Westchester County Announces New Tourism Campaign

Westchester’s new tourism campaign “Beyond” was unveiled at Manhattanville College on Tuesday.
The new marketing campaign showcases striking photography – done by local Westchester County Photographer Rob D’Angelo – of destinations that delight visitors and exceed traveler expectations. Advertising is anchored in the tagline “Beyond expectations.”

“Westchester County is the heart of the Hudson Valley and is a destination that generates billions of dollars in tourism revenue for the region.  Today’s launch of our new tourism campaign – “Beyond” – showcases the County to attract new visitors for a getaway – a departure from the everyday.”

In 2019, Westchester County Department of Film & Tourism’s marketing firm conducted qualitative and quantitative research with leisure travelers, and meeting and event planners to gain insight on how those outside Westchester viewed the County’s strengths and appeal. This data helped the firm evolve Tourism’s creative approach into a new campaign aimed at differentiating Westchester by showing the true range of unique experiences available here to all types of potential visitors – both business and leisure.

The focus groups included leisure travelers from Stamford, CT, NYC and Marlton, NJ and meeting and event planners within the county and beyond. The data from these focus groups showed that the interest is there – with nearly 70% of those surveyed said that they are likely to visit Westchester County in the future.

Here were some of the findings:

• Visitor spending in Westchester supported 24,360 jobs directly and indirectly in 2018 – 5 % of all jobs in Westchester County. Westchester comprises 39% of all Hudson Valley Region visitor supported jobs;
• In total, visitor spending grew 5% in 2018, representing 45% of all visitor spending in the Hudson Valley region. This ranks Westchester County third in visitor spending in New York State – behind only New York City and Long Island.
• Tourism activity benefits many industry sectors in Westchester County with all visitor spending categories growing in 2018 to make up that nearly $2 billion record. Spending on lodging jumped 8%, followed by food & beverage and retail & service stations, up 5%. Recreation, transportation and spending on second homes also rose 4% each.
• Travel and tourism continue to be a significant driver of the County’s economy, providing revenue to support vital County services that residents rely on. Local taxes and state taxes generated $233M in 2018 from the travel and tourism industry alone.

Marsha Gordon, President and CEO of the Business Council of Westchester, praised the county on its efforts to boost tourism in Westchester.

“Tourism continues to be a major economic driver in Westchester,’’ said Gordon. “Visitors to the county generate tax dollars as well as traffic to local businesses.’’