BY LISA BALSCHUNAT
Gavin Landry, executive director of the state
Division of Tourism, Empire State Development,
said the “I Love New York” tourism campaign is
revamped to rebrand state tourism on a global
scale.
Landry told a group of local business people
that New York City is still the top tourist destination
in the world, and state tourism officials are
working to capitalize on that with a new vision to
revive the tourism industry all across the state.
Landry was the key speaker at the 62nd annual meeting of the Lake George Regional Chamber of
Commerce & Convention and Visitors Bureau. “I
Love New York” launched in the late 1970s and
is a promotional mainstay in the Empire State.
Also attending was state Sen. Betty Little,
who said the program “has been on life support
for a long time. Under this administration, ‘I
Love New York’ has taken on new meaning …
the Adirondack Balloon Festival, Saranac Lake
Parade and Americade, for example are being
heavily promoted. And, the proof is in the pudding
– sales tax is up.”
Under Landry’s leadership, the JFK International
Airport’s Terminal 4 and Terminal 5 had
three-dimensional balloons and huge panels in
dominant positions touting the Adirondack Balloon
Festival, Americade, Lake George Winter
Carnival, upstate skiing, hiking and more.
“Tourism means business,” Landry said. “We
are tapping the critical segment. We’re hitting
visitors with 42 wrap-around promotions on
subway cars in New York City that encourage
residents and visitors to ‘get out of town’ and
check out the regional events in not only upstate,
but across the state from Niagara Falls to the
Massachusetts border, and from Montauk Point
to the tip of Lake Champlain.”
He said the campaign includes Pod advertising
whereby moving billboards open into a staging
area that offers travel information, state trivia
contests, promotional items and more.
“With 22 million people visiting Grand Central
Station annually, we are showing off what we’ve
got in our state to entice national and international
visitors to visit the state again and again
and in every season,” he said.
He said the revived campaign will promote
Buffalo’s 50th year of the Buffalo chicken wing,
Saranac Lake’s Winter Carnival; Warrensburg’s
World’s Largest Garage Sale and more.
“We have scheduled media nights in New York
City with those in the media looking to share our
message that tourism means business,” Landry
said.”We’re promoting bountiful fishing locations
in rivers and lakes throughout our state with
our Go Fish NY campaign, and Market NY is just
around the corner. It’s Round 3.”
He said his agency is promoting the state with
“a bottom up approach by focusing on regional
priorities that people at the ground level in local
government and business are highlighting.
He said the funding application process is
consolidated. And through regional collaboration
the state is getting local tourism representatives
to decide what is important to them and what
they want to promote.
The I Love New York campaign also is positioned
to market at the international level
through USA DiscoverAmerica.com, Campground
Organizations of New York State (CONY) and
through other DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations),
having identified 11 viable source markets including Australia and China.
“Visitor volume in our state is 20 percent
international, with 70 percent visitor spending
and 60 percent New York City spending,” Landry
added.”What’s good for New York City when it
comes to tourism is good for New York state.”
“We were a sleeping giant,” he said. “Not
anymore.The state Department of Tourism is
positioning our state to be a premier destination
for tourists today and for years to come.”
Following Landry’s presentation, Chamber
President Michael Consuelo presented Six Flags
Great Escape with the Blue Star Award for its 60
years in business in the Lake George region.
Photo by Lisa Balschuant