OUTER BANKS OF NORTH CAROLINA 2009 TASTE OF THE BEACH

Outer Banks, NC (February 10, 2009) – The Outer Banks 2009 Taste of The Beach Weekend is right around the corner, March 5-8, 2009.  The Outer Banks Restaurant Association (OBRA) has been hosting the Taste of The Beach for over 20 years, and now for a second year, has expanded its signature showcase event into a four day weekend affair for 2009.  The event will feature wine tastings, cooking classes, special menu presentations, tapas crawls, brewery tours and an exciting array of creative combinations of culinary delights and fun activities on the Outer Banks, culminating with the Taste of The Beach Expo on Sunday, March 8^th at the Hilton Garden Inn located in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

“Capitalizing on the honor of being named one of the Top Ten Seafood and Wine Festivals in the nation by Coastal Living magazine in 2008," notes OBRA President, Ben Sproul, “the Association is aggressively promoting the 2009 Outer Banks Taste of The Beach Weekend outside of Dare County, as well as locally, to bring media and visitors to The Outer Banks for this extraordinary opportunity."

The 2009 Taste of The Beach Weekend allows visiting and local foodies a chance to create a personalized itinerary of diverse culinary experiences and fun activities. A robust marketing campaign – featuring Internet, print, radio and TV advertising - will lead a targeted audience to the new OBRA website, www.obxtasteofthebeach.com, where they will be able to browse and then choose from a wide array of activities over the four day weekend. In addition to seeing what events are taking place, they will be able to purchase their tickets online.

The Outer Banks has over 170 area restaurants that are rich in diversity and quality, and depending upon one's culinary mood, diners can treat themselves to everything from the excellent local seafood to Italian, Mexican, Southwestern, French and more.  Several members of the Outer Banks Hotel Motel Association & the Outer Banks Association of Realtors are offering special Taste of The Beach weekend rates and packages over the long event weekend March 5-8, 2009.  Their offers are also featured on the website.

The OBRA received a Tourism Assistance Grant (TAG) from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau to help promote the event. “The Association is extremely pleased with the approval of our TAG grant from the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau, and we are excited about the improvements we have been able to execute for our second year of an extraordinary weekend-long annual program that is quickly becoming a highlight of the Outer Banks calendar every year,” said Ben Sproul, president of the Outer Banks Restaurant Association.

Media:

For more information on the 2009 Taste of The Beach visit www.obxtasteofthebeach.com or contact Quinn Capps, with Capps Webster Marketing & Design at 252.480.3337 or via email at quinncapps@earthlink.net.  For information on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, contact Aaron Tuell, Director of Public Relations, Outer Banks Visitors Bureau toll free at 877.629.4386 or tuell@outerbanks.org.

###