AUBURN - Beauty of the area: four words Judy Randall, CEO of Randall Travel Marketing, believes Cayuga County needs to focus on to increase tourism.

Randall and Berkeley Young presented the results of the county's Randall Travel Marketing study Thursday morning at Auburn's Holiday Inn.

The study began in November 2006. The Cayuga County Office of Tourism hired the company to conduct a comprehensive marketing study for Cayuga County's tourism and travel industry.

“I'm very pleased with the report. We were told to focus on the beauty of the area. We need to do more of it,” said Meg Vanek, executive director of the tourism office.

For five months, the group conducted visitor interviews, researched and found the county's strengths and created ways to capitalize on them, Vanek said following the presentation.

One suggestion the firm gave during the presentation was promoting romantic weekend getaways, using the lakes as the backdrop.

“We need to focus on more upscale dining and restaurants,” Vanek said.

Randall also suggested focusing advertising on restaurants with unique features, Vanek said.

She also mentioned that the county needs to direct more information as to the location of shopping, more than just what is listed.

“Make the information more upfront and obtainable,” Vanek said.

In the executive report, Randall compliments the town of Aurora's development efforts and notes its concerns for the town of Fair Haven, addressing to executives the development potential that exists.

With every new idea, however, comes the need for funding.

A possible tourism budget increase is brewing in the Cayuga County Legislature, where officials may soon approve an increase in the occupancy tax for county hotels, motels and inns.

A majority of the tax is directed to the tourism office for promotion efforts. Many of the counties surrounding Cayuga County already have a 5 percent occupancy tax.

This year, the office estimates about $212,000 to be generated from the current 3 percent occupancy tax. Vanek and her office support Randall's idea to use the additional money generated from the increased tax to reach some of the goals suggested in the report.

“Our full intention is to take pieces of the plan and implement them,” Vanek said.

Vanek next plans to take some time to go through the recommendations, prioritize and then move forward.

“We may split the goals into a three-year plan as suggested,” Vanek said. “But I can only promote what's there, we need the whole community to buy into this.”

Randall's three-year plan includes first revamping marketing materials based on research including Web site, visitor guide and primary ads, according to the report. In the second year, the office can focus on outreach in the county including family events and two-to-three day romantic getaways. In the last years of promotion, Randall suggested targeting the New York City metro area and adding a sales position.

Staff writer Kristina Martino can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kristina.martino@lee.net