| Hampton Inn Expands Brand in South County |
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 The doors of the new Hampton Inn South Kingstown are now open and join the Hampton Inn Coventry to welcome visitors to South County. This new 100-room, full-service hotel is located on Route 1 in the South County Commons and offers complimentary hot breakfast, oversized indoor pool, state-of-the-art fitness center and meeting space. The South County Tourism Council is very pleased to welcome the new Hampton Inn to our family of South County accommodations! |
| South County Tourism Council Website Upgrades |
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Improvements are continually being made to the South County Tourism Council's website, www.southcountyri.com. We have added more enticing key search phrases and a new site map, thus enhancing our website ranking on major search engines so visitors can easily find our site in Internet searches.
With these recent upgrades, our site has received an increase in total visitors and traffic from search engines over the past months - December 2007 experienced a 28% increase in total visits and 44% increase in traffic from search engines; January 2008 saw increases of 23% and 61% and February's increases were 17% and 35%, respectively.
The Council's website is featuring new spring photographs to show visitors all the attributes of South County as the weather gets warmer. If you haven't seen our website lately, be sure to check it out. |
| TRIP and TRAVEL TALK Hightlights South County |
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On Sunday, March 9, 2008, South County Tourism Council was featured on TRIP and TRAVEL TALK, a weekly program airing on CRN Digital Radio reaching 24 million households. Council President, Myrna George, noted the many charms of our region and offered an invitation to the audience to come see for themselves why South County is so special. The interview was a true collaboration of tourism leaders promoting the beauty of Rhode Island during the one-hour show, including Martha Sheridan, President of the Providence/Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau; Evan Smith, President of the Newport County Convention & Visitors Bureau and Bob Billington, President of the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council.
TRIP and TRAVEL TALK is a new weekly program that highlights vacation fun and lifestyle and showcases cities and towns around the globe. Hosted by travel industry veterans, Mike Alvich and Tom Lewis, the program currently airs nationwide on CRN Digital Talk Radio's CRN1 channel on Sundays at 5:00pm. The program is also streamed online at www.crntalk.com. CRN Digital Talk Radio is the world's first original cable audio service. It reaches more than 24 million households nationally and abroad through cable television, broadcast radio, satellite and the Internet. |
| Extra, Extra...Read All About It |
Paul Kandarian, freelance writer for the Boston Globe, stopped by South County Tourism Council's office, unexpectedly, looking for story ideas on South Kingstown. Council President, Myrna George, provided an overview of several unique treasures of our towns and the particulars of each village. He was fascinated with Kenyon's Grist Mill and Usquepaug, but did not know it was part of South Kingstown. He wrote a terrific article that appeared in the March 19 edition of The Globe, which mentioned area B&Bs, museums, galleries, retail stores, restaurants and beaches. For the complete article click here.
Several local gardens were spotlighted in the Spring 2008 issue of "People Places Plants: The Magazine for Northeast Gardeners". Dr. Richard Churchill, Associate Editor and co-founder of the magazine, visited Wickford Village, marveled at the gardens and landscape of Wickford Junction Inn, stopped to view the 18th-century period garden at Smith's Castle, toured the grounds at Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum and wandered the four-acre URI Botanical Gardens.
The William C. O'Neill Bike Path was featured in the Day Tripper article in Newport Life's Spring 2008 issue, complete with the history and detailed description from the beginning of the path to the end, photos, access points and maps. |
| Saving Lives One Pint at a Time |
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The South County Tourism Council held its 4th annual blood drive on Thursday, February 28 at the Stedman Government Center. Karen Cooke, Marketing/Program Manager, coordinated the event, which generated eleven pints of blood, making this year's drive the most successful to date. The total quantity donated since 2004 is 56 pints, which has affected 162 people in Rhode Island! We thank those individuals who gave their time and blood to help save lives! |
| Coming Soon - 7th Annual South County Photo Contest |
Season photographs capturing the beauty and charm of Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Hopkinton, Narragansett, North Kingstown, Richmond, South Kingstown, Westerly and West Greenwich are desired! The 7th Annual South County Photo Contest deadline is August 6th. For entry form and contest rules, click here. |
| Mark Your Calendars! |
The second New England Culinary Tourism Symposium - How Culinary Tourism Can Vitalize A Community: One Plate At A Time is April 27 -29, 2008, at the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut. To register please RSVP to Katrina White, Rhode Island Tourism Division, 401-278-9150 or [email protected]. Culinary tourists are also cultural tourists and spend more in your destinations than the average visitor, and the symposium is a great way to learn how to market to these savvy travelers. |
| Marketing Initiatives |
South County Tourism Council's continued annual participation at the American Bus Association Marketplace produced great results. Two of South County's annual events, the Rhythm & Roots Festival and Charlestown Seafood Festival, have made ABA's "Top 100 Events to Attend in North America" two years in a row. New contacts were made and leads generated from the tradeshow have been distributed to all accommodations.
The Council was represented at the AAA Marketplace at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, by Karen Cooke, Marketing/Program Manager. As reported by AAA, the three-day travel show saw a 17% increase in traffic over last year's attendance. |
| Sweenor's Chocolates Provides Sweet Treats |
 The South County Tourism Council was present for the unveiling of the RI Tourism Division's 2009 Travel Guide at the Statewide Spring Travel Kickoff at the Johnson & Wales Culinary Museum. Each tourism region served desserts representing their area after the reception, and Sweenor's Chocolates, 3rd and 4th generation confectioners for more than 50 years, graciously donated their famous chocolates that everyone truly enjoyed!!! |
| Local Attractions Gearing Up For Tour RI |
"Tour Rhode Island: There's No Place Like Home" is a statewide collaboration of the RI Tourism Division, South County Tourism Council and six other tourism regions. On Saturday, May 3, 2008, South County's bus tours are the "Where Nature Meets History Tour," consisting of tours at the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace Museum, Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum, Kenyon's Grist Mill and Smith's Castle; and "Arts & Culture Tour," consisting of tours at the General Nathanael Greene Homestead, Babcock-Smith House, Wilcox Park, Langworthy Farm Winery and South County Museum. Both South County tours sold out in the first two weeks!
Bloom Charter Service, a sponsor of Tour Rhode Island, has requested all regional attraction contacts for their upcoming August tour products. |
| Intern's Corner |
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Hello! I'm Matt Gallo and I'm the current intern at South County Tourism Council. I am a senior at the University of Rhode Island and I am studying Business Management. I could not have chosen a better environment for my internship; the small setting allows me to have one-on-one time with my co-workers, giving me the maximum learning experience. While I have been here, I have sold listings for the wedding insert, worked on the website media room, and also helped design travel itineraries. I will take the skills I have learned along with me in the future, and I will never forget all the great people here at South County Tourism Council. | |
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Did You Know?
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Opening day for trout fishing season is April 12.
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Tourism Recreational fishing generates $160 million to the State of Rhode Island.
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More than $24 million in wages and 1,000 jobs are tied directly to saltwater recreational fishing in Rhode Island.
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More than 50% of saltwater anglers in Rhode Island are from out-of-state.
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