- By Marcia E. Lynch
- Business & Technology
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The Tompkins Tourism Partner Award changes that. The award is presented twice a year to individuals and organizations who are not professional meeting or event planners but who devote time and effort to bring groups to Tompkins County that result in more than 400 room nights at local lodging establishments.
On November 2nd, Martha Robertson, Chair of the County Legislature, presented awards to three local groups for their efforts: the Ithaca Asian American Association for the Finger Lakes International Dragonboat Festival, Jane Miller and the Ithaca Triathlon Club for the Cayuga Lake Triathlon, and the Cornell Local Roads Program for the Annual Highway Superintendents School.
The Highway School attracts highway superintendents from across the New York State every year for three days of training and professional development. Cornell Local Roads Program and director Lynne Irwin celebrated the 67th year of Highway School by filling 1,200 hotel room nights over three days this past June. Jane Miller and the Ithaca Triathlon Club have organized the Cayuga Lake Triathlon every August since 2003, resulting in almost 400 hotel room nights each year. Ms. Miller will pass the Event Director torch on to others in 2013; this award honors her dedication in building the event into the big visitor draw that it has become. Since 2006, Amy Kuo Somchanhmavong and Siv Somchanhmavong with the Ithaca Asian American Association have directed the popular annual Finger Lakes International Dragonboat Festival, resulting in large teams traveling from all over the Northeast and Canada to participate. Dragonboaters fill 300 hotel room nights each year and spend thousands of dollars in local shops, restaurants and other businesses
Legislator Martha Robertson presented the recipients with framed certificates. “Groups like the Cornell Local Roads Program, Ithaca Asian American Association, and Ithaca Triathlon Club set out to host their events. In doing so they also provided a boost to our local economy, and many businesses have prospered due to their events. They are fine examples of what it means to be a Tourism Partner,” said Robertson. She also issued a call to action for all residents to invite the associations of which they are members to meet in Tompkins County
Statler Hotel General Manager and Strategic Tourism Planning Board (STPB) member Richard Adie first proposed the award after observing two local residents plan and execute a large event commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 2005. The award was created by the STPB shortly after. “I recognized that there was a significant financial impact to the community as a result of their work,” Adie said. “Neither was a professional meeting planner but they both felt enough pride in their community to want to share it with their colleagues, despite the extra work. These individuals were making a positive impact on the local tax base and employment, and we are pleased to have been able to create a way to recognize them and others like them for their efforts.”
Besides Alpha Phi Alpha, two other groups have received Tourism Partner Awards in the past: Mark Wenham of the TurkeyShoot Lacrosse Tournament and the NCUR Committee of Ithaca College. Following presentations of the three new awards, all six of the groups who have received Tourism Partner Awards had pavers unveiled at the trailhead of the Cayuga Waterfront Trail.
Tourism Economics, an economic research firm that has studied the local tourism economy, estimates that tourism has an annual economic impact of $166 million in Tompkins County and generates roughly $11.7 million in local taxes. Tourism also employs over 3,400 people in the County. Fred Bonn, Director of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Convention and Visitors Bureau touted the direct economic benefit that meetings, conferences and events generate for taxpayers. “As an example, a conference brings 200 people to Tompkins County for three days. Conference attendees who stay in hotels spend an average of $335 per day, resulting in a positive economic impact of $201,000. That directly translates into $8,040 in local sales tax - revenue that local governments can use to better fund existing programs and new initiatives, reduce the tax levy, or a combination of the three.”
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