CT tourism industry showing encouraging signs of growth
Community Development Deputy Commissioner David Kooris and Gov. Ned Lamont, presenting an award to Tina Tison, director of marketing, The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, at this year”™s Connecticut Conference on Tourism.
Slowly but surely, interest in traveling Connecticut by residents and out-of-state travelers alike appears to be growing ”“ even if solid numbers are hard to come by.
“We saw very strong business in June and July,” said Connecticut Office of Tourism Director Randy Fiveash, noting that August data has yet to be compiled. “It proves that our advertising and public relations efforts are working.”
One new number that Fiveash was able to share was traffic on the state”™s ctvisit.com website. Featuring over 4,000 “partners” ”“ tourist attractions, accommodations, restaurants and information about towns and cities ”“ the site received 1.2 million visits in July, easily the most it has ever seen. Fiveash said those visits generated some 730,000 referrals to the aforementioned partners, “which is a huge leap for us.”
The department is still relying on figures from 2017 to tout its success. Final reports are compiled every two years with the 2019 report expected to be released in early 2021. For 2017, the tourism sector produced $15.5 billion in total business sales, up 5.5 percent from 2015. Total tax revenue in 2017 was $2.2 billion, including $960 million in state and local taxes. The sector directly supported 84,254 jobs in ”™17 ”” 5.3% of all jobs in the state ”” compared with 82,688 in ”™15.
Anecdotal evidence indicates additional gains will be reflected in the 2019 report, Fiveash said, noting that the July 1 reopening of the state”™s six welcome centers ”” including one near Exit 2 on eastbound I-84 near Danbury ”” should help significantly.
“We”™ve had brisk traffic at all of them so far,” he said.
Each is manned by two people from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, and the tourism director said he hoped to add a third person in the near-term.
Staffing levels at the facilities had been reduced on Oct. 1, 2016, due to budget cuts, limiting the locations to a one-shift, daytime operation. While the rest areas technically remained “open” around the clock, the indoor facilities were closed to the public from 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 a.m., necessitating the use of outdoor portable restroom facilities during unstaffed hours.
“While I”™m proud of the fact that we managed to at least keep them open in the face of financial adversity, our residents and visitors to our state deserve better than portable bathrooms,” said Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Joe Giulietti. “This has been a long time coming.”
“They”™re the front door to the state, not just a place to pick up a brochure or a map,” Fiveash said. “Now we have tour buses stopping there with 40 to 60 people getting off at a time.
“You never know who”™s going to come in,” he continued. “There might be people looking for a new place to live, or to relocate their business. A CEO or someone else responsible for a major business could see something they like about the state, and decide Connecticut is a place they ought to look at.”
And while there has been talk about the potential hurdle the tourism sector may face if the much-discussed return of highway tolls becomes a reality, Fiveash insisted that, “Visitors from all over Connecticut, New England and beyond come to our state to enjoy diverse experiences and unique destinations. We don”™t think a few dollars in tolls is going to change that.”
The tourism agency is continuing an aggressive marketing campaign via social media, email and signs. Those efforts are increasingly including collaborations with Connecticut influencers and subject matter experts called “CT Ambassadors,” to develop content for ctvisit.com and the agency”™s social media properties. The content is then promoted across the web, social media and influencers”™ networks to market Connecticut as a travel destination to likely visitors.
The Ambassadors include UnlockingConnecticut.com, CTBeer.com and MommyPoppins.com/Connecticut.
Fiveash said his office spends about 80% of its marketing budget on out-of-state travelers, primarily in the New York City, Boston, Rhode Island and Springfield, Massachusetts, markets.
With summer unofficially over, the agency is focusing on fall.
The state has the region”™s largest fall foliage in terms of tree diversity, Fiveash said, with Fairfield County especially expected to have a glorious display from mid-October to mid-November. The state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection (DEEP) has an interactive fall foliage report map that can be viewed through ctvisit.com.
The agency also maintains what Fiveash called “evergreen” content for the winter months, ranging from various outdoor activities to ideas for indoor getaways.
“We have lots of bed-and-breakfasts that offer fireside dining, the Mystic and Norwalk aquariums, five Tony award-winning theaters,” he noted. “There”™s always something going on.”