AMHERST — A marketing campaign to attract tourists to Amherst and surrounding communities, targeting people interested in outdoor getaways and cultural attractions, is underway.
The “What’s Next” initiative, along with the greateramherst.com website, is being launched using a $116,655 state Travel and Tourism Recovery Grant
“We talk about it as your next adventure is here,” says Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Claudia Pazmany. “We want to get people to come here. We want to fill our restaurants and our hotels.”
For Pazmany, the campaign builds upon a Destination Amherst campaign to have visitors come to town. The hope is this will provide an important boost to getting people to travel from 50 or more miles away to think of the Amherst area as a place to hike a trail, swim in a pond or visit a museum.
“This has allowed us to dream bigger,” Pazmany said.
Pazmany said the grant money, which is also paying for increased staffing at the Visitor Information Center, is an incredible tool for rebuilding Amherst from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The marketing initiative, put together by Tigerweb, an Amherst-based marketing company, uses photography, video and creative content to focus on outdoor recreational sites, art and cultural institutions, including museums and historical sites, and farm-to-table restaurants.
Most of this will show up on digital platforms for people living outside Massachusetts, such as on Google Ads and Google Maps, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Pandora and Trip Advisor.
The Amherst Business Improvement District is a partner in the campaign.
“What has been missing has been selling this area as a destination,” said Amherst BID Executive Director Gabrielle Gould.
Gould said there has been a need to focus on assets beyond the dining scene.
“To sell Greater Amherst, we have to stop focusing on just food and retail and that we really have the best of all worlds here, a natural playground,” Gould said,
Using a “Your Next” theme, the website allows visitors to click on links that give them a range of things to do while visiting.
For instance, the “Your Next… Global Dining Experience” brings people a list of restaurants in downtown Amherst and in Greater Amherst. The “Your Next… Day on the Water” takes people to regional and local attractions, such as the Quabbin Reservoir and Lake Wyola.
The greateramherst.com website states, “We’re ready when you are” and introduces visitors by describing Greater Amherst as “a place that helps you appreciate the beautiful outdoors. A setting for making meaningful, lifelong memories with friends and family. It’s a place where we can live, work, and enjoy life.”
At Bistro 63 last Thursday, Keiko Orrall, the executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, was on hand to see firsthand the work that has gone into the campaign, and was joined by state Reps. Mindy Domb of Amherst and Daniel Carey of Easthampton.
Amherst’s grant was part of $1.59 million provided to 59 tourism organizations and was the largest recovery grant in the Pioneer Valley, allowing the chamber to showcase the Amherst area, including Hadley, Belchertown, Sunderland, Leverett, Shutesbury and Pelham, as a hub for culture, education, dining, agriculture and local business.
The chamber is also partnering with the Five Colleges Consortium and Museums10, the Hampshire Regional Tourism Council and town officials in Amherst and Sunderland.
The work by Tigerweb also includes brand development, content creation, digital advertising, photography and video production. Pazmany observes that one of the main images of the What’s Next campaign is a blue arrow that gets brighter toward its end, illustrating the hope for the future.
Gould notes that the grant becomes part of $750,000 infused into the town’s business community over the past 18 months, from grants to payroll protection program loans.
“We feel like we’ve done a lot to sustain,” Gould said. “Now we want to rebuild.”
