By Patrick Adrian
EAGLE TIMES STAFF
CLAREMONT — Collaborative efforts to build a tourism infrastructure in Sullivan County are beginning a key phase of transition, as initiative participants shift focus from the aspirations of county residents to developing a plan of actualization.
More than 50 Sullivan County residents and community stakeholders gathered at The Common Man in Claremont on Thursday to discuss the next steps in Sullivan County’s regional marketing initiative, a project forged four years ago to help attract people from outside the region to the county’s assets, from its historical and cultural attractions to its diversity of outdoor recreational opportunities.
Over the past three months county officials have gathered community input about Sullivan County’s assets, strengths and needs in regard to its tourism economy, including a community workshop in December and a county-wide survey.
The data indicates that county residents and organizations appear to have “a great understanding” of the county’s tourism “opportunities and challenges,” said Chris Seek, a tourism development consultant from Solimar International, a marketing firm based in Washington, D.C.
Sullivan County has no shortage of attractions, with a richness of natural beauty, recreational trails, arts venues, and historical preservations, project leaders noted. There are also amenities such as restaurants and lodgings, at least enough to resemble a foundation.
Arguably the biggest problem is that many of the county’s attractions are relatively unknown, especially outside the region.
“You have lots of amazing attractions,” Seek said. “But where are these?”
Signage, for example, is woefully lacking, according to Seek. While online maps show a wealth of recreational trails across the county, Seek said he struggled to find most of these trails when trying to physically locate them by car.
“Just because you have the trail doesn’t mean it’s accessible to the visitor,” Seek said. “The last thing someone wants to do is stop somewhere where they shouldn’t be, like on private land. And they want to know whether they are welcome to use that trail. That’s where signage and parking becomes very important.”
Sullivan County has contracted Seek to oversee the development of a strategic plan, the next phase of the project.
The strategic plan essentially evolves the conversation to date from “where we want to go” to “how do we get there,” Seek said.
“The strategic development plan [puts] the shared intent on paper and prioritizes what needs to be done,” Seek said.
Travel and tourism is the second largest economy in New Hampshire, generating about $6 billion per year prior to the pandemic, according to state data. However, Sullivan County’s tourism-related revenue ranks lowest of every county in the state.
That gap is attributable to Sullivan County’s lack of organizational tools to promote and develop these destinations, Seek said.
While many Sullivan County communities, such as Claremont and Newport, have organizations centered around facilitating local economic development, these groups often work more independently from one another and collaborate less than if there was a regional level of organization, according to Seek.
In addition to developing the marketing tools and supporting infrastructure, a strategic plan helps bridge the local attraction to revenue opportunities, according to University of New Hampshire Community & Economic Development Field Specialist Penelope Whitman.
“We have recreational activities,” Whitman said. “But we lack services. There was general agreement [among forum and survey participants] that we have all these [draws] but we don’t have a way to collect money from people who are using these assets.”
The county-wide survey, which ran from Dec. 27, 2021, until Monday, Jan. 31, 2022, received 1,000 responses. Residents from Claremont accounted for about 375 of the responses, and Charlestown and Newport residents accounted for another 250 responses in total. However, the survey received at least two participants from every municipality in the county.
Over half the survey participants, or 53 percent, have lived in Sullivan County at least 21 years or more. The second largest participation group, at 18 percent, were people who have only lived five years or less in the county.
About 72 percent of the survey participants “agreed” with the statement that Sullivan County has recreation activities but lacks places where people can spend money before, during, or after their visits.
A large majority of the participants also felt there should be more restaurants and lodging options and retail shopping opportunities in the region.
A proposed strategic plan is still in its early draft stage but is expected to develop goals and objectives pertaining to developing attractions, such as through signage and local visitor guidance; promotion and marketing; attracting and supporting entrepreneurship; and facilitating collaboration and partnerships.
reporter @eagletimes.com
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