The season of colorful leaves, cozy sweaters and pumpkin spice lattes is quickly giving way to the festive fun of the holidays. Let's take a look at what's happening at the PWCVB and with you, our partners.
PWCVB UPDATES
Thanks to everyone who attended the PWCVB Annual Meeting on Wednesday, November 15, at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick, as we applauded and honored an extraordinary group of hospitality heroes. Congratulations to all the winners!
The holiday season is almost upon us! We're getting a head start on our holiday blogs and would love to include your holiday deals and events. Please contact Marketing Manager Tara Rugg with information on any holiday strolls or markets, Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, visits with Santa or holiday catering specials.
The fall/winter edition of the GoProvidence Visitors Guide is now available in print and digital formats! If you’re looking for a box to display at your business, please contact Senior Community Affairs Coordinator Sandra Olson.
Save the dates for Providence's Three Nights of Lights, December 1–3. Sponsored by Dunkin', and benefiting Special Olympics RI, the citywide event will include tree lightings, performances, holiday markets, ice sculptures and a partial WaterFire. The city will be aglow with warm light and holiday cheer. Add your event to the Three Nights of Lights calendar here.
We've updated our list of 100 Ways to Buy Local RI with a great collection of ideas for you to support small businesses in Rhode Island this year. From shopping to dining to holiday fun, you'll want to add them all to your holiday bucket list.
Have you taken some great photos of new dishes, recent renovations, fun events or anything else that displays your business? Share them with us so we can showcase them on GoProvidence.com and our GoProvidence social media accounts. Head over to our photo uploader page and show us what you've got.
If you have any other Thanksgiving specials or holiday events planned, please let us know so we can share them. And as always, please make sure to add any events or promotions to our online calendar. If you have any questions or difficulties, please reach out to Senior Community Affairs Sandra Olson.
PARTNER NEWS
Although Halloween is over, Providence Ghost Tour runs nightly through the end of December. Prefer your history without the ghosts? Check out their Parasols & Pocket Watches experience. This 90-minute walking tour covers the history of Providence in general and Benefit Street in particular. Some of the GoProvidence team recently took the tour and had a blast.
Providence Performing Arts Center kicked off its 2023–2024 season with "Funny Girl" and has a great lineup to follow. "Moulin Rouge," "To Kill a Mockingbird" and Disney favorite "Frozen" are just a few of the Broadway shows scheduled to hit Providence this season.
With the holidays just around the corner, we can't forget to mention Ballet RI's annual production of "The Nutcracker." Always a family favorite, this year's show runs Dec. 15–24, and features Nutcracker and Mouse King characters designed by Big Nazo Lab.
Other holiday shows include Trinity Rep's "A Christmas Carol" and "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical" at PPAC. And don't forget the Holiday Lights Spectacular at Roger Williams Park Zoo & Carousel Village!
SALES & SERVICES SPOTLIGHT
The sales goal for fiscal year 2024 is aggressive and the sales team achieved 101% of the goal in the first quarter. We're off to a strong start! In addition, 2024 is coming together nicely. Sales pace is 24% ahead of the forecast and there are currently 24 citywide meetings, conventions and sporting events on the books for Providence. What does that mean? Well, our best year ever (2017) had 27 citywides, so we're racing back to pre-pandemic group business levels.
On Oct. 6, the Providence TID participating hotels launched the Pick Your Perk (PYP) sales initiative. This campaign, designed to drive weekday group business, consists of rich incentives to planners. For more details, visit Pick Your Perk.
Recently Kamila Bermudez, sales coordinator, was promoted to senior administrative coordinator in our finance and administration department. Due to her promotion, we have hired a new sales coordinator, Dasha Albee. Dasha can be reached at DAlbee@GoProvidence.com. In addition, the sales team is excited to announce the recent hire of Kate Heemsoth as sales manager. Kate will drive single-hotel sales and we could not have found a more perfect team member. Welcome Dasha and Kate!
IN THE NEWS
There's a lot of great news in the press about Providence and our destination in general. Check out some recent headlines below:
"The 21 Best U.S. Cities for Fall Travel" — Travel + Leisure
"Best Up-and-Coming City" — Hemispheres
"The Best Airports in the World: 2023 Readers' Choice Awards" — Condé Nast Traveller
