We have created a new section on the tourcayuga.com web site to share some of the details about what we are doing to promote travel and tourism in Cayuga County and the Finger Lakes Region. In addition, research data and tourism facts and figures are available for your use. We encourage you to use this information as a resource for developing your own marketing plans and as a tool to advocate for the importance of tourism in Cayuga County.

Go to www.tourcayuga.com and click on the 'Partners' link in the upper right hand corner to access our annual report, past newsletters, and information on our marketing programs as well as the Randall Travel Research Report, our Strategic Plan for tourism in Cayuga County and the latest tourism statistics.

Visitors can now view information on Cayuga County hotels/motels, B&Bs, inns and campgrounds in a chart format so they can easily compare information such as number of rooms, rates and other amenities as they do in the printed Visitors Guide to Cayuga County. This is just another way we are working to make information easy to access for our visitors. Check out the comparison chart.

Doug Waterbury, owner of the Sterling Renaissance Festival and two other amusement attractions in New York State was elected to the Cayuga County Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors at their October 2008 meeting. This year Mr. Waterbury has brought a new attraction to the Renaissance Festival grounds, "Screamers Hollow," a first-rate haunted attraction designed to rival any in the country. In addition to "Screamers Hollow," plans are also in the works for a winter event and several new festivals, eventually making the Festival grounds the site of year round entertainment.

With currency rates at or near par, New York State presents a wealth of shopping opportunities for our nearby Ontario and Quebec neighbors. To lure more of these shoppers to Cayuga County, we will be launching a special shopping promotion in the Niagara Peninsula in early November encouraging Canadians to shop in our malls and boutiques and stay in our hotels, inns and B&Bs. Cayuga County is the perfect hub for shopping destinations throughout the Finger Lakes. If you have a special shopping package or promotions geared towards shoppers, please e-mail them to Maureen@tourcayuga so we can post them on tourcayuga.com and direct these Canadian dollars your way.

Our visitor information staff our constantly asked for recommendations on where to eat. From bistros to cafes to delis, we get requests for every type of food in every community throughout the County. To help us better serve our customers, we are putting together a menu binder with copies of our local restaurant menus for visitors to browse. Please send us a copy of your menu so that we can include it in our binder. Even better, if you will supply us with 25 photocopies of your menu, we will be happy to give them out to visitors looking for dining options.

The NYS Division of Tourism has recently made the most recent economic development figures for tourism in Cayuga County available. In Cayuga County:

• Visitors spent $91,492 million in 2007 (up 8% over '06)
• Tourism employs 1942 people
• Tourism produces $5,797 million in local taxes

Birthday greetings to the Aurora Inn! The Aurora Inn celebrated its 175th anniversary in September with a day-long celebration. The inn was built in 1833, commissioned by Edwin Barber Morgan, co-founder of The New York Times.

The Center invites you to join them for their Grand Opening on Sunday, October 26th from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. The Center is home to a holistic health center and spa that delivers a new approach to health and wellness. During the Open House celebration, visitors will enjoy tours of the facility, light refreshments, free skin care analysis, chair massages, demonstrations, coupons, and drawings for gifts and services. The Center is located in the former St. John's Episcopal Church, located on the corner of Hoffman and East Genesee Streets in Auburn.