January starts the year off with loads of opportunities – starting with highlighting your Valentine’s Day packages. We are requesting that you submit and post your Valentine’s Day packages on CTvisit.com.  Our visitors are looking for romantic getaways to celebrate the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday.  Don’t miss out on this FREE opportunity of reaching consumers and enticing them to visit your property.  If you have any questions, please email Jean Hebert, jean.hebert@ct.gov.

The 2018 Visitors Guides are now available.  A limited quantity were printed. 80% will be distributed out-of-state with the remaining to be distributed across the state.  If you are interested in receiving a copy, please contact Al Strong at Alfred.strong@ct.gov.

The Regional Tourism Outreach Team continues to hit the road meeting with businesses and organizations who are looking for marketing assistance.  Recent visits included the City of Norwalk’s Tourism Committee where over a dozen of its committee members discussed strategic ways to collaborate with surrounding tourism-like businesses in efforts to attract visitors and revenue to the city.  The Outreach Team also met with business members of the Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce.  Exchange of ideas, best practices and marketing opportunities were shared and discussion ensued on how to engage others in marketing central Connecticut as a tourism destination.  If you are interested in meeting with the Regional Tourism Outreach team, please contact Rosemary Bove at rosemary.bove@ct.gov.

The application to register for this year’s Open House Day event, Saturday, June 9th, is now available on-line at www.cultureandtourism.org.  This year marks the 14th annual statewide event designed to pay tribute to our Connecticut residents with special offers to the State’s unique tourism and cultural attractions.  To learn more about Connecticut Open House Day, please contact Jean Hebert at jean.hebert@ct.gov or Rosemary Bove at rosemary.bove@ct.gov.

The State’s official tourism website CTvisit.com capped off a record setting year by recording over 4.9 million visits in 2017 (up over 14% from 2016), over 12 million page views (up 25% from 2016) and providing over 3.2 million referrals to our partners listed on CTvisit.com. You can view the full breakdown of the December CTvisit.com Key Metrics here.

For more information on this report, please contact Rob Damroth at robert.damroth@ct.gov.

The application to apply as a vendor in the Connecticut Building, at this year’s Big E, is now available on www.cultureandtourism.org. Become a part of New England’s largest agricultural 17 day fair where over 1.5 million visitors walk through the Connecticut Building. Deadline for submission is March 9, 2018.  If you have any questions, please contact Rosemary Bove at rosemary.bove@ct.gov.