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.

Here is an update on the work of our tourism arm – Visit North Central Massachusetts – over the Winter to promote and market North Central Massachusetts as a destination for visitors and groups. 

We continued to utilize a diverse mix of digital and print advertising in target markets to promote the region, including geo-targeted digital ads, a paid YouTube advertising campaign and print advertisements in Bay State Parent. During the winter season we also partnered with the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, Massachusetts Ski Resort Association, and the Berkshires and Franklin County Convention and Visitors Bureaus on a special #SkiMass campaign to promote the state to skiers and snowboarders. The campaign included a mix of paid digital media on Facebook and Instagram in the target markets of Greater Boston, New Hampshire, New York and Connecticut.

Our Facebook following has grown 5.8% over the winter season and a whopping 290% compared to the same period last year! This is primarily due to our rebranding and our strategy of utilizing a combination of Facebook ads, compelling content and video. Our Instagram following grew by 6% and our Twitter grew by 11% during the Winter season. We also released a new tourism video on our social media channels highlighting the dynamic region. A special thank you to Wilspro Entertainment and music artist Joshua Radin for his song “Going With You” which is featured in the new video. 

Our tourism website – VisitNorthCentral.com – saw a 192% increase in traffic over the same period last year.  Primary origins for the majority of visitors included the New England states and Canada. Winter themed blog articles on the website included “Take The Ski Train,” “Sleigh Bells Ring,” and “Feathered Fun.” 

Hotel occupancy was up 3% in the region compared to the month of January last year. The state saw a 4.3% increase compared to January of last year. Revenue per available room (RevPar) for January 2020 was up 5.5% for the region compared to January 2019 and the state was up 4.5% compared to January 2019. All data is from the most recent STR report (occupancy data for February has not been released as of printing). 

Visit North Central Massachusetts was also busy promoting the region at trade shows. We showcased the region at the Great Bridal Expo held in Boston, promoting our beautiful wedding venues to future brides and grooms from throughout New England. Plans are currently underway to participate in the Dreams and Destinations Travel Show in Springfield, MA in May. We will be showcasing our region for the first time at this trade show that targets visitors from Western Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut. We will also be participating in the Discover New England Industry Show taking place in Maine. 

The Spring/Summer 2020 Guide to North Central Massachusetts is now available.  Due to higher demand, we have increased our printing by 15% and expanded distribution in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, the South Shore, Boston and even Canada (our region’s biggest international market).  The Guide to North Central Massachusetts can now also be found across all terminals inside Boston’s Logan Airport. 

We are currently seeking partners for upcoming co-op opportunities in the Spring and Summer. Please contact David Ginisi, Marketing and Communications Manager, if you are interested and would like additional information.