Discover the Warwick Valley
WARWICK The Tourism Committee of the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce launched its tourism initiative at a well-attended public meeting in the Warwick Town Hall on Tuesday evening, March 20.
The program, Discover the Warwick Valley, is designed to draw visitors from throughout the tri-state region and beyond and will highlight all of the four-season activities, dining options and accommodations that will enable people to discover their own experience of a beautiful area that is only a short drive from their homes.
This initiative will positively impact the entire valley, said Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Michael Johndrow, which is why we hope that this meeting will be an opportunity for businesses to learn about the tourism program that weve developed and how their businesses will benefit.
Johndrow emphasized that this program was designed to include and benefit all the villages and hamlets in Warwick as well as Vernon, N.J.
Cedric Glasper, president of the Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Tourism Committee, explained that tourism is the second largest industry in Orange County just behind agriculture. And the object of this initiative, he added, is to get the message out to all the communities in the surrounding area that the Warwick Valley has something to offer for everyone in every season throughout the year, ranging from winter sports to swimming, boating, hiking and apple picking.
A short trip away With a slow economy and the high price of gas, he reasoned, many people will opt for short day trips on weekends.
And, he said, we need to turn day-trippers into overnighters.
Glasper pointed to the previous successes of the Merchant Guild, with events such as Home for the Holidays and Springfest, that attract large numbers of visitors and eventually led to discussions with various local marketing and advertising experts, as well as the Warwick Chamber. This, he reported, evolved into the chamber creating a committee for tourism.
The committees mission is three-fold:
Branding the Valley with a slogan and logo.
Implementing a public relations campaign.
An advertising and direct marketing campaign in the near future with the collaboration of the Warwick Chamber and all participating municipalities by accessing grants and other tourism town, county and state funding
During the evening tourism committee members Steve Pennings and Nicole Repose took turns pointing out all the four season attractions of the Warwick Valley from cultural and shopping events to restaurants, golf courses, farms, lakes and mountains that local residents often take for granted.
We even have one of the few remaining drive in movies, Repose noted.
Make Warwick a household name Committee members Inez Freund and Eileen Patterson, owners of Creative Vision, will spearhead a public relations blitz designed to make Warwick a household name in the Metropolitan area and beyond.
We need to offer writers free weekends to see what we have first hand, said Freund. There are numerous niche magazines for bird watchers, hikers, seniors and the like as well as get away sections in major publications like the New York Times that can feature this area. The list is endless.
Glasper also pointed out that well known tourist destinations like Lancaster, Pa., have fewer months to attract visitors and yet bring in extraordinary income, measured in billions of dollars and thousands of jobs for their community.
Johndrow requested that members contribute a one time annual fee of $250 to launch the program by reallocating some advertising dollars to public relations tourism dollars. He also appealed to sponsors for larger contributions.
The meeting concluded with a question and answer period during which many of the guests made additional suggestions.
Ed Lynch, owner of Edward Jones, an investment management firm, questioned how different types of businesses could measure the value of the tourism initiative.
Johndrow pointed out that in a program like this there is a direct and indirect value.
Some businesses such as B&Bs, restaurants, shops and the like, for example, see the immediate result of an increase in tourism but their success filters down to the services they and their employees purchase. And that has an indirect value to every other business. Patterson also responded that, A rising tide lifts all boats.
By Roger Gavan