO that operates a hybrid consumer-content and convention-sales model very similar to Discover Durham's structure, useful as a benchmark for organizational scaling.
• Visit Seattle: Seattle's DMO—A similarly structured destination marketing organization combining consumer content, meeting/convention sales, and sports tourism under one branded platform with hotel-tax funding.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DurhamNC
• YouTubeyoutube.com/discoverdurham
• Facebookfacebook.com/discoverdurham
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/discover-durham
• Instagraminstagram.com/discoverdurham

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 →

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