AUBURN - Lakes and wineries, bed and breakfasts and quaint inns, specialty shops and historical attractions make the Finger Lakes region a unique place for tourists.
Jennifer Meyers / The Citizen
Amber Colvin, of the Holiday Inn, gives input during the Cayuga County Office of Tourism's “Teacups & Treasures: Authentic American Art & Culture in the Finger Lakes” workshop at Willard Memorial Chapel Tuesday afternoon.
Amber Colvin, of the Holiday Inn, gives input during the Cayuga County Office of Tourism's “Teacups & Treasures: Authentic American Art & Culture in the Finger Lakes” workshop at Willard Memorial Chapel Tuesday afternoon.
Through a state grant program called the Explore New York, Cayuga County, along with Steuben and Ontario counties, will be expanding the possibilities for both tourists and businesses.
Meg Vanek, executive director for the Cayuga County Office of Tourism, said that the $15,000 grant was a matching grant requiring each of the three counties to provide $5,000 a piece for a total of $30,000.
The theme collectively chosen by the three counties, “Teacups & Treasures: Authentic American Art & Culture in the Finger Lakes,” will tap into some of the attractions that are unique to this region.
“All three counties have art and cultural attractions that are superior,” Vanek said. “From national research it has also been found that the art traveler will spend more in the areas they are visiting, so we decided this would be a good theme to focus in on.”
The overall theme comprises three distinct but intertwined aspects of Finger Lakes tourism opportunities - teacups, front porches and glass.
“The teacups are for places like say MacKenzie-Childs,” Vanek said, “and antique shops and places that sell collectable teacups and things like that.
“Porches (are for) bed and breakfasts or South Street where we could do a walking tour here in Auburn or the Fly By Night Cookie Company in Fair Haven - places you can sit and enjoy the porches and have a scenic view or you can sit and enjoy a cup of tea, this is a real Americana thing.
“And the glass is for Tiffany glass in particular like at Willard Memorial Chapel or West Minster Presbyterian Church or Wells College that also has some beautiful glass.”
All of these themes intertwine to help visitors find places to stay, eat and visit. These kinds of packages are becoming increasingly popular within the tourism industry.
Tuesday afternoon at Willard Memorial Chapel, representatives from area hotels, B&Bs, eateries and shops, gathered for a presentation by Terry Lewis of T. L. Lewis Inc., a company that specializes in packaging components for tourists, to get ideas of what businesses could do to take advantage of the Explore New York grant.
“The market base is changing,” Lewis said. “When we started doing these kinds of packages in the early 2000s it was mainly senior citizens, now it is driven by younger folks that want to travel and have the money to travel as well as group tours and leisure travel. These are people that want to get on the computer and have the convenience of one credit card swipe that takes care of everything.”
Through the proposed package system, prospective visitors would be able to visit the exploreNYArts.com Web site and see options for places to stay, places to eat and attractions to visit, which they would be able to book through the Web site, with Lewis' company handling all the leg work.
“We check availability,” Lewis said. “Our software takes care of all of that, checks reservations and everything.
“We make sure they get their vouchers to eat or tickets for attractions or whatever may be in the package and they only have to deal with one person. This has worked out exceptionally well.”
Lewis also said that other things like gift baskets with items only available in the Finger Lakes, with maps and suggestions of other places to visit also help to make a better visit for guests.
For area businesses like Bet The Farm in Aurora, this could create greater opportunities for reaching a larger customer base.
“This will help improve marketing,” shop owner Nancy Tisch said. “I think this is really a great opportunity.”
Even for places with a nationally known name, like the Holiday Inn, this holds many possibilities.
“I think this will be a definite benefit,” Holiday Inn marketing director Anna Hlywa said. “We are always looking for better ways to package, and I think this is a great way to show what is available in this community.”
Lewis said that he would begin collecting information from local businesses and planned to have something available by the beginning of September.
For more information
Visit ExploreNYArt.com or the Cayuga County Office of Tourism Web site, www.tourcayuga.com
Meg Vanek, executive director for the Cayuga County Office of Tourism, said that the $15,000 grant was a matching grant requiring each of the three counties to provide $5,000 a piece for a total of $30,000.
The theme collectively chosen by the three counties, “Teacups & Treasures: Authentic American Art & Culture in the Finger Lakes,” will tap into some of the attractions that are unique to this region.
“All three counties have art and cultural attractions that are superior,” Vanek said. “From national research it has also been found that the art traveler will spend more in the areas they are visiting, so we decided this would be a good theme to focus in on.”
The overall theme comprises three distinct but intertwined aspects of Finger Lakes tourism opportunities - teacups, front porches and glass.
“The teacups are for places like say MacKenzie-Childs,” Vanek said, “and antique shops and places that sell collectable teacups and things like that.
“Porches (are for) bed and breakfasts or South Street where we could do a walking tour here in Auburn or the Fly By Night Cookie Company in Fair Haven - places you can sit and enjoy the porches and have a scenic view or you can sit and enjoy a cup of tea, this is a real Americana thing.
“And the glass is for Tiffany glass in particular like at Willard Memorial Chapel or West Minster Presbyterian Church or Wells College that also has some beautiful glass.”
All of these themes intertwine to help visitors find places to stay, eat and visit. These kinds of packages are becoming increasingly popular within the tourism industry.
Tuesday afternoon at Willard Memorial Chapel, representatives from area hotels, B&Bs, eateries and shops, gathered for a presentation by Terry Lewis of T. L. Lewis Inc., a company that specializes in packaging components for tourists, to get ideas of what businesses could do to take advantage of the Explore New York grant.
“The market base is changing,” Lewis said. “When we started doing these kinds of packages in the early 2000s it was mainly senior citizens, now it is driven by younger folks that want to travel and have the money to travel as well as group tours and leisure travel. These are people that want to get on the computer and have the convenience of one credit card swipe that takes care of everything.”
Through the proposed package system, prospective visitors would be able to visit the exploreNYArts.com Web site and see options for places to stay, places to eat and attractions to visit, which they would be able to book through the Web site, with Lewis' company handling all the leg work.
“We check availability,” Lewis said. “Our software takes care of all of that, checks reservations and everything.
“We make sure they get their vouchers to eat or tickets for attractions or whatever may be in the package and they only have to deal with one person. This has worked out exceptionally well.”
Lewis also said that other things like gift baskets with items only available in the Finger Lakes, with maps and suggestions of other places to visit also help to make a better visit for guests.
For area businesses like Bet The Farm in Aurora, this could create greater opportunities for reaching a larger customer base.
“This will help improve marketing,” shop owner Nancy Tisch said. “I think this is really a great opportunity.”
Even for places with a nationally known name, like the Holiday Inn, this holds many possibilities.
“I think this will be a definite benefit,” Holiday Inn marketing director Anna Hlywa said. “We are always looking for better ways to package, and I think this is a great way to show what is available in this community.”
Lewis said that he would begin collecting information from local businesses and planned to have something available by the beginning of September.
For more information
Visit ExploreNYArt.com or the Cayuga County Office of Tourism Web site, www.tourcayuga.com
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