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St. Lawrence County tourism ads to tackle northeast U.S., Canada

Posted 5/8/11

By CRAIG FREILICH Vacationing close to home will be the thrust of this year’s tourism promotion by St. Lawrence County to shore up and expand the local industry in a less-than-ideal economic …

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St. Lawrence County tourism ads to tackle northeast U.S., Canada

Posted

By CRAIG FREILICH

Vacationing close to home will be the thrust of this year’s tourism promotion by St. Lawrence County to shore up and expand the local industry in a less-than-ideal economic climate.

With high fuel prices affecting people’s plans for driving or flying someplace for a summer break, “every tourist destination is thinking about those things for this coming season,” said Alison Power, the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce’s new tourism specialist.

“We’ve got a good thing up here, so we can talk about staying close to home instead of a trip to Yellowstone.”

Close to home means New York and Northeast U.S. states and Canada, places within a reasonable drive from the North Country. Those are the places where the chamber will focus its marketing, through the Internet, “getting our social media efforts out there, along with tried-and-true print media locally and throughout the region and into Canada,” Power said.

“It’s affordable up here,” Power said, “not like a $300-a-night hotel in New York City. It’s a good economical vacation place.”

County Chamber Director Pat McKeown says that “We are optimistic that when people hear about our region, the pure air, the clean water, the trails for four-wheeling, that they will come in droves regardless of the gas price.

“This county can hold its own. Let’s show it off,” McKeown said.

She said she would have been grateful for a little help from the state, in terms of marketing funds promised but never delivered.

“We were promised matching funds from the state’s I Love NY program and didn’t get them last year, so were $69,000 behind in our tourism effort.” But this year’s allotment is on the way.

“The county board has been providing us with money, but we’re still hoping for more.”

The chamber’s big thrust now is FISHCAP, promoting the county as the world’s fishing capital, and “we’ve only just begun,” McKeown said.

The beginning looks pretty good, with a New York B.A.S.S. Federation tournament set for July 24 on the St. Lawrence hosted by the Massena Chamber of Commerce; the growing annual St. Lawrence International Jr. Carp Tournament, this year Aug. 18 to 20 with fishing on the river around Ogdensburg, Waddington and Massena; and along the same stretch of river, the big one, the Carp Angling World Championship 2011, from Sept. 22 to 30. Competitors are expected from the U.K., Romania, Russia, Hungary, the Ukraine, the Netherlands, Greece, the Czech Republic, and elsewhere around Europe, plus the U.S. and Canada.

“...not to mention Brier Hill Fire Department’s 75Th annual bullhead feed,” that took place April 29, McKeown said. “I’m really looking forward to that.”

She also says she is urging “the economic development office in Potsdam to provide a fishing tournament for youngsters. I think that would be a great opportunity.”

Power said it’s hard to make any kind of projections about what kind of season the tourist business in the county will have this summer.

“The weather and so many other factors make it hard to predict, but we’re hopeful we’ll see a great summer season.

“But the four high-profile fishing events this summer into fall bode well for how we’ll finally do.”

The St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce’s web site at http://northcountryguide.com/ has an events calendar, links to lots of local places, a page to request a 30-page St. Lawrence County Angler’s Guide, the county’s A Map for All Seasons, and plenty of other help for tourists hoping to connect with fun and interesting things to do.