Transform Your Business’s Visibility in North Central Massachusetts!

Showcase your brand in the upcoming Spring/Summer Guide to North Central Massachusetts – the region’s premier lifestyle and tourism publication that captures the essence of our vibrant region. This stunning, full-color magazine reaches an engaged audience of residents, visitors, and business leaders who are actively exploring everything our dynamic region has to offer.

Why advertise with us?

  • Premium Distribution: 35,000+ copies strategically placed across 200+ high-traffic locations
  • Maximum Exposure: Featured at the bustling Johnny Appleseed Visitors Center on Route 2, 46 AAA offices statewide, numerous locations throughout the region and beyond, and posted online
  • Targeted Reach: Connect with affluent readers actively seeking local experiences, services, and businesses
  • Lasting Impact: Our high-quality, glossy format ensures your ad maintains its visual appeal throughout the season

Don’t wait – prime advertising spaces are filling fast! Secure your spot in this influential publication by contacting Diane Burnette today.

Email:

Position your business where it deserves to be – at the forefront of North Central Massachusetts’ most trusted guide to regional excellence.


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Visit North Central Massachusetts Tourism Update – Winter 2024

Record-Breaking Tourism Growth

North Central Massachusetts continues to grow as a premier New England destination, with visitor spending reaching an impressive $496.9 million in CY2023—a 1.1% increase from 2022 and a remarkable 19.7% jump from 2019. The results come from a new economic impact study recently unveiled by the state. Our thriving tourism sector now supports 4,300 local jobs and generates $117.3 million in direct earnings, while contributing $8.2 million in local tax revenue and $33 million in state taxes. Our tourism impact extends deeper into the local economy through indirect spending, creating a powerful multiplier effect. When local hospitality, restaurants and other businesses in the local visitor economy thrive then they in turn invest in various local services and suppliers further contributing to our region’s economic growth.

Expanding Our Reach & Regional Partnerships & Media Engagement

We have strengthened our “Super Region” collaboration with two neighboring regional tourism councils (Discover Central MA and MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau), launching an innovative off-season marketing campaign. Through partnerships with CM Communications, a specialized Boston-based PR agency, we have hosted regional travel writer press trips and we also participated again in the Dream Destinations Travel Show this past fall, positioning our region as a must-visit destination.

Digital Presence & Engagement

Our social media impact continues to grow. From July 1, 2024 through the first week of November, our Visit North Central Massachusetts Facebook page had a total reach of 470,665, a 24.2% increase over the same timeframe the previous year. Our Facebook channel also attracted 6,000 new followers. In addition, the page also had 9,145 content interactions and 8,767 link clicks during the same timeframe. On Instagram, the page achieved a reach of 19,226 and we gained 167 new followers. We also had 2,323 content interactions and 259 link clicks during the same timeframe. From July 1, 2024 to the end of October, VisitNorthCentral.com saw continued growth with 58,500+ visitors, an 89% increase over the same timeframe the previous year, and 93,700+ pageviews, a 60% increase.

Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center Updates

Thanks to funding from several local cultural councils, we were able to successfully host our “Saturday Showcase” initiative again during weekends this fall season at the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center. These popular events highlighted local culture and experiences in the region through an engaging mix of activities. Visitors enjoyed musical performances, meet-and-greets with local authors, face painting, arts and crafts demonstrations, and even visits from alpacas from local farms, among many other memorable experiences.

On the infrastructure front, we’ve completed important improvements in partnership with MassDOT to ensure reliable year-round service at the center. Recent upgrades include a new furnace and building generator installation. Additionally, we are excited to announce that several fast-charging EV car stations will soon be installed at the center as part of a national infrastructure initiative to expand charging stations along major highways. This addition will help us better serve the growing number of electric vehicle travelers along Route 2.

Guide to North Central

The Fall/Winter edition of the Guide to North Central Massachusetts was published in September and is continuing to see strong demand.  This publication is a glossy, full color magazine which we publish to showcase our region through compelling stories and strong visuals.  In collaboration with Sitka Creations, we are currently working on the 2025 Spring/Summer edition. Members interested in advertising should contact the Chamber to reserve an ad.

Email Newsletter

Our new quarterly visitor opt-in electronic newsletter now reaches over 3,200 subscribers, maintaining an impressive 44% open rate and 8% click-through rate—above industry standards.

Branding & Advertising

We are launching two exciting tourism campaigns for North Central Massachusetts, supported by grants from the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism and the Massachusetts 250th Anniversary celebration. Running from January through June 2025, these strategic initiatives will showcase our region’s unique attractions and rich heritage to visitors from both nearby states and across the region.

Our Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism campaign leverages an integrated approach combining targeted print and digital media. The campaign’s messaging continues to emphasize our region’s convenient location and authentic New England charm with compelling taglines such as “Everything You Love About New England… A Lot Closer to Home” and “Drive To, Not Through, North Central MA.” These messages position our region as a destination worth exploring rather than simply passing through.

In parallel, our Massachusetts 250th Anniversary campaign celebrates our region’s revolutionary spirit and ongoing transformation. Through carefully crafted messaging like “North Central Massachusetts is Revolutionary” and “North Central Massachusetts: A Region in Revolution,” we’ll highlight our area’s significant role in both historical and modern revolutions. From our pivotal contributions to the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions to today’s vibrant economic and cultural renaissance, the campaign tells the story of a region that continues to evolve while honoring its historic roots in the agricultural and industrial revolution.

Photography & Visual Content

We coordinated a series of professional photo shoots to capture the authentic character and vibrant offerings of North Central Massachusetts. Our shoots showcased four of the region’s most iconic attractions and fourteen distinctive local restaurants, creating a rich library of compelling visuals. These new images beautifully portray the unique experiences awaiting visitors to our region, from historic landmarks to contemporary dining destinations. The fresh photography will enhance our marketing efforts across our website, social media channels, email campaigns, and printed materials, helping us tell our region’s story in a more engaging and visually appealing way.

We’re always eager to expand our visual storytelling capabilities. If your business or attraction has high-quality photos that capture the spirit of North Central Massachusetts, we’d love to feature them in our marketing initiatives. Whether it’s seasonal events, behind-the-scenes moments, or stunning views of your location, sharing your images helps us showcase the full breadth of experiences our region offers. Please contact the Chamber to learn more.

New Sports Tourism Opportunity

We have partnered with Playeasy, a comprehensive digital platform connecting sports event organizers with local venues and businesses. This “one-stop shop” streamlines event planning—from venue selection to hotel bookings—while showcasing our region’s facilities and attractions to organizers nationwide. The platform generates qualified leads for our member venues and businesses, creating new opportunities for our members.

We invite you to join us in promoting our region’s unique attractions and experiences. Stay tuned for more updates and opportunities to get involved!


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North Central Massachusetts celebrates Johnny Appleseed’s 250th birthday

Celebration recognizes American pioneer, folk hero of Massachusetts born in Leominster

Johnny-Appleseed-Visitor-Center-celebrates-Johnny-Apppleseed-250th-Birthday

Sabbra Reyes, Assistant Manager, Johnny Appleseed Visitors Center, and Diane Burnette, Manager, Johnny Appleseed Visitors Center, are joined by two alpacas and staff from Plain View Farm, Hubbardston, Mass.

State and local officials, and community, business and tourism leaders joined members of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and Visit North Central Massachusetts to commemorate the 250th birthday of John Chapman (known as “Johnny Appleseed”) who was born in the city of Leominster on September 26, 1774.

While Appleseed was born and raised in Leominster, he is considered the Commonwealth’s official folk hero and an early environmentalist. He traveled for nearly 50 years across the nation strategically planting apple seeds with an eye toward a future market for crops, and sold or often gave away seeds and seedlings to settlers in communities.

Mark Bodanza, a local historian and author of “Johnny Appleseed – the Man Behind the Folklore,” spoke during the event about the history of Johnny Appleseed and its significance not only in the region, but also around the world.

“Johnny Appleseed may be one of the most enigmatic figures in American history,” Bodanza said. “People near and far from his Leominster birthplace, know of his journey. Those treks not only included planting apple seedlings for pioneers but also the spreading of his religious beliefs and minimalist lifestyle. One of America’s most unusual characters, Johnny Appleseed’s legacy speaks to us today as a gentle reminder of slowing down, consuming only what is necessary, and remaining steadfast in one’s personal beliefs despite popular opinion.”

The event was held at the Johnny Appleseed Visitors Center, which is considered by many the gateway to North Central Massachusetts and the last stop before entering Appleseed’s hometown of Leominster.

Those attending today’s event included State Representative Natalie Higgins; State Representative Meg Kilcoyne; and Jonathan Gulliver from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Members of the Leominster High School Marching Band performed American classics, and a special appearance was made by “Johnny Appleseed,” who interacted with attendees and enjoyed a slice of birthday cake.

During today’s celebration, a new apple tree was planted at the center to commemorate Appleseed’s 250th birthday.

Leominster-High-School-Band

Members of the Leominster High School Marching Ban

“While we all have the image of Johnny Appleseed wearing a stewpot hat with a bag on his back spreading apple seeds across the countryside, he also was a successful businessman who helped many new communities flourish,” said Roy M. Nascimento, president and CEO, Visit North Central Massachusetts and the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. “Today we celebrate his birth by planting an apple tree for the visitors of our region to enjoy and remember his legacy of supporting pioneers and planting seeds to provide nourishing food for generations.”

The Johnny Appleseed Visitors Center, operated by the Johnny Appleseed Trail Association (which does business as Visit North Central Massachusetts), is far from your typical rest stop. This unique destination showcases Johnny Appleseed’s legacy and North Central Massachusetts’ rich agricultural and industrial heritage through a curated collection of historical items, local art, and engaging displays.

At the entrance, visitors are greeted by a popular bronze sculpture of young Johnny Appleseed, crafted by local artist Peter Cote. The center’s grounds feature 91 apple trees, including three Rambo trees that are direct descendants of the last known tree planted by Appleseed himself. A replica colonial-era home, representative of Appleseed’s living quarters, adds historical context. The grounds also boast artistic benches, including a Johnny Appleseed-inspired ski lift chair donated by Wachusett Ski Area converted into a unique seating area and another hand carved wooden bench created by a local wood sculptor and representative of the proud heritage in the furniture industry.

Inside, the center displays local arts and crafts, seasonal murals, historical items from throughout the region, and vintage Johnny Appleseed memorabilia. A popular gift shop sells local items, including jams, jellies, candy, apple-related products, and a variety of books about Johnny Appleseed and the region’s history.

Perhaps most striking is the “Big Apple of New England,” the largest apple structure of its kind in the region, which has become a favorite spot for visitors taking selfies.

The Johnny Appleseed Visitors Center is open seven days a week, 361 days a year from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It only closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Independence Day and early on Christmas Eve.


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Fall 2024 Tourism Update

As we conclude the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, the Chamber is pleased to share this update of our tourism affiliate Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM). This report highlights our marketing efforts, achievements, and future plans to promote our region as a premier destination.

Branding & Advertising

Our advertising strategy combined print and digital media across target markets, with messaging such as “Everything You Love About New England… A Lot Closer to Home.” and “Drive to, not through, North Central MA” through various channels, including:

  • Paid social media campaigns via MassLive
  • Search Engine Marketing through Local IQ
  • Print/digital campaigns in Boston Magazine
  • Digital and email campaign with AAA
  • Digital bundle campaign with Yankee Publishing

These efforts showcased our region’s diverse attractions and increased web traffic, aiming to captivate potential visitors and encourage exploration of North Central Massachusetts.

Visitor Guide

We also published the Fall/Winter edition of the Guide to North Central Massachusetts, a popular glossy, full-color magazine aimed at informing and inspiring readers. It showcases the region as a unique destination for living, working, and visiting. We printed 40,000 copies per edition and distributed them to 350 high-traffic locations throughout New England through AAA and CTM Media Group. A digital version is also shared on our website, social media, via email, and shared with the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT) to maximize its reach and engagement.

FAM Trips & Travel Shows

We actively participated in Familiarization Trips & Travel Shows. We also continued our “Super Region” collaboration with two other Central Massachusetts Regional Tourism Councils (Discover Central MA and MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau), implementing an off-season marketing campaign. We hosted two regional travel writer press trips in January and March to assist us with generating more interest in the region among the travel media and other travel influencers. We have several advertising campaigns underway and are working with CM Communications, a Boston-based PR Agency that specializes in destination marketing. Our participation in the Dream Destination Travel Show in October also further promoted our region as a desirable travel destination.

Social Media

We maintained a strong presence on social media throughout the year. From January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024, our Visit North Central Massachusetts Facebook page had a total reach of 500,291, a 21% decrease over the previous six months, but a 17% increase over the same timeframe the previous year. Our Facebook channel also attracted 4,068 new followers, an 11.66% increase over the previous six months. In addition, the page also had 7,400 content interactions and 12,600 link clicks during the same timeframe. Paid reach was 250,017 and 1,395,876 paid impressions. On Instagram, the page achieved a reach of 43,700, a 33.9% decrease over the previous six months, but a 250% increase over the same timeframe the previous year. We gained 419 new followers, had 2,300 content interactions and 1,200 link clicks during the same timeframe.

Website

Our tourism website, Visitnorthcentral.com, has experienced growth in traffic for FY24. Google Analytics indicates that our website experienced a 44.5% increase in pageviews; a 51.1% increase in sessions; and a 48.1% increase in unique users from January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024, when compared to the same timeframe in 2023. During the same time period, we also had over 1,587,649 Google impressions. Additionally, we are actively aligning the content of Visit North Central’s seasonal landing pages with our SEO strategy to maintain consistency with our SEM campaign efforts.

Lodging & Other Data

STR data through June indicates that YTD hotel occupancy was 73.6%, a 2.6% increase over the previous year; ADR was $187.81, which is a 1.8% decrease; RevPar was $138.21, a 0.8% increase over the previous year; total room revenue was down 3.8%; and rooms sold was down 2.1%. AirDNA data indicates that short-term rentals in the region have continued to trend upwards, growing from 4.4% of total lodging revenue in the region in FY23 to 5.7% in FY24. Research from Datafy indicates that the region had 4,428,731 trips in FY24 and 8,346,506 visitor days. Average length of stay in the region was 1.9 days and our top four origin markets were Boston; Hartford/New Haven; New York; and Providence-New Bedford.

Email Newsletter

We launched a quarterly Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM) subscription-based email newsletter to help promote the region to visitors. Our VNCM email list already has 3,117 subscribers and has an average open rate of 46% and click-through rate of 9%.

Looking Ahead

As we enter the Fall season, our focus remains on showcasing North Central Massachusetts as a premier destination for outdoor enthusiasts and those seeking authentic New England experiences. Our strategic approach includes:

  • Enhancing our digital marketing presence
  • Developing exciting seasonal itineraries
  • Targeting the Route 2 corridor with geofenced ads
  • Refreshing our website homepage for improved user experience
  • Continuing to highlight outdoor attractions and traditional New England experiences

We’re implementing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, including paid search, social media advertising, targeted YouTube ads, and organic engagement. By combining these strategies, we aim to engage a broader audience and demonstrate the unique benefits of visiting North Central Massachusetts.

We invite you to join us in promoting our region’s unique attractions and experiences. Stay tuned for more updates and opportunities to get involved!


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Visit North Central Massachusetts Tourism Update

Here is a recap of efforts over the Spring from the Chamber’s destination marketing arm, Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM).

Website
We continue to see strong growth in our website traffic to our tourism website – Visitnorthcentral.com. Users for FY24 are up 54.99% compared to the same timeframe the previous year and pageviews are up 54.66%. We are averaging about 18,237 pageviews each month for FY24. Furthermore, efforts are underway to align the content of Visit North Central’s seasonal landing pages with our SEO strategy to ensure consistency with its SEM campaign.

Tourism Advertising
We have continued with our efforts to effectively promote the region through a combination of print and digital advertising tactics tailored to our targeted markets. Our winter & spring campaigns have been featured on AAA Northeast, Boston Magazine, Boston Spirit, Hearst WCVB, LocaliQ, and MassLive. We actively engaged with travelers at the Dream Destination Travel Show held in Springfield this April, and we’re gearing up to participate once more in October. These efforts underscore our commitment to showcasing the region as a desirable travel destination.

Branding
As we transition into spring and summer, we are collaborating with photographers improve the Chamber’s photo library to capture the essence of North Central Massachusetts, focusing on its vibrant restaurant scene, exciting events, and abundant outdoor recreation opportunities.

Social Media
Our Visit North Central Massachusetts Facebook & Instagram accounts have a combined following of 39,217. Our ongoing priority is to expand our social media reach and nurture meaningful engagement with our audience.

Shoulder Season Campaign
In collaboration with two other Regional Tourism Councils, we have been continuing to implement an off-season marketing campaign funded from a federal grant. We have advertising campaigns with Hearst Digital Story Studio, Yankee Magazine and several regional publications.

Public Relations
As part of the shoulder season campaign, we hired CM Communications, a Boston-based PR Agency that specializes in destination marketing, to assist us with generating more interest in the three regions among the travel media and other travel influencers. Visit North Central Massachusetts hosted Press Familiarization Trips in February and March as part of a tour of Central Massachusetts. The tour of our region included visits to Great Wolf New England, Wachusett Mountain Ski Area, Wachusett Brewery, Letz Rage, the Icon Museum and Fitchburg Art Museum. The Fam Trips, attended by travel writers, regional bloggers and social media influencers specializing in ‘Family Travel’ and “Arts & Culture” also included stops in the Discover Central MA and MetroWest areas.

MA Office Of Travel & Tourism
Several members of the Chamber staff attended the MA Governor’s Conference on Travel & Tourism in early April in Boston. This was the first statewide tourism conference since before COVID and provided excellent networking opportunities with other tourism leaders and state officials, as well as valuable seminars on a variety of topics, including public relations, AI and sports marketing. The Chamber also met this spring with the new Director of the Mass 250th Celebration to review ways to coordinate the event with the celebration surrounding Johnny Appleseed’s 250th Birthday.

Visitor Center
Our Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center in Lancaster is entering its busy season. We have continued to make improvements to the center, including investing in a new electronic door counter to give us more accurate estimates of traffic at the center, and adding an additional National Park style informational sign on the grounds. A new furnace is scheduled to be installed this Spring. Our vision is to not only be the best visitor center in the state, but to also transform the center into a destination in its own right that provides an engaging experience and encourages visitors to learn more about the region’s communities and local attractions. Retail sales at the gift shop are up modestly about 5%. We had 28,176 visitors at the center from January to April 30. Our visitor count has been going up each month, and we expect the numbers to climb much higher now that we are entering our busy season.

Email Newsletter
We recently launched a monthly Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM) subscription based email newsletter to help promote the region to visitors. The our VNCM email list already has 2,897 subscribers and has an average open rate of 49% and click through rate of 9%.


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Visit North Central Massachusetts Tourism Update

Here is a recap of efforts over the Winter from the Chamber’s destination marketing arm, Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM).

Advertising & Promotion

Throughout the Winter, we continued to promote the region with a blend of print and digital advertising strategies across our target markets. The creative messaging for these ads focuses on “Everything You Love About New England… A Lot Closer to Home”. We also encouraged travelers to visit the region with the tag: “Drive to, not through, North Central MA.” To achieve this, we focused on developing fresh and engaging content for our website. This included creating captivating Blog Articles as well as compiling a comprehensive listing of upcoming events. To attract more visitors from the drive market, we implemented a range of strategies combining both print, social media, paid search and digital advertising.

We invested in paid social media campaigns to reach a wider audience through MassLive; employed targeted and geofenced digital advertising to maximize our outreach through Cumulus; and utilized paid Search Engine Marketing techniques to improve our online visibility through Local IQ.  We also utilized print/digital campaigns through Boston Magazine and Boston Spirit; custom content listings and emails through Visit New England; and listings in Trip Advisor. All these efforts were carefully crafted to effectively showcase the diverse attractions and offerings of our region and to increase web traffic. By utilizing a combination of print and digital platforms, we aimed to captivate potential visitors and encourage them to explore the unique experiences available in North Central Massachusetts.

Visitor Guide

We published 40,000 copies of the Fall/Winter edition of the Guide to North Central Massachusetts, a popular glossy, full-color magazine aimed at informing and inspiring readers. It showcases the region as a unique destination for living, working, and visiting. The guide was distributed to over 300 high-traffic locations throughout New England and a digital version was also shared on our website, social media, via email, and shared with the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT) to maximize its reach and engagement.  We are currently working on finalizing the Spring/Summer edition.

Fam Trips & Travel Shows

We actively participated in FAM Trips & Travel Shows. We partnered with MOTT to host a familiarization tour for US Travel Media to our region.  We also continued our collaboration with two other Regional Tourism Councils (Discover Central MA and MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau), implementing an off-season marketing campaign funded from a federal grant. We have several advertising campaigns underway and are working with CM Communications, a Boston-based PR Agency that specializes in destination marketing, to assist us with generating more interest in the region among the travel media and other travel influencers.  We participated in the Dream Destinations Travel Show, American Bus Association Marketplace, and the North of Boston Tourism Summit to connect with tourism influencers and promote our region as a desirable travel destination.

Social Media & Website

From November 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024, Visit North Central Massachusetts’ Facebook page had a reach of 269,873, a 81.6% increase over the same time frame the previous year. Our Facebook channel also attracted 3,515 new followers, a 11.4% increase. Total followers are currently at 34,700.  In addition, the page also had 5,300 content interactions and 5,100 link clicks. Paid reach was 150,439 and 430,803 paid impressions. On Instagram, the page achieved a reach of 12,502, a 177.5% increase over the previous year, and gained 83 new followers for a total of 2,800. Our Instagram page also had 665 content interactions and 353 link clicks during the same timeframe.

Google analytics indicates that our website experienced a 21.5% increase in pageviews; a 27% increase in sessions; and a 24% increase in unique users from November 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023 when compared to the same timeframe the previous year. During the same time period we also had over 485,417 google impressions.

Lodging & Visitor Data

Lodging data was also very strong.  Data from Smith Travel Research indicates that YTD hotel occupancy through December was 73.4%, a 5% increase over the previous year; ADR was $181.65 which is a 5% increase; RevPar was $133.43, a 10.3% increase over the previous year; total room revenue was up 9.6%; and rooms sold was up 5%. Data from Datafy indicates that our top four origin markets were Boston; Hartford/New Haven; New York; and Providence-New Bedford.

What’s Next

As we move into the winter and spring seasons, our main objective is to raise awareness and attract visitors to North Central Massachusetts. We will continue implementing our successful strategies that highlight the region’s outdoor attractions and showcase traditional New England experiences. With people seeking outdoor activities, we aim to provide them with exciting itineraries for seasonal adventures in North Central Massachusetts. To achieve our goals, we are continuing to focus on a more digital marketing approach. This includes incorporating various tactics such as paid search, paid social media advertising, geofenced ads targeting the Route 2 corridor, digital display and sponsored content ads, print ads, targeted YouTube advertising, branded content, and organic social media engagement. In addition, we are continuing to work on refreshing our home page to ensure it aligns with our updated marketing efforts and provides a captivating user experience. By combining these strategies, we aim to engage a broader audience and encourage them to explore the benefits of visiting North Central Massachusetts compared to our neighboring states.

 


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Spring 2022 Tourism Update

The Chamber’s tourism arm, Visit North Central Massachusetts, focused its marketing efforts last quarter on promoting the region as a Winter destination, with a heavy emphasis on utilizing digital strategies.  We invested in an assorted mix of strong content on VisitNorthCentral.com highlighting winter activities and businesses. This included developing a new Winter landing page and blog articles such as “A Winter Getaway Might be Closer than you Think” and “Snow on the Mountain”. We also conducted several sponsored content campaigns targeted to the drive market. During the Winter season we also invested in some paid social media; targeted and geofenced digital advertising; YouTube advertising; and some limited print advertising. Our Facebook page garnered 221,443 impressions, reach of 78,845 and 8,004 engagements since the start of the Winter season. “Find Your…” was utilized as the overarching theme for our advertising campaigns during the season. The campaigns centered around the wide range of activities, lodging, restaurants, breweries and cultural attractions in North Central Massachusetts. Our winter activities were promoted as “Find Your Thrill” through geofenced digital ads on MassLive and LocalIQ affiliate websites and targeted YouTube advertising. The MassLive display ads garnered 251,401 impressions and 216 clicks thus far. The LocalIQ digital ads garnered 57,235 impressions and 72 clicks thus far. The targeted YouTube advertising campaign resulted in 98 clicks, 40,872 interactions and a 47.28% view rate. We also worked with MassLive and Telegram & Gazette to promote the region as a winter getaway destination through “Find Your Slice of Simplicity” branded content. The content focused on the unique lodging options, restaurants, museums and relaxing winter activities in the region. The MassLive content resulted in 39,701 impressions, click through rate of 0.61% and 244 clicks. The Telegram & Gazette content garnered 9,894 reads, a 20.06% click through rate, and 1,985 clicks. The sponsored social media post resulted in 6,247 link clicks, over 400 reactions, and nearly 150 shares. For print media, we advertised in AAA magazine in Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York as well as Baystate Parent monthly issues through “Find Your Winter Wonderland”. These advertisements were targeted towards families with young kids centered around the family-friendly experience our region provides. We also partnered with the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, the Massachusetts Ski Association and five other regional tourism councils on a collective winter campaign with Hearst media highlighting the state as a ski and winter destination. And, during the season we implemented some shop local marketing to promote supporting local businesses. Preliminary data from Arrivalist indicates a 14% increase in visitors traveling to the region over the same period the prior year, but down 27% over pre-pandemic 2019.  Top four origin markets were Boston; Rhode Island; Connecticut; and New York.

As we move in to the Spring, we will continue our past strategies of promoting the outdoor assets of our region as well highlighting local attractions and businesses. We will do so through pivoting to a more digital focused marketing mix with geofenced and targeted digital ads, connected-app streaming ads, targeted YouTube advertising, paid Pinterest ads, branded content, social media and print media. We are also planning to resume some sale development activities, including participating in some travel industry trade shows in the Spring to promote the region.

Tourism Update

The Chamber’s tourism arm, Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM), has developed its annual marketing plan to promote the region. As a result of the pandemic, VNCM plans to strategically shift its marketing resources in FY2021 to focus on helping our regional economy recover quickly and effectively from the disruption. The restaurants, retailers, hoteliers, farms and attractions that comprise our local visitor industry have been among the hardest hit by the disruption caused by this health crisis and will take the longest to recover. Marketing strategies in FY2021 will focus on Shop/Eat/Stay/Explore Local promotional efforts that encourage companies and residents to support local businesses during the recovery.  Marketing efforts will also target the regional drive market within a 250-mile radius, including key markets like Boston, Southern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island highlighting our advantages and safety.  Data and research from our economic development planning process suggests that we are well positioned to potentially benefit from the new environment and changing consumer demands, given our rural character, affordability and agricultural heritage. The plan was approved by the Board of Directors and submitted to the Mass Office of Travel and Tourism as part of our annual tourism grant submission. We also presented it to members during the Summer to gather input. It was well received by both MOTT and our members, however we are still waiting on state tourism funding in the state budget.

 

As part of this marketing/recovery plan, we focused our efforts in Q1 with updating our VisitNorthCentral.com website and social media platforms for the “new normal” including developing new locally focused content, developing new messaging, optimizing our site for new searches and utilizing digital and social media channels to promote, connect and engage with consumers. Messaging and themes have been centered around re-opening and supporting our businesses. “When it Matters Most” is being utilized as an overarching theme. It is important that our target audience understands why “spending local” is now more important than ever. Member-focused contests and promotions have also been utilized to drive engagement with messaging focused on the attributes of the region that appeal most to visitors, such as our safety as rural region and abundance of family-oriented activities. As we move into the traditionally busy Fall season and Q2, we plan to ramp up our paid digital advertising to promote the region and local businesses. We plan to focus primarily on digital media for now as it provides the greatest flexibility and allows us to adapt quickly if needed.  As we move into the Spring, we will start to leverage some print advertising. Our media buys will be dependent on the final receipt of our grant funding from the state.

 

Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 crisis, VNCM’s participation in several travel shows were cancelled including the Discover New England Summit in Maine, the Dream Destinations Showcase in Western Mass, and a major bridal expo in September.  We will resume these business development activities that play an important role in promoting the region to groups once it is safe to do so.