Most states have destination marketing organizations (DMOs) focused on promoting regional tourism opportunities. For example, New York State has 20 DMOs: Discover Albany, Visit Ithaca, Meet Me in Lake Placid and Dutchess Tourism, among others. Some DMOs are membership-only organizations while others, like Duchess Tourism, offer their services for free.
Dutchess Tourism, led by Melaine Rottkamp, who serves as president and CEO, is tasked with promoting businesses and events within Dutchess County. “We work to entice people from outside the area to come into our area and spend money,” said Rottkamp.
Dutchess Tourism is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation – a distinction held by only 200 DMOs across the world. At a Cornell Cooperative Extension meeting, Rottkamp encouraged agritourism businesses to take advantage of their local DMO using 10 easy steps.
- Know Your DMO.
The first step, Rottkamp said, is to get to know your local DMO. “Get to know them, get to know their staff, get to know what they have to offer,” she said.
According to Rottkamp, hospitality and tourism are all about relationship building. The more the DMO knows about the business, the better able they are to promote it and point it to appropriate resources and opportunities.
- Make Sure Information is Accurate.
Businesses must make sure that the information on their website, social media and Google Business Profile is accurate and that all sources match. Rottkamp said, “If you aren’t consistent, people aren’t going to come. They’re not going to take time to come visit you if they run the risk that you’re not open.”
- Share Content with the DMO.
Content is king. Rottkamp encouraged agritourism businesses to share high resolution images and short form verticals with their local DMO. Most DMOs publish brochures and guides where they can use high resolution promotional materials. Photos should have 300 DPI. DPI (dots per inch) refers to the number of pixels that are printed per inch. If the DPI is lower, the photos will not be printable and won’t be able to be digitally enlarged.
For some content, the resolution of a computer/phone screen is 72 DPI. Even if an image looks like it’s high quality on a screen, it may still look bad when printed or enlarged.
- Send Updates and Special Events.
“Do you have a big anniversary coming up? Did you add new activities or events for people to enjoy?” Rottkamp questioned. If so, share those events with your DMO.
Furthermore, Dutchess Tourism can share those events with other resources in their networks, such as I Love NY.
Partnering with your DMO – as well as other local farms – make agritourism events easier to promote. Photo courtesy of Dutchess Tourism Inc.
- Subscribe to DMO Newsletters.
Businesses should subscribe to their DMO’s newsletter in order to take advantage of seminars, workshops and activities. I Love NY, for example, hosts a Path Through History Weekend, which some agritourism businesses with a historical element could leverage.
“That’s an extra level of promotion because if you don’t know what’s going on, you can’t take advantage of it. We want you to take advantage of everything,” Rottkamp said.
- Engage with Social Media.
Engage with your DMO’s social media accounts. Like and share posts. Businesses can also share their content, which many then get reshared.
- Participate in a Familiarization Tour.
Familiarization tours (or FAM tours) bring people such as travel journalists, tour operators, influencers and travel agents to experience what a region has to offer. The idea is that these people, in turn, will be better equipped to promote the region by having firsthand experience.
“If you have a good relationship with your DMO, and they’re bringing people here, you might be a good fit for them. And they will let you know if you’re a good partner,” Rottkamp said.
- Take Advantage of Cooperative Marketing Opportunities.
DMOs often participate in consumer travel and group travel shows. Businesses may be able to attend these travel shows with their DMO, giving them access to travel advisors and travelers.
Rottkamp said, “It’s what we do for our two closest shows in New York City and Washington, D.C. Our paid co-op program does include us taking partner brochures to some or all of the shows we attend.”
- Attend DMO Events.
Rottkamp encouraged agritourism businesses to attend networking events. “Go, go, go,” she urged. “Meet other tourism-related businesses. Not just other farms, but that’s good too. Meet hotel people, meet people who are in the history community, meet people who are in the arts. Maybe they want to help host and plan an event at your farm.”
- Dream Big with Collaboration.
Rottkamp advocated for collaboration because it allows a business to create larger, more meaningful events that can draw a larger audience. She shared an example of a group of young Duchess County producers – among them a cheesemaker, a distiller and a maple producer – who collaborated to create autumn and spring farm days.
“From our main population centers, about 45 minutes away, people might not just go out to visit one of those farms. But when you create a day of activities on all these farms so people can hop from one to another, suddenly it’s an event, and then a lot of people are going to come,” Rottkamp said.
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin
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