Dutchess Tourism, Inc. (DTI) is celebrating the 38th National Travel & Tourism Week (NTTW) with a resumption of its annual Brochure Exchange Tailgate which this year was held at Dutchess Stadium in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro proclaimed this week, May 2-8, 2021, National Travel & Tourism Week in Dutchess County. NTTW recognizes the POWER OF TRAVEL and the industry’s role in bringing back our vibrant communities, restoring the U.S. economy, rebuilding our workforce and reconnecting America.
On National Travel Rally Day, May 4, tourism-related businesses located in Dutchess County gathered for a socially distanced, networking event to foster more collaboration and partnerships among one another. The event encouraged the cross-promotion of businesses to visitors, leading to longer stays in Dutchess and increased visitor spending. According to a 2020 study by Tourism Economics, visitors injected $674.2 million into the county’s economy in 2019. The study also showed that tourism in Dutchess supported 10,836 jobs with a combined income of $378.1 million.
“The pandemic demonstrated to a lot of people outside our industry just how vital visitors are to Dutchess County’s economy,” said Dutchess Tourism President & CEO Melaine Rottkamp. “It has been difficult for many of our favorite restaurants, attractions and entertainment venues to survive much less thrive on resident support alone. Fortunately, the outlook is good for tourism to rebound relatively quickly and Dutchess Tourism is here to inspire safe travel to Dutchess and drive those visitor dollars to our businesses.”
With the recent announcement by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo easing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on the region's businesses, venues and gatherings, the travel industry in Dutchess is gearing up to welcome back travelers. According to Destination Analysts’ Coronavirus Travel Sentiment Index Report for the week of May 3, 2021, the outlook for summer travel is optimistic, with 87% of American travelers expecting to take trips this summer.
"Tourism has reminded us that we will fly again. No industry has struggled greater than the tourism industry during these last months because, for us, tourism is restaurants, farms, historic sites, wineries, craft breweries, and baseball stadiums,” said Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro. “Tourism is about making memories. It’s about telling the story of our community and reminds us of how special we are to live here. We are excited to welcome visitors back to Dutchess County with open arms, caring service and enthusiasm.”
DTI also announced the relaunch of www.DutchessTourism.com, which features nearly 200 pages of tourism-related content highlighting the county’s assets including over 1,000 businesses and attractions. The completely redesigned website is more mobile friendly as 60% of the website’s 1.3 million visitors in 2020 accessed the content via a mobile device. In addition to adopting DTI’s Storied Experience branding and a new color palette, the site features a new and improved trip planner, highlighted events scrolling ribbon on the home page, simplified navigation, and Dutchess A to Z. It also incorporates more video and prominently highlights the four regions of the county plus town and village pages. Accessibility tools and language translation remain a key component of the site to provide ease of use for all. The website was developed in partnership with DTI’s agency of record, FourthIdea, a destination-focused marketing agency based in Buffalo, N.Y.
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About Dutchess Tourism
Dutchess Tourism, Inc., the officially designated destination marketing organization for Dutchess County, is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of Destinations International. As a 501c6 non-profit organization, it works to bring tourism dollars to area businesses and the community by marketing and promoting the assets of Dutchess County to the nation and the world. The office is located at 3 Neptune Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie with 17 Tourist Information Centers located around Dutchess County. The website is DutchessTourism.com and they can be reached at 845-463-4000. Dutchess Tourism, Inc. is partially funded by monies received from the County of Dutchess.
PHOTOS:
Photo 1 (Left to Right): Dutchess Tourism President & CEO Melaine Rottkamp, and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and New York State Senator Sue Serino welcome Dutchess County tourism businesses at the annual Brochure Exchange Tailgate.
Photo Credit: Dutchess County Government
Photo 2: Dutchess Tourism President & CEO Melaine Rottkamp provides an industry update and shares the outlook for tourism in Dutchess in 2021 with local businesses.
Photo Credit: Dutchess County Government
Photo 3: Daniel Cohen and Jessica Bennett from Trevor Zoo in Millbrook, N.Y. participated in a networking event at Dutchess Stadium in celebration of National Travel & Tourism Week.
Photo Credit: Dutchess Tourism, Inc.
Photo 4 (Left to Right): Katie Ross and Tina Repass from Fishkill Farms in Fishkill, N.Y. join Dutchess Tourism, Inc. and other tourism-related businesses for National Travel Rally Day.
Photo Credit: Dutchess Tourism, Inc.
