The world is finally discovering that Auburn, Cayuga County, and the Finger Lakes Region are pretty amazing!

• In October, Forbes magazine named Auburn, NY as one of 'The Best Small Cities to Raise a Family' in the U.S. and #1 in the northeast! Solid average incomes, good educational prospects, low costs, short commute times and high rates of home ownership are all reasons why Auburn ranks as a great place to raise a family.

• In November, Travel & Leisure named Moro's Table, also in Auburn, as one of 'America's best wine country restaurants.' Chef Moro shares this distinction with restaurants from Oregon, California, and Michigan!

• In December, the Finger Lakes region of New York State was named a "Top Ten Value Destination for 2011" by Shermans Travel Just three destinations in the United States were named in the top ten!

Lucy Thomas joins the Tourism Office staff this month as our new Visitor Information Assistant, helping visitors with information on events, attractions, and accommodations as well as providing clerical assistance for the office. Lucy will be working part-time, allowing our Digital Marketing Manager, Maureen McEvers, to concentrate more of her time to the ever-increasing demand for on-line marketing. You may recognize Lucy's voice as she volunteered with us for more than a year!

We have produced a children's coloring book called 'Let's Color Cayuga' to help kids learn about some of our County's special people, places and experiences while having fun. The coloring books are wildly popular and have been sent to kids around the country and even abroad. Our hope is that local children will learn what a cool place they live in and become tourism ambassadors of the future and that kids that don't live here will encourage their parents to visit Cayuga County soon!

Central New York Snowmobile Trail maps are now available at the Tourism Office. This popular map will take you from Tug Hill to Lake Ontario to Whitney Point and includes trails in Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga and Tompkins Counties. Maps are $5.00 and can be picked up at the office Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The 2011 Visitors Guide to Cayuga County and FREE Map are on press as I am writing this newsletter. These are the best tools in addition to our website, tourcayuga.com, to guide visitors around the county. Please call the Office, 315.255.1658 and arrange to pick up your supply of brochures and maps.

You may have noticed that the outside of the Tourism Office looks a bit different. Our office space has been extended, giving us more room to better display visitor information. We will also be able to host small displays on a rotating basis promoting tourism attractions and events. If you are interested in reserving exhibit space for your tourism business or attraction, please call the Tourism Office at 315.255.1658 and ask for Barb. Renovations should be complete in February.

Let us help you promote your 2011 tourism events. Just email barb@tourcayuga.com with your event information and we will post it on our tourcayuga.com website. Event information is also used for various other promotional purposes. The sooner you get us your information, the better!

The numbers are not all in, but it looks like tourism in Cayuga County is on the upswing. Year to date occupancy as of the end of November 2010 saw a 10.4% change to the positive over 2009, with average daily rates holding their own and revenue per available room increasing. We hope this upward trend continues throughout 2011 but the tourism 'gurus' of the world are forecasting only a gradual improvement, so we will be moving forward with 'cautious optimism.'