Your membership news & updates
Our 25th year as the Visitors Bureau began on July 1, 2018. We've been very busy spreading the word about the great assets and attractions of Visit Potter-Tioga. Here are a few projects we've been doing.
Advertising for 2018-2019
Our targeted advertising plan for 2018-2019 includes a mix of online advertising, cable advertising and print advertising targeted to areas within a five-hour radius of our destination with interests, purchases, age group, income levels, etc. similar to our typical visitors.

Some highlights include the following:

Backpacker.com
Brand USA - targeted to the international market
Horizon Travel & Lifestyle - targeted to Canadian travelers
Parks by Nature - PA Parks app users
Visit PA - website and visitor guide
AAA World
PA Outdoor News
Road Runner Motorocycle Touring & Travel
Where & When
Google Advertising
Facebook Advertising
Instagram Advertising

Hosted Travel Writers
Travel writers are interested in our destination to generate stories about it. With the assistance of our members, we have been able to host several travel writers and bloggers since July. Some of these are contracted to create stories for particular outlets while others will be attempting to place stories about us in the outlets for which they write.

Some have issued stories already which we have shared on social media while others will be coming.

The following writers have visited us so far:

Liz Mays - EatMakeMove
Vanessa Orr - North Hills Monthly
Jim Cheney - Uncovering PA
Stephen Sebestyen - Backpacker.com
Deb Thompson - Just Short of Crazy
Alfonse Palaima - RoadRunner Magazine
Terri Marshall - Around Wellington
Natalie Dixon - A Turtle's Life
Media Marketplaces
A media marketplace is an industry show where suppliers (travel companies, destination marketing organizations) meet one-on-one with individuals who create content for travel articles, blogs, vlogs (video blogs), or television shows.

September 18 - 20: we attended TBEX in Corning, NY, which is an international Travel Blogger Expo hosting over 600 travel bloggers. In two days, we met with 72 appointments: 48 prescheduled and 24 unscheduled. The bloggers we met with were from areas all around the US, Canada and the UK. Our destination was found to be an intriguing destination for many. Moving forward, we will be following up these appointments to see how we can work with vetted bloggers to help increase awareness of our destination. What we found interesting is that while many of us consider our destination to be a drive destination, we talked to many West Coast residents who felt we could easily be a fly/drive destination offering a product very different from what they have in their region.

September 24-27: we attended the Mid-Atlantic Tourism and Public Relations Alliance (MATPRA) media marketplace in the Laurel Highlands. We met with over 50 travel writers with outlets throughout the US and Canada. Many of these attendees are more traditional travel writers for print; however, others are also bloggers. In this show, the suppliers are all destination marketing organizations like Visit Potter-Tioga representing destinations in PA, VA, WVA, DE, and MD.
Industry / Consumer Shows
Industry and consumer shows are events we attend in order to promote our destination. Industry shows are targeted to a particular audience like media or group tour planners. Consumer shows are targeted to direct consumers. 

We have or will be attending the following shows:
September - TBEX (media) 
September - MATPRA Marketplace (media)
October - NY Bus (group tour)
February - Great American Outdoor Show (consumer)
March - PA Bus (group tour)
April - Family Travel Fun (consumer)

At all of these shows, our goal is to raise awareness of our destination and what makes us different from other destinations in order to increase visitation.
Sales Calls
Our salesperson, Morgan, has been busy meeting with AAA office and group tour planners to make presentations about what our area has to offer. He's met with AAA offices throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. He will be completing another round of sales calls in spring 2019. In addition, he will be scheduling some desk-side visits with media outlets in Toronto.
Explore the Possibilities
Starting in April 2017, we began a new video series called Explore the Possibilities. In it, we are visiting with member businesses to see how they began, what some of their challenges have been, and what some of their triumphs have been. So far, we have released 26 videos. 
The videos are released on our Facebook page first, then shared on our Youtube channel and web page. These will remain on these pages as long as a business continues their membership with us. They have been received favorably by our visitors and the other area businesses. Please feel free to share them with your own audience. In this process, we've discovered some interesting stories which are also resonating with our followers. 
To date, the videos on our Facebook page have received 49,547 views and been shared 1,124 times.
Partnership with Mansfield University Athletics
Visit Potter-Tioga is a partner with Mansfield University Athletics. As a partner, we are a presenting sponsor of the MU athletics streaming video platform which also features our 30 and 60-second commercials and logo throughout the games. We're pleased to be engaged in this partnership to support MU Athletics and to be able to promote our destination to parents, faculty, students and MU sports enthusiasts.
Membership News
  • Our new membership year began July 1st.  If you still need to renew or you know a business who should be a member, it's not too late.  Email Colleen for more information.

  • We will begin work on our 2019 Visitors Guide this month! Watch your mail for a Visitors Guide information packet. All members will receive one in October. This packet will contain forms for updating your current listing and purchasing an ad. 

  • Does your business or non-profit have an upcoming event? Email Colleen to have your event added to our online calendar. 
Social Media
Our Facebook page just passed a milestone: 10,000 followers!!!

We are working on reigniting our Instagram page. 

Find both: @visitpottertioga

For more information about any of the information provided in this newsletter, please contact our office at 570-724-0635.