Tourism Update from Visit North Central Massachusetts

The following is an update from Visit North Central Massachusetts, the Chamber’s tourism promotion arm, on the region’s tourism marketing, visitor data, and related initiatives. This update originally appeared in the Fall 2026 edition of The Chamber Report, mailed in September.

Wrapping Up FY26, Looking Ahead to FY27

Visita el centro-norte de Massachusetts closed out Fiscal Year 2026 in June, a year that brought mixed results for the region’s tourism industry, and has since finalized its annual marketing plan for the year ahead. In July, we presented our FY27 funding request to the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT), which provides annual grant funding to regional tourism councils like ours, funding Visit North Central Massachusetts matches dollar for dollar to maximize our promotional reach, prioritizing the advertising and media outlets that delivered the strongest results for the region last year.

Fitchburg TDMD: Building the Foundation

This past year also brought the region’s first Tourism Destination Marketing District (TDMD) outside of Boston, following unanimous approval from the Fitchburg City Council and officially launching January 1, 2026. A TDMD works by adding a small assessment to a guest’s stay at a participating hotel, funds paid by visitors themselves, not businesses or local taxpayers, and reinvested directly into marketing and promoting that destination. It’s a self-sustaining model already used successfully in tourism destinations across the country: the more visitors a property attracts, the more resources are available to market the community and its destinations and attract even more visitors. Great Wolf Lodge is the District’s first participating property, and for our region, that means a new, sustainable tool to drive visitation and strengthen the broader visitor economy that benefits restaurants, retailers, and attractions well beyond the property itself.

Over the summer, the Chamber worked closely with Great Wolf Lodge to establish a budget framework and develop a preliminary marketing plan for the District. While we had initially expected to launch our first marketing campaign under the District this past July, that timeline shifted slightly as planning continued, and we’re now finalizing the plan and rolling out our first campaign this fall, starting with a video and content campaign produced with WCVB Hearst (see below). This work is separate from, and in addition to, our broader regional tourism marketing efforts, the TDMD is specifically focused on driving visibility and visitation tied to Fitchburg and Great Wolf Lodge, while our other tourism marketing continues to promote North Central Massachusetts as a whole.

Advertising & Marketing Update

This fall, we are producing two video content campaigns with WCVB Hearst, building on our WCVB advertising campaign from last year, which significantly exceeded its goals with 1.3 million impressions and more than 21,000 engagements.

One of this year’s campaigns, funded through the Fitchburg TDMD, will promote Great Wolf Lodge, while the other promotes the region as a whole, meaning every member business benefits from this campaign’s reach, regardless of industry.

We’re also continuing to work with the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT) throughout the year to reach new audiences, from a summer social media collaboration spotlighting the region’s farms and orchards to an October content creator visit and a fall presence at the Big E, where we’ll distribute our regional guides to the millions of visitors who attend from across New England.

And speaking of guides: our newly released Fall/Winter edition of the Guide to North Central Massachusetts is now in circulation, distributed locally and throughout New England as one of the region’s primary tools for reaching prospective visitors.

Digital & Social Media: FY26 Recap and a New Fiscal Year Underway

VisitNorthCentral.com attracted more than 63,000 users and generated over 107,000 page views in FY26, with 2.9 million impressions.

On social media, our Facebook and Instagram following grew to more than 49,000 followers generating 2.62 million impressions and 2.2 million views over the course of the year, with a 3.35% engagement rate.

The new fiscal year is off to a start as well: this summer, our social media content generated more than 310,000 views and over 10,000 engagements, a 3.18% engagement rate, while our website drew more than 10,000 active users, up 2.2% year-over-year, and logged more than 47,000 visits. Organic search traffic declined notably year-over-year, consistent with a broader industry trend toward “zero-click” searches, where users get the information they need directly from search results without visiting a website.

Desempeño de hospedaje

Fiscal Year 2026 (July 2025 – June 2026) closed with regional lodging occupancy at 63.2%, down 8.4% from the prior year, and total lodging revenue of $61.4 million, down 4.9% year-over-year. The most recent quarter (April–June 2026) showed a similar pattern, with occupancy at 62.7% (down 11.4%) but average daily rates up slightly (+1.1%), suggesting properties are holding pricing even as occupancy softens.

The new fiscal year opened with July 2026 occupancy at 70.1%, still down 6.2% from July 2025, consistent with the softer trend seen throughout FY26. For our hospitality members, this data helps inform where we focus advertising dollars and outreach in the months ahead, and it’s part of why our marketing plan continues to prioritize driving overnight stays, not just day visits, to the region.

Recaudación de impuestos de opción local

Local option meals tax collections across the region totaled $3.99 million in FY26, up significantly from $2.13 million in FY25, though much of that increase reflects several larger communities implementing a local option meals tax for the first time this year rather than organic growth in spending. While meals tax reflects both resident and visitor dining, we track it as a key indicator of visitor spending and overall restaurant industry health. With a full fiscal year of data now in hand, FY26 will serve as a more accurate baseline for tracking meals tax trends going forward.

Local option room tax collections totaled $2.91 million in FY26, compared to $3.07 million in FY25, a modest decline consistent with the softer lodging occupancy numbers reported above.

Visitor Center Update

El Centro de Visitantes Johnny Appleseed welcomed more visitors this past fiscal year than the year before, with total traffic for FY26 (July 2025–June 2026) reaching 124,568 visitors (up approximately 3,000, or about 2.5%, compared to FY25). June was a particularly strong month, and July carried that momentum into the new fiscal year with another year-over-year increase of about 6.7%. August saw a dip of about 6.6% compared to last year, but the overall trend for the year remains positive.

[Photo caption: In The Meadow Alpacas at the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center.]

After a long-awaited process, the EV charging station project at the state-owned Visitor Center property, which the Chamber operates, is finally moving forward. The state’s Request for Response (RFR) officially closed in late August, and a contractor is expected to be selected by mid-September. We’ll continue to share updates as this project progresses.

Looking ahead this fall, the Chamber is continuing two of the Visitor Center’s favorite seasonal traditions. As part of our annual celebration of the region’s apple heritage, we’re once again handing out fresh apples to everyone who stops by the Visitor Center, generously donated by member orchards Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, Sholan Farms in Leominster, and Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg. Thank you to all three for helping us share a taste of North Central Massachusetts with our visitors.

We’re also kicking off our popular Showcase Events series, running Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from September 12 through October 12. Each Saturday brings a different lineup of local musicians, crafters, farms, and authors to the Visitor Center, including a return visit from Plain View Farm’s alpacas. Thank you to the Ashby, Clinton, Fitchburg, Lancaster, y Royalston Cultural Councils, whose support helps make this programming possible each fall.

[Photo caption: Musician Jae Mannion performs (left) and Plain View Farm’s alpacas greet visitors (right) at past Showcase Events at the Johnny Appleseed Visitor Center.]

Data in this update reflects the most current figures available at time of publication; lodging data in particular typically lags by one to two months, so more recent figures may be available by contacting us directly.

Por qué el turismo es importante para el centro-norte de Massachusetts

Tourism is far more than a single industry, it’s a catalyst for community vitality. When you build a place where people want to visit, you’ve built a place where people want to live, work, and invest. Every visitor we attract becomes a potential business lead, future resident, or investor who experiences our region’s unique assets and becomes an ambassador for North Central Massachusetts.

This is why our strategic marketing efforts don’t just drive immediate economic impact, they build long-term awareness and prosperity for our communities and members.

Want to get involved? Whether it’s being featured in the Guide to North Central Massachusetts, participating in a Visitor Center Showcase Event, or learning more about our marketing initiatives, we’d love to hear from you. For more information on the Chamber’s tourism and marketing initiatives, contact Jon Ashley, Marketing Manager, at or 978.353.7600, ext. 240.