​Destination Gettysburg's Nicole Absher was honored last week with the National Tour Association's (NTA) Young Professional Award. This award is given to NTA members, age 40 and younger, who have exhibited leadership and demonstrated passion for the travel and tourism industry. Out of all of the nominees, the NTA Young Professionals Advisory Group chose Nicole to be one of five to be honored.
 
"We are proud to have Nicole representing Destination Gettysburg to tour operators and group tour leaders around the world," said Norris Flowers, President of Destination Gettysburg. "She deserves this recognition for all of her hard work and creativity in bringing tour groups to our destination."
 
Nicole started at Destination Gettysburg in August 2015 as a Group Sales Manager. She has completed the American Bus Association's Certified Travel Industry Specialist program and accomplished a number of endeavors that helped reach sales goals each year. 
 
In her time at Destination Gettysburg, Nicole played a vital role in helping the organization host two major group tour events- the 2016 Pennsylvania Bus Association's Annual Meeting and the 2017 Maryland Motorcoach Association's Group Leader Travel Showcase, which brought hundreds of tour operators and group leaders to Gettysburg. Additionally she has attended over 40 tradeshows and sales missions to promote Gettysburg and Adams County. This has resulted in hundreds of leads that allow the organization and partners to stay connected with the operators and leaders.
 
Additionally, Nicole's creativity has resulted in unique and different ways to promote Adams County to clients. With so many destinations to choose from, Nicole knows she has to make sure Gettysburg and Adams County are standing out to the tour operators, planners and group leaders so that it is at the top of their list.
 
"Receiving this award is a great honor and I am very thankful to have even been nominated. Winning this award shows me that the hard work and out-of-the-box ideas that we put into motion every day are making an impact in the industry," said Nicole.

​Last month, Hollabaugh Bros. was a participant in USA Today's 10Best Apple Orchard competition against 20 other top orchards across the country. After the voting period ended, results were tallied and Hollabaugh's ranked number five on the list only behind major orchards like Kiyokawa Family Orchard in Oregon, Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard in New York, Spicer Orchards in Michigan and Boa Vista Orchards in California. They placed in front of other nationally recognized orchards like Mercier Orchards in Georgia. 

The Hollabaugh family grows fruits and vegetables on 500 acres in Upper Adams county, and approximately 200 acres of apples. In addition to selling as many as 25 different apple varieties at a time over the peak of apple season in early October, the family also has a large pick your own orchard featuring varieties like McIntosh, Jonagold, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, and GoldRush.

​Every day, Destination Gettysburg gives back to the community through its marketing, which - in turn - attracts visitors who travel to this destination and spend millions of dollars a year and support thousands of jobs. But Destination Gettysburg does more than that. The official destination marketing organization of Adams County, Pa., is a strong community supporter through a variety of partnerships, programs and projects as well as donations to fellow organizations.
 
Every year, Destination Gettysburg contributes approximately $58,000 in community programs as a way to not only make the Adams County community a better place to visit, but a better place to live. Recently, Destination Gettysburg has donated to the National Apple Museum (pictured above) in Biglerville as they undergo renovations, Historic Gettysburg-Adams County for the Barn Restoration Program and will be donating to the Adams County Arts Council for their 25th anniversary and New Year's Eve celebration.


Destination Gettysburg's mission is as much about supporting the community through economic development, and growing the local job base while supporting other community and civic organizations with their hard work - as it is helping the visitor. For questions, contact Norris Flowers, President of Destination Gettysburg, at norris@destinationgettysburg.com. 

​For the last several months, we have been sharing with you the positive impact being seen through the Smith Travel Research (STR) Report. This report looks at our hotel properties, which self-report, the status of monthly occupancy, average daily rate (ADR), demand and revenue. Through August, even with a summer of extreme weather, our numbers appeared to be holding compared to 2017, a record year for lodging demand.
 
As with all reporting, we will share both the ups and downs. The number we have been focusing on has been the demand which represents total rooms booked. This is a consistent number, not influenced by inventory or room rate. Through August, demand was up 5.6 percent over 2017, with August up 4.7 percent. With the wet and wild weather of September, for the fist time all year, we saw demand drop 2.9 percent, resulting in a year-to-date demand increase of 4.5 percent. Revenue for September was down 3.4 percent from September 2017, impacted by both drop in demand and a slight drop in ADR of 0.5 percent. It is important to note, that even with a slight drop in ADR and a drop in demand for September, revenue is still up year-to-date by 2.7 percent.
 
As a leisure travel destination, many things can impact our visitation. We have watched over the years as the price of fuel impacts our visitation, as well as politics and the dates of holidays and school openings. Environmental impact by weather - rain, snow and heat - have definitely left the mark. This September was one of those heavily impacted months. In addition to the cancellation of World War II events, even the Gettysburg Wine & Music Festival was forced to end short.
 
"We have had rain in prior years with little impact on attendance," noted Carrie Stuart, President of the Gettysburg Adams Chamber of Commerce and host of the Gettysburg Wine & Music Festival, "but this year's rain caused a nearly 50 percent decrease in tickets sold at the gate on Saturday and closed the event on Sunday. No additional marketing could have helped attendance."
 
As we approach the final quarter of 2018, now is the time to capitalize on fall, the commemorations of Dedication and Remembrance Day and of course the holidays. October, from what we have been hearing from members, is on track with historical trends. We have heard that December is already booking up with the new Gettysburg Christmas Festival and other yuletide events, weddings and group tour. If you need ideas to drive traffic, please reach out. We have great content that you can share to entice visitors to the area and directly to your business.

​Bailey Coach has invited veterans from York and Adams County to Gettysburg for a day of dedication and remembrance on Friday, Nov. 9. A total of 425 veterans and guests transported on eight buses are expected to descend upon historic Gettysburg for museum and tour experiences, speakers and a wreath laying ceremony at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial.
 
For the past three years, Bailey Coach has been bringing veterans to war monuments around the region. Since the inaugural year, over 1,500 veterans and guests have been transported free of charge to Washington, DC and Arlington.

The day will kick off with a tour of the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center experience followed by a Licensed Battlefield Guided Tour. The group will then go to Wyndham Gettysburg for lunch and a program by Tigrett Corp that highlights the WWII history in Gettysburg. The day will conclude with a wreath laying ceremony at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial at 3:30 p.m. This ceremony will include a speech from a surprise guest and a tribute from the Biglerville American Legion.

State tourism received a big win with Governor Wolf signing HB1511. The legislation, known as Act 109 of 2018, closes a loophole in the state's tax code to ensure fairness in hotel occupancy tax remittance. The legislation requires online travel companies to remit occupancy tax based on the final price paid by consumers, rather than the lower wholesale rate negotiated by the online travel companies.
 
Rep. Dan Moul, a member of the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee, who voted for the bill, which passed the House 137-44, said, "It's about time the third party booking agents pay the appropriate tax for room rentals. For too long, they have been remitting tax only on the wholesale rates, not what the taxpayer actually has paid. This will help both the local and state destination marketing organizations, while generating additional revenue for the state." State Senator Rich Alloway was one of six state Senators that voted against the bill, which passed the Senate 43-6.
 
As part of the legislation, the funds that will result from closing the loophole - estimated at $23.8 million a year - will be dedicated to statewide tourism promotion. A 2015 study conducted by the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association (PRLA) found that every dollar invested in tourism marketing returns $3.43 in tax revenue.
 
Norris Flowers, President of Destination Gettysburg said, "Getting the State Tourism office budget back to a somewhat competitive level with our neighbor states will benefit all Pennsylvania destinations." Over the past 14 years, the state tourism office budget had dropped from $34 million to $4 million a year.
 
Act 109 also ensures that hotel occupancy tax is assessed on retail price of hotel rooms at both the state and county level, further ensuring fairness in collection and remittance while giving county destination marketing organizations like Destination Gettysburg additional resources for promotion.
Thanks to PRLA for championing this legislation on behalf of the state's hospitality and tourism industries.
 
For any questions, contact Norris Flowers at norris@destinationgettysburg.com. 

July through September was an interesting - and exciting - time in the destination marketing world. This is a time that traditionally, from a visitation standpoint, looks a little like a roller coaster of high visitation in July with families, a bit of a dip in August and then a September rebound of our empty-nesters and couples getaways. This is all before we see the burst of October travel. Even with terrible rain and heat in August, we still saw an increase in lodging demand of 4.7% over August 2017 and we are up 5.6% in room demand year to date. 

What tactics did we take to help drive traffic? We start with the large funnel and collect the visitors through our content and display campaign on TripAdvisor. In addition, we placed print ads in AAA World, Recreation News, Good Housekeeping, Redbook and Women's Day; print also included South Jersey Magazine, Whirl, Pittsburgh Magazine, Philadelphia Magazine and Baltimore Magazine. We placed inspirational messaging on radio through Maryland NPR and iHeart Radio. In our key markets, we ran short spots during the morning television news through our relationship with the US Traffic Network. We also invested in a digital campaign with our partner, Essex Digital Platforms, targeting families who are interested in historical and cultural travel, outdoor recreation and foodie adventures. 

All of these efforts, pulled together through a specific collection of images and messages drives visitors to our website, app and blog. Along the way, we engage our visitors and potential visitors through our social media, filled with inspiring road tripping videos, beautiful images, list blogs, upcoming events and more. This is a daily engagement activity that helps highlight all the granular details of the destination. This is all topped off with our monthly consumer newsletter delivered to over 72,000 subscribers. 

Two of our newest programs in 2018 have not only allowed us to drive traffic to our owned content, but also provide tracking data to show our ROI. 

The first program, our Expedia campaign, kicked off August 20. During that time, our display campaign resulted in a click-through rate of .11%. Through that date, our $10,000 investment resulted in $99,914 in bookings (722 room nights) through the Expedia website resulting in a $138 ADR. The majority of bookings (75.1%) were multiple adults staying for one night (54.1%) or two nights (34.6%). Their travel window ranged from 35.3% traveling within 6 days of the booking to 5.2% traveling in more than 91 days. The top three windows were the 0-6 days, 31-60 days (19.2%) and 7-13 days (13.6%). These results and the data provided offer a deeper insight into our efforts. 

This same tracking trend is extended with our Essex Location Tracking. The program currently tracks 284 locations in and around Gettysburg. The initial report shows tracking from July 26-Sept 16. During that time, 12,495 people visited that were exposed to one of our ads prior to their visit. Our Visit rate is 40.6%, which means that those exposed to our ad messaging were 40.6% more likely to visit than the control group who did not see our ads. The majority of our travelers visited within 2-3 weeks of being exposed to our ads. Mobile web (cell phones) reached the majority of our visitors. In looking at the average cost to attract these visitors, the cost of acquisition was only $2.27. 

In addition, Destination Gettysburg promotes the Adams County Pour Tour as a secondary driver of visitation. This not only offers a reason for new visitors to travel to the area, but also a new experience for our existing visitors - and locals - to engage in our craft beverage scene, extending their stays and providing yet another reason to return. 

It is these efforts and the data we collect that are the basis of our plans moving forward. As we begin to look at 2019, it is with great excitement that we have additional data to help support our recommendations and the final decisions of the board of directors. 

​Destination Gettysburg launched the Hospitality Heroes program in June 2017 as way for front-line staff to engage with the destination as our visitors would. By having first-hand experience, these front-line employees will be able to assist future visitors in planning their trip to Gettysburg and surrounding area by providing their own personal knowledge.

Since the launch, over 190 attendees have represented over 40 different businesses, and 18-member businesses have hosted outings and shared their experience with the Hospitality Heroes. Some of the most popular outings included a Licensed Battlefield Guide led tour of Gettysburg National Military Park (August 2017), Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center Tour and program sampling (May 2018), the Farnsworth House tour (June 2018) and Steam into History (August 2018). A monthly newsletter is also distributed to front-line staff that includes educational information, monthly events and business spotlights.

Front-line staff from any business that interacts with visitors, not just the businesses that are in the tourism industry, are encouraged to attend. Past attendees have come from accommodation properties, retail shops, spas and salons, transportation services, history and education services and non-profits. Managers and business owners should tell their front-line staff about these free opportunities to experience the destination and encourage them to attend.

​Snow Time, which owns Liberty Mountain Resort, Roundtop Mountain Resort and Whitetail Resort, has entered into an agreement to sell the company to Peak Resorts, Inc.- owner of 14 other ski resorts in the Midwest and Northeast.

Irv Naylor founded Snow Time in 1964 and, with his family, built and operated the company for over 50 years.

"I am extremely pleased to pass along the stewardship of Snow Time and our three mountain resorts to Peak Resorts," said Naylor. "Having watched the progress they continue to make at the formerly family-owned Hunter Mountain, I view them as the perfect operators to take Liberty, Roundtop and Whitetail to the next level."

While ownership is changing, current staff, management teams and the resort offerings will all remain the same. Pass holders who have already purchased/renewed their season passes for the 2018/2019 will have the ability to upgrade to the Peak Pass and enjoy all of Peak's northeast resorts.

​Travel site Expedia announced Gettysburg as one of the "Most Tourist-Friendly Cities in America" in their second annual list. Gettysburg is included with Emerald Coast, Florida; Napa Valley, California and Sedona, Arizona to name a few. Destinations were rated on things to do, quality and quantity of hotel options, access to an airport or major transit center, city/discover tours, amenities rating and a helpful tourism board. Gettysburg scored exceptionally high on four of those six categories- amenities, tours, things to do and helpful tourism site which landed it on the annual list.
 
"There's a reason you want to go where everybody's always glad you came-it just feels nice. We love to travel, but sometimes navigating new places and dealing with less than accommodating locals can take the fun right out of it. So we've found 13 cities that go above and beyond to welcome travelers with open arms (and stellar amenities) to ensure the smooth sailing vacation of your dreams," the article starts. 
 
When mentioning Gettysburg, the articles states, "The gift of the past is that it's an incredible teacher, and Gettysburg is the perfect place to get an education in American history," before detailing some of Gettysburg's most popular attractions.