Tourism professionals from around New York state gathered recently in Oneida County to compare notes and find out ways they can boost the economy in their regions.
Although these communities are all trying to attract visitors from out-of-town, it’s a friendly competition.
More than 250 tourism professionals took part in the statewide conference held at various locations in the Utica area late last week, including the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino. That concept about a friendly competition for tourists was echoed by many of the tourism executives, including John Percy. He’s President and CEO at Destination Niagara USA, the tourism organization for Niagara Falls.
“We are better off as a whole and working together as a whole, because we can help each other out,” Percy said. “Instead of just turning away and sending that business away, we can share it with our friends in Albany or Rochester or Syracuse or wherever it may be.”
Monica Kurzejeski is Executive Director and CEO for the Albany Convention Center Authority. As a public authority, she said their agency wants to make sure the local community benefits from those tourism dollars.
“It’s also making sure that we're partners with the state,” said Kurzejeski. “ESD (Empire State Development) holds meetings in our facility, and we host those. But it's really about making sure that we build intentionally, not only for economic benefit, but for social benefit as well.”
Chirag Saluja is a vice president with East Shore Marketing, which is based in the Ithaca area. He said that comparing notes on tourism promotion helps all of these communities up their game when it comes to attracting more visitors.
“We get a much broader perspective on what the entire state is doing, from a legislative perspective, from what other partners are up to, what other counties, what projects they have worked on,” noted Saluja. “So it's definitely a lot of great learning experience.”
Turning Stone is in the midst of a $370 million expansion that will add a 258-room hotel and more than double the resort’s meetings and event space. Participants in one of the panel discussions at last week’s tourism conference heard more about that project and how investments like one at Turning Stone support tourism growth and economic development.
