In the world of tourism, it all comes down to heads and beds.
Erynne Ansel-McCabe, newly-hired Schoharie County Travel & Trade manager for Destination Marketing, is working on the heads.
Julie Pacatte, executive director for SEEC, is working on the beds.
Tourism coordinator since July 1, Ms. Ansel-McCabe is now leading the local effort for DMC of Otsego County, which began a two-year, two-month contract as Schoharie County’s Tourism Promotion Agency on November 1; the new partnership that will link the two counties.
As part of her work so far, Ms. Ansel-McCabe’s taken an inventory of places visitors can spend the night—beds—something that’s critical to tourism, especially with The Inn at Cobleskill, shut down for code violations in December 2019 and now, after a suspicious fire in January, crumbling into the weeds.
“The good news is that there are places to stay…30 to 35 Airbnbs, B&Bs, smaller hotels all over the county,” Ms. Ansel-McCabe said.
“What we need to do now is get the word out that Schoharie County is open for business and there are great deals to be had.”
Ms. Pacatte is already on it.
Hired in September as executive director for the Schoharie Economic Enterprise Corporation, Ms. Pacatte is putting together a series of SEEC Prosperity Forums.
The first, with help from the Chamber of Commerce and SUNY Cobleskill, will focus on lodging and hospitality, tackling challenges and problems with an eye to coming up with solutions--like Airbnbs or boutique hotels like The American Hotel in Sharon Springs or the Mill Pond Inn in Jefferson--that let visitors take advantage of what we take for granted.
“It’s all about a quality experience,” Ms. Pacatte said. “Inviting people in and just sharing who we are...What’s it like to spend a weekend here?”
Another piece of the lodging puzzle that first forum will look at is identifying opportunities for spin-offs, Ms. Pacatte said: everything from transportation, linen, and other concierge services to property management and something they’re partnering with SUNY Cobleskill’s Ag & Food Management team on.
While Ms. Pacatte sees SEEC’s job as “destination building,” (see the related story on page 3 for more about what she’s working on) she said promotion will be DMCC’s job.
And Ms. Ansel-McCabe is on that.
“Especially with lodging, we need to tell people ‘We’re open for business,’ ” Ms. Ansel-McCabe agreed. “What Julie and I are working on dovetails perfectly. If we can grow the O-Tax, that means more money for tourism promotion.”
Ms. Ansel-McCabe is continuing to visit businesses with ties to tourism, using their input to update Schoharie County’s tourism website .
She’ll also be working with the Kingston-based BBG&G marketing agency on a mid-spring social media roll-out and with a local marketing committee on ideas that will bring it all together.
“Who are we? What sort of feeling do we want our website to have?” she said. “It’s more of a refresh than a do-over but with DMCC’s experience in Otsego County, it’s a really viable partnership and I’m glad to be working with Julie on it too.”