Outer Banks Restaurant Association Taste of the Beach 2008
Published October 29, 2007 by adminPlans are under way for the 2008 Taste of the Beach. If you are an Outer Banks local who has enjoyed this event in the past and look forward to it every year then you’d better pay attention:
The 2008 event will be a 4-day event held on March 6-9, 2008 and if the Outer Banks Tourism Board gets their way, 1/3 of the tickets will be held back from local participation with the hopes of attracting more out of town participants. Only 2/3 of the tickets will be available for purchase by local residents.
Dan Shields, a member of the Tourism Boards grant committee feels, “the (restaurant) association should reserve a third of the tickets for out of town residents for a set period of time. Otherwise, locals would purchase the tickets, leaving none for the group targeted by the grant-funded advertising.”
I guess if there aren’t enough out of town tickets purchased, then our local money will be good enough to help fill in the void.
A $15,000 grant from the Dare County Tourism Board will be used toward out of area advertising. Is the Tourism Board allowed to spend money on projects that exclude a group of people?
Once again, local residents are being treated like we don’t matter. There was a time when being local meant something but those good old days are going away. The fact that we help the restaurants survive during the long cold winters is being overlooked as is our free word of mouth advertising to curious visitors eager for the inside local advice on where to go and what to do.
Does the Outer Banks Restaurant Association think this $15,000 grant is worth losing local support?
I have been boycotting the chain restaurants in support of the local independent restaurants but now I am beginning to wonder why.
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