January 25. 2012 12:46PM
Somerset County may not compete with Atlantic City for tourist attractions, but local experts are joining forces to highlight the hidden gems of the area to attract new visitors.
Tourism industry leaders will join together Thursday for the Somerset County Business Partnership's workshop on packaging area travel products intended to promote hotels, restaurants and events.
Jackie Morales, director of tourism for the business partnership, will unveil a marketing plan for the county for the next 12 to 18 months.
"There are a lot of people in the community who are working toward promoting our culture and our restaurants and our hotels, but they haven't really been working together," Morales said. "I felt it was really important to get everyone in the room talking to each other to know who their partners are, who they can be working with, so they are working towards shared goals."
Morales cited destinations like Natirar and the soon-to-open Duke Farms environmental center as locations that attract visitors and improve the lifestyle of area residents.
"The mission of the business partnership is to support business, to help business growth, and to do that in a sustainable way — and a big part of that is lifestyle," Morales said. "If we're going to be bringing in new businesses and therefore new employees — as well as the ones who are already here that we want to retain — there has to be a good quality of life."
The partnership is using a $108,000 grant from the state to introduce the various players in the industry to each other, and promote the creation of packages to attract new visitors to the area.
Caylin Sanders, founder of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based EscapeMakers.com, will speak to the value of working with other businesses and event planners in creating these packages. Sanders has agreed to feature any packages created at the workshop on her website, which is directed at the New York metro area.
