Collaboration, Promotion Key to Berkshire Tourism

By Tammy Daniels
iBerkshires Staff
07:13PM / Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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Ellen Spear of Hancock Shaker Village explains the 'American Icons' promotion.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — On the idea that a high tide lifts all boats, tourism-related businesses are being encouraged to think Berkshires first: promoting the region as a destination and thinking collaboratively across venues.

That's been the refrain of Berkshire Visitors Bureau President Lauri Klefos for months — branding the region as a high-quality, affordable, four-season destination as a way to steer through stormy waters of a national recession. And talking about how tough the summer season could be isn't going to help, she says.

"All of us in the Berkshires have been working hard not to talk about summer tourism being down," she told the nearly 50 people gathered at the Crowne Plaza for the monthly Tourism Tuesday luncheon. "We know people are travelng closer to home: This is an opportunity to make sure it's Berkshires, Berkshires, Berkshires ... that the message is consistently out there."

How to get that message out? Through e-mail, Web sites and cross-promotion. Members of a six-person panel representing different elements of the region — shopping, cultural attractions, lodging, dining and outdoor recreation — each shared the ways they were collaborating to spread the "Berkfordable" message.

For Hancock Shaker Village, it was a matter of finding a commonality with other venues, said Ellen Spear, the village's president and current chairman of the board of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau. Thus was born the "American Icons" reduced-admission promotion that links the historic village with Chesterwood, The Mount and Norman Rockwell Museum.

"We have a tremendous positive response from people because of the savings and we're all seeing our visitation rise because people who might not have had the inclination [to go to another attraction] are making the time," said Spear, who moderated the panel. "People get the concept really quickly. ... We were all willing to throw something in the pot ... we were all willing to promote each other and to use a standardized method of promotion."

In fact, it's promotion like that that Stan Rosen would use to market his Hampton Terrace Bed & Breakfast Inn in Lenox.

"When I market Hampton Terrace, I market the Berkshires first and then I market Hampton Terrace second, and I find that works to me," said Rosen. He keeps potential guests apprised of the many attractions in the area and his own specials through newsletters and a pumped up Web site that's paid for itself in a matter of months.

"I have a daily blog I blog about the new play at Shakespeare and Company, I blog about this and I blog about that, you'd be amazed how many calls I get out of the blue from people who say they saw my blog, 'tell me more,'" he said.

Barrington Stage Company is trying to grow its audience through the use of newsletters and social media, said artistic director Julianne Boyd. It's also trying to capture younger patrons through its 15th anniversary promotion that offers $15 tickets for age 21 and younger, and a "pay what you can" specials for ages 35 and under. Boyd was upbeat, saying ticket sales were up 5 percent over last year.

Mount Greylock State Reservation will open next weekend after two years of being closed for road repairs. At the peak of the state's highest mountain is Bascom Lodge, which has been leased to brothers John and Peter Dudek who plan on reaching out the arts and dining communities, said Alec Gillman, visitor services supervisor.

Carolyn Edwards explains how Prime Outlets targets visitors to the Berkshires.

Carolyn Edwards, Prime Outlets in Lee senior marketing director, said promoting the outlets was as much about promoting the "beauty of the Berkshires," noting both were relied on quality and value.

Sometimes spreading the message is as simple as creating local buzz. The staff of Mezze Group — allium, Mezze and Cafe Latino — were given a special tour of the massive Sol LeWitt retrospective at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

"Not only do they have the ambassadors in all the press that was going on in the Berkshires," said Mezze Group co-owner Nancy Thomas, "they also have all the staff that can be ambassadors and be excited and talk about Sol LeWitt, Sol LeWitt, Sol LeWitt."

Still, a lot of the collaborations were informal or limited. Brian Handspicker of the Eclipse Mill in North Adams and member of a number of arts organizations, said too often the marketing side is left until the last minute. He suggested a shared basic marketing plan that groups or individuals could use as needed. "We have to think how to improve marketing tools."

The panelists expressed a great deal of optimism for the coming season, most noting upticks in reservations, ticket sales or interest. Even if the number of days spent in the Berkshires by the average visitors drops, those numbers will still be significant, they said.

"There's some staggering figure that within a four-hour drive of the Berkshires there's 20 million people so we need a very small percentage of those people to come to the Berkshires to have a very successful season," said Spear.

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