The Cayuga County Office of Tourism takes the opportunity every year to look back on our goals, objectives, programs, and services. Our Annual Report creates a snapshot that summarizes the year and also provides data on the most recent tourism statistics and trends. For a copy of the report go to the 'partners' link on www.tourcayuga.com and click on Annual Report or stop in the Tourism Office.

The most recent visitor spending numbers provided by 'Tourism Economics' for the NYS Division of Tourism have been released. In 2008 visitors to Cayuga County spent the following:

• Lodging - $24.25 million
• Recreation - $3.66 million
• Food & Beverage - $20.40 million
• Retail & Service Stations - $17.61 million
• Transportation - $8.72 million
• Second Homes - $13.82 million
• TOTAL VISITOR SPENDING - $88.46 million

Maureen McEvers, Digital Marketing Manager for the Cayuga County Office of Tourism, attended the NY Times Travel show in NYC, February 6-8, representing Cayuga County and the Finger Lakes. The show is the largest consumer and travel event of its kind in the U.S. with nearly 500 exhibitors representing over 100 countries and more than 18,000 attendees.

Each year and throughout the year, the Cayuga County Office of Tourism looks at consumer trends, demographic and psychographic information for our target markets areas, as well as past marketing efforts to create a marketing plan for the upcoming year that is achievable within our budget. For a copy of the most current Marketing Plan, go to the 'partners' link on www.tourcayuga.com and click on Marketing Programs.

The Tourism Office has created a new section on our web site just for visitors planning to bring a group to Cayuga County. Information on venues, suppliers and activities is now readily available by visiting www.tourcayuga.com/groups. Whether the group is 20 people arranging a family reunion or 200 people coming for an annual convention this new feature will make the planning process just a little easier. Please encourage your group planners to visit this new portion of the TourCayuga.com web site when planning their meetings, bus tours and social activities.

If you have an event that you want visitors to know about, make sure we post it on the www.tourcayuga.com events calendar. If it's not already listed, email your information to Maureen@tourcayuga.com and she will be happy to post it for you. Be sure to include all pertinent details including date, time, location, phone number, web site, and brief description of your event.

• National Tourism Week 2009 will be celebrated May 9th-17th. This is a great time to recognize the 1343 jobs that tourism supports in Cayuga County.
• The Cayuga County Convention and Visitors Bureau will hold its Annual Meeting at Burritt's Café in Weedsport on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. The program includes election of board members, tourism awards and historian Joni Lincoln speaking on the history of the Weedsport area. All tourism partners and community leaders are invited to attend. Call 315-255-1658 to R.S.V.P.
• Our annual familiarization tour for front-line travel and tourism staff will be held June 4th. This year's tour will have a "Team of Rivals" theme. Stay tuned for details.
• The City of Auburn will be celebrating Alaska's 50th anniversary of Statehood as part of its Founder's Day Celebration on June 6th. A parade, vendors, music and other entertainment will be sure to make this a very special event.