Dutchess Tourism website reaches 1 million visitors

Dutchess Tourism Inc., the designated tourism promotion agency for Dutchess County, announced that it has reached a significant milestone this fall.
As of October, 1,148,197 visitors had come to the organization”™s website, dutchesstourism.com, in 2017.

This marks the first time the organization”™s website has reached the 1 million year-to-date milestone. Web traffic is up 62 percent compared with the same period during 2016, which also saw an 87 percent increase from the previous year.

The website features 1,262 listings in categories ranging from lodging and restaurants to history and the outdoors. The website also offers spotlight articles, top 10 lists and suggested itineraries.
A calendar of events has highlighted 6,505 events so far this year that have garnered more than 5 million views.

DTI President and CEO Mary Kay Vrba attributed the jump to increased marketing and advertising efforts.
“We”™ve been working very hard over the past number of years to consistently keep the ”˜Distinctly Dutchess”™ and Hudson Valley brands out there in front of people traveling from outside the area, and it”™s paying off,” Vrba said.

Tourism spending in Dutchess County in 2016 increased 7.6 percent over 2015 to more than $568 million.
“Our investment in Dutchess Tourism continues to pay dividends ”“ creating jobs, improving our economy and increasing revenues,” Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said. “This milestone is evidence of what a valuable resource Dutchess Tourism is to the traveling public as well as to local residents looking for things to see and do in their own backyards.”