A boost for New York State tourism was launched today in downtown Albany.
"Don't we love New York? This is all an expression of loving our state. Whether or not you were born here. It's absolutely beautiful. And what's being done is all a result of our love for New York." Markly Wilson, Director of International Marketing for the New York State Division of Tourism, was one of many speakers at the Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center, talking up a new program designed to promote "heritage tourism" upstate.
The influence of Dutch culture remains ensconced here, especially in the city of Albany. CEO Jennifer Tosch says she founded the Amsterdam-based "Black Heritage Tours" to help interpret the history of enslaved peoples in the Netherlands, via cultural heritage immersion experiences, connecting transnational history between the Netherlands and New York State. In fact, she notes there is a rich Native American, African and Dutch heritage up and down the Hudson Valley. "We really spent a lot of time deciding where to start, because New Netherlands encompasses much more than just Albany County and the Hudson Valley. It goes all the way up to Connecticut and parts of Delaware and Long Island. But we thought this was a great place to begin because it is the state capital, and there's so many sights that are right here in the Albany area.”
The company says it offers tours of New York’s “hidden history” intended to inspire and educate, whether you’re a descendant, educator, student, local or international traveler. The venture is expected to create jobs and stimulate tourism in Albany and Dutchess Counties.
Mary Kay Virba is the president of Dutchess County Tourism: "Our visitors today want to know the real story, they want to know the real experience. And if we don’t have that to take to the marketplace, then we are really not doing a service to not only ourselves, but our visitors to this region and to the state."
Tosch says the tour crosses over five counties. The core product is three days, two nights with extensions available for people who want to spend more time in the state. "Some of the sites that we visit, I just want to name them. Steven and Harriet Myers residence, which is an official Underground Railroad site. There's another site that is the first African-American Methodist-Episcopalian Church, that is also part of the Underground Railroad history that we pass by. Crailo State Historic Site, Ten Broeck Mansion, Philipsburg Manor, the Dutch Reformed Churches..."
