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Scenic Byways Marketing June 6, 2007 - The Adirondack North Country Association’s (ANCA’s) Advanced Marketing and Promotions Project for the Adirondack Trail and Olympic Scenic Byways is entering the final phase. Over the past eight months ANCA’s Scenic Byway Coordinator, Sharon O’Brien and project consultant Susan Fuller of Fuller Communications, have conducted a series of meetings with community leaders to design a marketing initiative that will meet the needs of today’s travelers while supporting the towns, villages and cities along the two touring routes. The 188-mile Adirondack Trail Scenic Byway runs north and south along routes 30/30A from Malone to Fonda through Franklin, Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery Counties. The 170-mile Olympic Byway extends east and west across Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, Franklin, Essex and Clinton Counties on routes 3, 86 and 9N. The 2007 Marketing and Promotions Project is significant as it provides specific strategies based on today’s market trends on how to improve visibility for communities and encourage tourists to choose the Adirondack Trail and Olympic Byways as desired destinations. During project development key target audiences were named with the "Baby Boomers" as the priority market. The interests of the "Boomer" travelers align directly with the byways’ offerings of beautiful scenery, natural environment, outdoor adventure, history and culture. The marketing project will promote the Adirondack Trail and Olympic Byways with the goal of increasing visitation across the region, the length of visitor stays, and the number of return visits. Community representatives from Lake Champlain to Lake Ontario, and from the Canadian border to the Mohawk Valley who had previously requested promotional assistance took part in a collaborative process to identify their marketing priorities. Tourism officials, Chambers of Commerce, community development offices, planners, NYS Department of Transportation, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Adirondack Park Agency, museums, towns and villages, historical societies and other organizations contributed to the discussions. They reviewed their tourism assets and participated in the creation of brand statements for both byways. The statements which ANCA will present to all byway community stakeholders express the compelling experiences that each byway offers visitors. Byway towns, city, villages, communities, businesses and attractions will be encouraged to use the brand statements to guide them in developing their future marketing efforts. Tourism is a major economic driver across the region. The 2006 Northern New York Travel and Tourism Research Center economic impact study estimates 1.69 billion dollars in tourism related expenditures in the region in 2006. ANCA’s Byway Marketing and Promotions Project will foster economic development by creating opportunities for lodging, restaurant and attraction owners, local producers of arts, crafts and foods, gas station proprietors and others. In order to tap the potential visitors who are interested in touring places for health, tranquility and relaxation, the creation of a state-of-the-art Internet presence was the number one priority sited to keep North Country communities competitive with other tourism destinations. According to a 2005 Travel Industry Association of America survey more than 78 percent of travelers said they use the Internet to plan their itineraries and book vacations. A key outcome of the Marketing Project will be the development of a website for the Adirondack Trail and Olympic Scenic Byways. The website will promote the trails to generate and sustain interest in the ten byway counties. It will showcase the region and feature the people, places and products to draw visitors into communities at no cost to the locales. A specific goal will be to encourage those touring the byways to get out of their cars to explore a variety of places. The project will complement existing promotional efforts at local Chambers of Commerce and tourism offices by reaching a wide audience of Internet users. Specific details on destinations, including an extensive range of activities for various ages and interests will be featured on the Internet site. The site will feature real people in real places with a focus on nature-based tourism, agritourism, in combination with cultural and heritage tourism. In addition to the website, a printed travel brochure/map specifically featuring all the offerings of the Adirondack Trail Scenic Byway is being developed. The map-brochure will achieve the strategic priorities identified by the ANCA marketing team, and cover the historic, cultural, natural, and recreational opportunities of the Adirondack Trail Scenic Byway identified in the Corridor Management Plan. The collaborative effort with frontline staff along the two routes has provided ANCA with valuable information on what is special and unique about each community that will be presented directly to the traveling public through this marketing initiative. Presently ANCA is accepting proposals for the design and development of the model website for the Adirondack Trail and the Olympic Scenic Byway and the Adirondack Trail map/brochure that will promote the Adirondack Trail to generate and sustain interest in the ten byway counties. For more information about this project or the organization please contact Sharon O’Brien at 518-891-6200 ext 15 or visit www.adirondack.org. The project was made possible with grant funding from the NYS Department of Transportation through the National Scenic Byway Program and the Transportation Equity Act of the 21st Century. The Adirondack North Country Association is committed to economically viable communities and an improved quality of life. ANCA is headquartered at 28 St. Bernard Street in Saranac Lake, NY. |
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