Tagged: Tourism

A first ever collaborative effort is under way to jointly promote tourist attractions in the Berkshires and the greater  Springfield area in Massachusetts.

   A bus carrying two dozen people representing many of the top tourist attractions in western Massachusetts departed from the Big E fairgrounds in West Springfield Tuesday morning bound for Pennsylvania.  The group has meetings scheduled over the next three days with 17 tour operators to sell the region as an ideal destination for group bus trips.

A new initiative has been launched to bring more sporting events, and sports fans to western Massachusetts.

   A new division of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau- a sports commission- will focus on bringing events to locations throughout western Massachusetts. Visitors bureau president Mary Kay Wydra said they’ll bid for sporting events that have a high media profile, will fill hotel rooms, and have a significant economic impact.

  Two years after marriage equality arrived in the Empire State, New York State is poised to make a bid for gay vacationers, especially those seeking to hold weddings in the Hudson Valley.

The first-ever gay and lesbian tourism conference for New York State will take place at The Locust Grove estate in Poughkeepsie, NY on March 27. The conference will involve tourism groups from all over the state.

Joining us to tell us more are Rich Volo of the Hudson Pride Foundation, Michele Vennard, President and CEO of the Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Stephan Hengst Co-Founder of Big Gay Hudson Valley.

A new report prepared for the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing is showing  a resurgence in that sector with tourists visiting the state spending more.

The report shows that while the number of visitors to Vermont since 2009 increased 1-point-8 percent, visitor spending has jumped 19-point-4 percent.
Most of the increase in spending from the 14 million visitors to the state was for lodging and food.