Issue link: http://visitithaca.uberflip.com/i/465181
Supporting the County's Strategic Tourism Plan 360-Degree Evaluation Data-driven evaluation is a core policy of the Tourism Plan. The CVB supported this with a year- long internal and external evaluation program coordinated by Cornell's Office for Research Evaluation. The process has refined the CVB's operations and is influencing its goals and reporting, in this report and beyond. Advancing Culinary Tourism With promotion and management of the IthacaFork.com website and more than 100 hours of staff support for the county's Agri-Culinary Tourism workgroup, the CVB took a major role in advancing this tourism priority in 2014. Supporting Emerging Tourism Markets The CVB actively promoted birding, gardening, stainability, heritage, LBGT and sports tourism options through marketing and group sales efforts. Success came with bookings of gardening and birding tours, along with multiple room blocks for sports groups. Tourism Foundation Efficient marketing and strong visitor services are foundations of the county tourism plan. The CVB supported this with: marketing coordination and consultation for 10 organizations funded through county tourism marketing grants, a 29% increase in year-over-year web traffic, a three-year 81% decrease in travel guide costs and a two-fold increase in offsite visitor outreach via a new online chat service. Promoting Outdoor Recreation The tourism plan lists expanding outdoor recreation as a primary goal. Focusing tourism efforts on lakes, trails, parks and gorges was a year-round PR effort in 2014, with the CVB earning Ithaca the title of Outdoor Magazine's #4 "Best Town," and Travel + Leisure's title of "America's Best Swimming Holes." Downtown Ithaca Support Enhancing Downtown as a tourism hub is a goal of the plan and with Commons construction spanning all of 2014, the Ithaca CVB team focused on supporting downtown with media attention. Nicole Alper of Yahoo! Travel, Jim Byers of the Toronto Star, and David Atlanta of The Rainbow Times all shopped, dined, stayed and reported on downtown. Established Tourism Types Promoted Data-Driven Evaluation Program Completed Downtown Supported as a Tourism Hub The Tompkins County Strategic Tourism Plan guides the county's tourism efforts. In 2014, your CVB actively supported the plan through: 2