The Lake Placid CVB / Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism is the accredited destination marketing organization of Lake Placid and Essex County leading economic growth through tourism.
Over the last 60 years, the organization responsible for promoting Essex County to the leisure travel market has continuously adapted to stay ahead of the changing destination marketplace, evolving from the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce, providing traditional business services and tourism promotion, to an accredited Destination Marketing Organization (DMO).
Originally incorporated as the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce in 1950, the organization has added appropriate "Doing Business As" (d.b.a.) monikers as needed.
These changes include a significant move in 1982, when the organization adopted the d.b.a. Lake Placid Convention Bureau, and added an internal department in order to better serve the convention and meetings market.
Until 1991,the organization was responsible for marketing the Lake Placid region. At the same time, Essex County had a tourism director tasked with promoting the county as a whole. In 1991, as a cost savings measure, the LPC&VB combined with the county's tourism director and assumed the responsibility of collectively marketing the entire county as the Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau (LPECVB).
ACCREDITATION
In 2009, the LPECVB became one of only 101 organizations worldwide to achieve the status of an accredited Destination Marketing Organization by Destination Marketing Association International. Accreditation programs are becoming increasingly popular for organizations that wish to define standards of performance and measure compliance.
The accreditation serves to assure staff, leadership, and external stakeholders that the organization is following proper practices and performing at an exceptional level for the industry.
The accreditation included an extensive internal process to ensure compliance with 54 mandatory standards, with the option to institute over 30 volunteer standards. These standards serve as an operational audit, strictly mandating procedures and policies regarding governance, finance, management, human resources, technology, visitor services, group services, sales, communications, membership, brand management, destination development, research/market intelligence, innovation, and stakeholder relationships.
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
In 2010, the LPECVB Board of Directors unveiled the organization's new name, Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism / Lake Placid CVB (ROOST/LPCVB) which reflects the concept that in order for the region to achieve economic success through tourism, promotion of the existing product must be balanced with sustainable growth.
Sustainable tourism, in its purest sense, is an industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income and employment without overtaxing any resources -whether human, environmental or man-made. The ultimate goal of sustainable tourism is to improve the quality of life for residents.
Ongoing Sustainable Tourism efforts:Destination Master Planning Process in the Adirondacks
Several years ago, the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism spearheaded a destination master planning process to assess the product that region's communities offer to the traveling public. This process, facilitated by a third party consultant, resulted in the development of destination master plans for six communities, including Saranac Lake, Schroon Lake, Moriah, Ticonderoga, Wilmington and Lake Placid.
The Adirondack region has long been a tourism destination- especially for history buffs and the outdoor recreational set. However, due largely to aging infrastructure, many of the small communities in the region are struggling to attract their share of potential visitors in a very competitive destination marketplace.
The primary challenge is to find ways to grow tourism in the greater region, while managing growth in the more established tourism base of Lake Placid. Further, the task in all communities has been to engineer tourism in ways that benefit area residents in terms of jobs and business opportunities. The process depends upon grassroots involvement, which was achieved by forming community tourism councils, who are committed to implementing short- and long-term action items outlined in the plans. In this way, the residents take ownership of the process, and pride in their accomplishments.
At this point, destination master plans have been developed for each of the communities, and the community councils are in place. Although the individual plans identify unique challenges for each of them, they also contain some strategic consistencies. In very general terms, most of the challenges are based on the need for updated lodging, and the development of products that will facilitate a greater exchange of money to contribute to the tourism economy - such as increased sale of locally-made goods associated with the rich history and culture of the region.
In 2011, the Towns of Essex and Minerva will begin the destination master planning process in their respective communities.
The overall goals of the destination master planning process mirror those of the sustainable tourism credo; grow the existing tourism economy without negatively impacting the residents' quality of life.
There is great potential; the communities all share a relationship with the Adirondack Park, a valuable, built-in platform to deliver positive visitor experiences. Success is now largely in the hands of the enthusiastic residents that will ultimately benefit from the opportunities outlined in these tools for success.
FUNDING
When the organization absorbed the Essex County Tourism department in 1991, and became the Lake Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau, it began receiving funding from the County in accordance with its annual contract.
That changed in 2000, when an Occupancy Tax was enacted for Essex County through the State of New York, providing funding for destination marketing efforts through a 3 percent tax on overnight rooms, and ultimately eliminating the need for allocated County funding for tourism promotion.
The occupancy tax is collected by the lodging properties, and 5 percent is retained at the County for administration, with the remaining collections transferred to the ROOST/LPCVB.
As part of the contract with Essex County, the ROOST/LPCVB must show a return on investment of at least 60:1. To calculate this ROI, the Lake Placid CVB/Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (LPCVB) has contracted with the Technical Assistance Center (TAC), based at SUNY Plattsburgh to conduct an independent, third party Leisure Travel Information Study since 2004.
The Leisure Travel Information Study is based on a survey of the previous year's trackable leads database. New leads are added on a constant basis; walk-in visitors, phone and mail inquiries, bingo cards from magazine advertising, and web signups provide a snapshot of the respondents to the previous years' overall marketing efforts. As of 2009, a five year rolling average has shown that for every dollar the organization spent on marketing, visitors to Essex County spent $99.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership with the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism represents a show of support for the organization and its efforts to develop and facilitate marketing programs that increase tourism activity and result in positive economic impact in Essex County.
Members also enjoy the benefits of membership in the Essex County Business Council, including access to health insurance and other business opportunities. Members may also attend or host Essex County Business After-Hour Mixers, they are eligible to be nominated to serve a Bureau Board position, and eligible to vote in Bureau elections.
Any business, organization or individual in Essex County is eligible for membership for a nominal $25 annual investment.
TODAY
The Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism/Lake Placid CVB is a 501c6 not-for-profit corporation that is responsible for promoting the Schroon Lake, Lake Champlain, Whiteface, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid regions to the traveling public via traditional advertising, communications, and by harnessing the power of electronic media.
In addition to leisure travel promotion, the CVB is responsible for sales and marketing for the Conference Center at Lake Placid and town-wide conventions.
The DMO offers a variety of marketing opportunities for businesses and organizations in Essex County, including featured online listings, promotional email advertisements and exposure in the comprehensive annual Activities Guide.
The organization employs 12 staff, and operates a main office in Lake Placid and one in Crown Point.
For more information about the destination marketing and master planning programs, and for news of interest to tourism marketing partners, explore the organization's website at www.roostadk.com.
