Summer is peak tourism season in Western New York and an aggressive effort is now underway to attract more visitors to the region. The tourism advocacy group Visit Buffalo Niagara on Tuesday launched a comprehensive marketing campaign that includes a $500,000 targeting marketing advertising in Southern Ontario, a newly-resigned website and extended hours for VBN's downtown visitor center at Washington and Clinton streets.
Visit Buffalo Niagara says there is much to promote in a time many have described as Buffalo's renaissance. President and CEO Patrick Kaler says the goal is to tell the story of the city's resurgence.
“Collectively, all of these efforts are helping visitation to Buffalo and Erie County,” Kaler said at a news conference Tuesday morning.
Kaler singled out the new website, which he says is a big improvement over the previous site.
"It’s a more dynamic, more colorful, more inspirational site than ever before. It really complements what we’ve been doing and shows off our destination off in an extremely complementary way,” he said.
Nearly eight million people visit the region each year, according to the agency. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says people who have visited the area recently have been spreading the word.
”The message is getting out. People are coming to our region. I think what we’re going to see in this upcoming summer is many, many more people coming into downtown Buffalo and all of the attractions around Western New York,” Poloncarz said.
Residents and visitors alike are being asked to join in the effort by taking pictures using the social media hashtag #Buffalove15. A similar effort last year led to 2,700 user-generated photos.
