Inception

World travel writer Matt Barrett started this travel website around 2010. Matt transferred the site to New Bern Post publisher Randy Foster, who saw an opportunity to help his micro-local news website as well as others throughout North Carolina.

Now, North Carolina Travels partners with journalists across the state to provide insider travel guides, and at the same time kickstart revenue opportunities and provide ongoing revenue for existing news sites, startups, freelance journalists, and ad sales professionals.

How it works

A partner "rents" a city or region (such as the Triangle or the Triad areas) from the North Carolina Travels website, then provides non-commercial and sponsored travel articles about and for the section that they rent.

Those partners who are journalists can sell the advertising packages themselves or team up with an advertising sales professional. Those partners who are in ad sales can provide the content themselves or team up with freelance journalists.

Aside from a small rental fee, partners keep the majority of ad sales revenue they collect from their section.

Think of it as several mini-travel sites that are located under one roof. We use the analogy of an antique mall, and call the sections "stalls."

While North Carolina Travels is a 10-year-old news site, it is in a very real sense a startup itself, using a new business model and a different way to accumulate and display information. To get a sense of its potential, go to the New Bern section and browse, or just look at the Downtown section here.

For existing businesses, this provides access to new revenue streams. For startups and potential startups, it gets your foot in the door to local businesses in the travel and tourism industry to advertise on North Carolina Travels and, if they wish, your startup news site or publication.

As we grow, we plan to provide more services such as resources for startups and content sharing.

It all comes to our mission, which is to preserve and enhance local journalism throughout North Carolina with resources and revenue opportunities.