UCT revamps guide, Web site By LYNN WOODS

UCT revamps guide, Web site
By LYNN WOODS

It’s about to get easier to enjoy Ulster County.

From left: Lisa Berg, Cecile Rothschild, Rick Remsnyder and Susan Zimet.

Ulster County Tourism (UCT) unveiled its new tourism guide and soon-to-be-revamped Web site, www.ulstertourism.info, June 26 in Kingston.

Rick Remsnyder, director of UCT, said at the conference that both the guide and the Web site will be co-branded. Once it is up and running, which is expected to happen in a few weeks, the site will offer the guide online with links to each attraction’s Web site, enabling users to book their travel online.

The guide, which was designed by Cecile Rothschild, a freelance graphic designer based in Armonk who was also at the conference, provides a much-needed update to the old brochure. The new brochure features a clean, less cluttered layout with handsome photos, giving it a coffee-table appeal, said Susan Zimot, an Ulster County legislator who chairs the state Legislature’s Arts, Education, Tourism and Community Relations Committee and was at the conference.

The content was also designed to be more user friendly, with attractions listed by category and subcategory. Under “Adventures, Sports & Recreation,” for example, are listed marinas, ice skating, and tube rentals, along with dozens of other activities. (The two other categories are Wineries, Breweries and Farms and Arts, Culture and Antiques.)

Accommodations are also listed by type. There is a section listing a calendar of events, “Places everyone should see,” “Four seasons of things to do” and summer camps, along with general traveler information. The guide will be distributed at the Sloatsburgh and Plattekill rest stops on the New York state Thruway, as well as at chambers of commerce and area attractions.

Ulster County Legislature Chairman David Donaldson, who was also present, said he was pleased with the new guide and Web site. “They did an extremely effective job,” he said. Whereas previously, he said, the tourism department’s effort “was costly but not effective” he mentioned trips to Colorado to visit trade shows the Web-based approach will enable it to “still be effective though the budget was cut in half.” (In fiscal 2007, the UCT’s budget was reduced from about $700,000 to $347,786.)

Rothschild has been retained for a fee of $5,500 to develop the new Web site, including coming up with effective keywords. A staff member will monitor the site on an ongoing basis, updating it and tracking the number of hits. That information will be helpful in enabling the organization to target its marketing efforts and get data on the contribution of tourism to the economy.

Remsnyder said in 2005, tourism transactions in the county accounted for $388 million, with another $300 million in revenues coming to the county in indirect spending. The same year, more than $42 million was spent in tourism-related taxes, Ulster County Chamber of Commerce President Ward Todd has noted.

While there is very little money available for advertising, UCT contributes $21,000 in membership dues to participate in the 11-county Hudson Valley Tourism alliance, which advertises on behalf of the group.

Also present at the press conference was Lisa Berger, who was hired two months ago as director of marketing and group sales.

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