NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — 'I love New York.' It's a motto to live by and the name of an organization that helps bring people in to see what we have — but did you know they're under an even bigger umbrella of state tourism that brought in more than $78.5 billion in direct spending in 2022? Spectrum News 1 checks in on that umbrella from their conference this week in Western New York.
The epic adventures in natural landscapes across New York state pretty much speak for themselves. But there are a large group of people whose job it is to tell you about them and let you know that tourism is much more than just seeing Niagara Falls or the Big Apple.
Meeting adjacent to one of the 'wonders of the world' in Niagara Falls is the New York State Tourism Industry Association.
"It is our role to facilitate the work of our members and assist them in driving sustainable and responsible economic growth," said association president Robert Provost, whose members includes different visitors bureaus and other organizations looking to make their corners of the state just that much more appealing. "I frequently say tourism is the Rodney Dangerfield of the business community. We get no respect. The reality is it's the third largest industry in New York."
Playing host to the yearly convention is Destination Niagara and their president, John Percy.
"They represent various destinations, county tourism, promotion agencies, hotels, attractions [and] museums,” said Percy. “We're very pleased to host over 240 of our tourism colleagues from around the state.”
On the agenda: informational presentations, mentoring and trips to show off Western New York — but it all really boils down to getting everyone together.
"It's really a great time for us to network together, collaborate [and] partner,” he said. “Many partnerships are born out of this conference.”
Take Danielle Benjamin for instance. We last saw her creating tourism content part-time for Wandercuse out in Central New York three years ago. She's since gone all in and getting to the convention is helping her grow.
"It's really great to get that one-on-one time with the actual tourism boards who are looking for people like us to help spread the word about their attractions and what people should go visit," she said.
As much as tourism bureaus can do, it's writers like Benjamin that can help unlock the full potential to get visitors in.
“Finding out what the other little gems that are in town that maybe not everyone knows about," Benjamin said. "Then, those are other places that maybe aren't being touted so loudly by the tourism boards."
All these relationships built over a convention will send visitors back to their parts of the Empire State ready to do what they do best.
"Creating revitalization and catalyst for positive things in their community," noted Provost.
Per the last report on the organization's website, New York has been looking at record numbers in tourism dollars, to the tune of $123 billion in economic impact.