Tourism talk accentuates growing opportunities

MILLBROOK — Having recently been reenergized by its new president Deanna Mancuso, the Harlem Valley Chamber of Commerce appealed to local businesses and nonprofits to get involved with promoting tourism in the Harlem Valley with an informative talk on Thursday, May 23.

Sponsored by Jack’s Auto Service and William Cole Agency, guests, business owners and local leaders from across the region began arriving at Charlotte’s in Millbrook around 5:30 p.m. Whether they came from the county’s smaller municipalities such as Millerton and Amenia or from larger organizations in the Harlem Valley such as Dutchess Tourism and the Harlem Valley Appalachian Trail Community, familiar faces mingled over light refreshments, building future contacts and identifying their role in the Harlem Valley community.

Mancuso recognized local officials who were present before turning the microphone over to Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro. Molinaro  spoke of reaching 19 consecutive months of job growth; transitioning from a single employer community to a diverse economy; and dedicating millions of dollars toward the preservation of agricultural communities.

Molinaro highlighted the various film and art projects that Dutchess Tourism has worked with during the last couple of years and the impact that industry has had on the county.

“What we’re doing is connecting Dutchess County employers with an industry that continues to grow and put dollars on the street,” he said. “Tourism is about sending a message, telling a story to people over and over again… Another part of tourism is selling Dutchess County and the brand of Dutchess County to future employers. We invest in tourism the way we do because it’s critical to the county’s economy.”

Dutchess Tourism President and CEO Mary Kay Vrba touched upon Dutchess Tourism’s work. In recent news, she reported that Dutchess Tourism conducted a visitor profile survey to gain a better perspective as to the demographic of incoming visitors; what they look for in visiting Dutchess County; their main resource for planning trips; the main purpose of their trips to Dutchess County; their primary destinations in Dutchess County and the communities they visit; what inspires them to come back to the county; and more. Vrba also reported that 75% of the county’s visitors take day trips while 25% stay overnight.

Vrba talked about the organization’s desire to increase shopping opportunities, evaluate mobility and accessibility for all visitors, promote summer camps and other outdoor opportunities, work on new and improved accommodations for out-of-state visitors and market Dutchess County as a premiere destination all around the world. In fact, she said Dutchess Tourism’s new brand focuses on Dutchess County’s ability to deliver “rugged, natural beauty of the Hudson Valley, world-renowned dining and a storied history of empire-builders, visionaries and artists that will forge indelible memories so travelers understand that true wealth is actually the exceptional experiences one shares in life.”

As an AgNavigator at Cornell Cooperative Extension, Jennifer Fimbel talked about the diversity of Dutchess County’s agriculture and its impact on  communities. While one-third of the county’s agriculture is invested in conventional agriculture, she said the rest has been invested in new practices, such as raw milk dairy farms, hoop houses, fish farming, community gardens and other methods. 

Fimbel explained that Dutchess County currently ranks 17th in the sales values of fruit and berries, 15th in nursery and greenhouse inventory, 12th in Christmas trees, fourth in the value of sheep and goats and first in both the inventory number of goats and the inventory and sales value of horses; she added that with regard to its inventory and sales value of horses, Dutchess County ranks 12th in the United States.

Fimbel said the county’s smaller farms generate significant dollars that are then spent on investments that fuel the local economy while the larger farm operations generate fewer numbers but higher gross sales and capital investments. She also spoke of the impact of the horse industry in Dutchess County and the partnership between county government and local farms to build on agricultural infrastructure.

Next, Harlem Valley Appalachian Trail Community Co-Chair Stancy DuHamel delivered an overview of how the Harlem Valley Appalachian Trail Community (ATC) got started as well as its main asset for drawing people to the area. She explained that the Harlem Valley ATC was designed to bring more people into the Harlem Valley to explore its outdoor recreation, small communities and local resources. DuHamel also talked about the recent launch of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Geotourism Initiative and the Appalachian Trail Community’s vision of building on the available outdoor recreational opportunities and creating greater exposure to local resources.

As a general manager of Outdooractive, Yan Baczkowski talked about Outdooractive as a global information platform designed to work with destinations to better elevate visitors’ outdoor experiences. By working with individuals in the Harlem Valley, he said Outdooractive could help promote activities in the Harlem Valley and provide visitors with safety information related to outdoor resources with a maximum amount of information that can be updated in real-time. 

Speakers were available to answer questions from the audience.

Taking a cue from the presenters’ praise about the Harlem Valley’s possibilities, Mancuso said, “There’s nowhere for us to go but up.”