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Somerset
County Tourism Wins 2017 President’s Award
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at
Annual New Jersey Tourism Excellence Awards
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for
its Employer Toolkit
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Tourism Promotion Tools, Developed
in Collaboration with Somerset
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County Economic Development and
Workforce Partners, Address Needs
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of Visitors as well as Employers
Seeking to Attract and Retain Talent
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Bridgewater,
NJ – May 2018 / Newsmaker Alert / Somerset
County Tourism has received the 2017 President’s Award of Excellence
from the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association (NJTIA), in recognition
of the Somerset County Employer Toolkit, which was developed in collaboration
with the Somerset County Office of Economic Development and Workforce teams.
The award was presented at NJTIA’s Tourism Excellence Awards, part of New
Jersey Tourism Advocacy Day on May 10 in Trenton; it was accepted by Somerset
County Tourism Director Jacqueline Morales on behalf of all County partners
involved in the toolkit’s development. The awards were judged by a panel
of tourism directors from neighboring states.
The
Somerset County Employer Toolkit comprises various tourism promotion tools
that address the needs of visitors and of employers seeking to relocate,
retain or attract talent. The tools align with the county’s marketing themes
of “play, stay, live, work and learn,” and include a destination guide,
a tourism website with Live+Work+Learn content, a map showcasing points
of interest and a promotional video that highlights aspects of life in
Somerset County.
The
toolkit is the result of an 18-month collaboration between Somerset County
Tourism, a division of the Somerset County Business Partnership; Somerset
County Economic Development, which is supported by the Somerset County
Board of Chosen Freeholders; and human resources professionals from several
of the county’s major employers to determine specific categorical information
that leadership and employees use to make business relocation and employment
decisions.
The
kit is customizable to the needs of individual employers and delivered
by the Somerset County Resource Team, which includes partners from the
Somerset County Business Partnership, Raritan Valley Community College,
the Greater Raritan Workforce Investment Board, the Somerset County Park
Commission, Ridewise of Raritan Valley, Somerset County Economic Development
and Somerset County Tourism.
“Implementation
of the Employer Toolkit is yielding strong results for our lodging partners,
with an increase in overnight stays associated with the business travel
needs of companies attracted to or retained in Somerset County,” said Morales.
“Hotels that neighbor these corporate sites have reported an average uptick
of four percent for weekday stays since its introduction.”
Tourism
Advocacy Day also featured remarks by NJ Secretary of State Tahesha Way,
Esq., who talked about the importance of travel and tourism to the state
and local economies; the tourism industry is the seventh largest employment
sector in New Jersey. The 2018 statewide tourism economic impact report
was presented; statistics directly related to Somerset County include the
following:
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Visitors
to Somerset County spent $1.2 billion in 2017; just over half of that was
on lodging (20 percent) and food & beverage (31 percent) and the other
half was spent on retail (21 percent), recreation (17 percent) and transportation
(11 percent).
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This spending
supported $1.7 billion in business sales and 14,348 jobs county-wide.
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Tourism
sustains 6.1 percent of all private sector jobs and 3.3 percent of all
private sector income in Somerset County.
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The equivalent
of $1,211 in state and local taxes were contributed for every household
in Somerset County.
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Visitor
spending has risen thirteen percent over the past five years.
“By simplifying
the process of delivering relevant information to residents, employers
and visitors alike, we can more easily connect our audiences with their
desired experience here in Somerset County. This toolkit is a major step
in leveraging tourism resources to support the County’s broader economic
development goals,” said Morales.
Somerset
County Tourism, a 501(c)3 organization, is the official destination marketing
organization (DMO) for Somerset County, N.J. and a division of the Somerset
County Business Partnership. For more information, call Jacqueline
Morales at 908-218-4300 or visit www.VisitSomersetNJ.org.
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About
Somerset County Tourism
Somerset
County Tourism, a 501(c)(3) organization, is the official destination marketing
organization (DMO) for Somerset County, N.J. and a Division of the Somerset
County Business Partnership. Its mission is to advance the local economy
by sustainably promoting the area’s outstanding travel products and experiences,
and to offer a variety of useful services to residents, business travelers
and leisure visitors. Somerset County Tourism is an active member of New
Jersey Destination Marketing Organizations and the New Jersey Tourism industry
Association. For more information visit www.VisitSomersetNJ.org
or call 908-218-4300, ext. 28.
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Media
Contacts:
Jacqueline
Morales
Somerset
County Tourism Director
908-218-4300
Caryn
Starr-Gates
StarrGates
Business Communications
for
Somerset County Tourism
201-791-4694 |
