Our destinations in the media Travel Times features some of Lake Placid's great lodging deals. READ THE ARTICLE

Our destinations in the media Dutch writer and photographer Frank Peters, who ROOST hosted in the Adirondacks this fall, writes about his experience here during a quite warm chunk of fall. READ THE ARTICLE

Registration is open for the August 2016 week-long, fully supported road bike tour created to benefit the Adirondack Park SARANAC LAKE – The Wildlife Conservation Society announced the route for the second annual Cycle Adirondacks, a week-long road bike tour through the Adirondack Park scheduled to take place Aug. 20-27, 2016. The announcement comes in the wake of rave reviews for the inaugural event held earlier this year. Registration for the 2016 tour is now open. The 2016 route starts and ends in Hadley-Lake Luzerne, and includes overnight stops in Ticonderoga, Keeseville, Saranac Lake, Indian Lake and Northville. There will be a “layover day” in Saranac Lake where riders can pedal an optional route that tours Lake Placid or take a day off the bike to enjoy the amenities available in the Lake Placid area. Besides the standard week-long route, 3-day and 4-day options are available, beginning in Hadley-Lake Luzerne and ending in Saranac Lake, with transportation provided back to the start. There is also a program for non-cyclists called Cycle Adirondacks Adventure Travelers, where participants enjoy outdoor activities and wildlife interpretation each day and rejoin the cyclists in camp each evening. Like the 2015 event, the 2016 route will feature rides set against the backdrop of the forests, lakes, streams and abundant wildlife habitat of the famed Adirondack region. Local WCS wildlife experts will be on hand all week to provide information on wildlife and other natural history along the route, on stage each evening in camp, and in informal small-group “round table” discussions. “Communities are the heart of Cycle Adirondacks,” said Zoe Smith, Director of WCS’s Adirondack Program. “Our inaugural event in August was a resounding success because every community welcomed our cyclists as family. That is not something you can script into a cycling tour. It was genuine and is what will continue to make Cycle Adirondacks special.” The 2015 event attracted riders from 29 states and two Canadian provinces, and in post-event surveys, an overwhelming 99 percent of riders rated the event highly positively and would recommend it to others. In addition, 98 percent said they are likely to visit the Adirondacks again, and 100 percent will tell others to visit. Roughly half the participants had never visited the Adirondack Park before the 2015 tour. WCS created this eco-tourism event to provide a world-class, fully supported cycling adventure that gives hundreds of riders the opportunity to enjoy the Adirondack Park’s natural and recreational resources. Registration fees cover infrastructure and rider services and also support WCS’s community-based conservation program which focuses on engaging directly with local leaders to advance sustainable development projects that benefit both people and wildlife. WCS provides science and technical support to help advance regional discussions and build support for conservation. Nonprofits and schools throughout the region of the ride will also benefit from the event by being compensated for their involvement/time as volunteers. “Cycle Adirondacks had such a positive influence,” said Mark Hall, former town supervisor of Fine, NY. “Economically it was a real boost, but even more important was that it brought our community together in a way that nothing else has – it galvanized our pride in where we live, and that effect has lasted beyond the event.” Cycle Adirondacks benefits host communities by bringing up to several hundred riders and dozens of event volunteers to each town. Cycle Adirondacks also enlists local volunteer groups to help stage the event in each community, offering “community grants” as a fundraiser for each organization involved. WCS distributed nearly $50,000 in community grants in 2015. In 2014 WCS received a marketing grant from I Love New York through the Mohawk Valley Regional Economic Development Council to help build and promote Cycle Adirondacks. Local vendors are used whenever feasible. While camping and meals are included in the event registration, riders are encouraged to stay in local lodging and patronize local businesses along the way. Registration for Cycle Adirondacks includes three catered meals daily, fully stocked rest stops, prime camping spots, hot showers, baggage service, on-course safety support, a wellness tent, and a beer/wine garden and live entertainment that are both open to the public. Total mileage for the week will be 350-425 miles, depending on options, with daily routes ranging from 53 to 69 miles. The event features a special price for the 7-day tour of $1,295 through December 31st. The price of a 3-day/4-day tour option is $645. For more information, visit www.cycleadirondacks.com. Follow Cycle Adirondacks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. To see video from last year’s event, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHx8nX-rWpo

As part of a year-end informational meeting, Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) representatives provided a marketing program status report to Saranac Lake area officials at the ROOST Lake Placid office in early December. In 2013, ROOST entered into an contract with the Town and Village of Saranac Lake, the Town of Harrietstown, the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and Franklin County to provide destination marketing services for the Saranac Lake area. As part of that contract, ROOST manages paid and earned marketing campaigns, associated social media accounts and the destination website, saranaclake.com, providing content updates, search engine optimization and hosting. The status report provided a snapshot of marketing results for Saranac Lake, featuring website statistics for saranaclake.com year-to-date, including: 229,592 unique website visitors 73.24 % site visitors are NEW 95+ original blogs added to site 2,300 original content pages added 2000+ high quality images taken 100+ 360-degree spins depicting Saranac Lake and Harrietstown on adirondacksusa.com Social media followers have quadrupled As part of the informational meeting, ROOST marketing director Jasen Lawrence also highlighted some projects slated for implementation in 2016, including: A new website for the Adirondack Regional Airport in Harrietstown Events at the Civic Center, Mount Pisgah and Dewey Mountain will contribute to a bigger and better Empire State Winter Games Increased production of video content that features Saranac Lake and Harrietstown Check it out: Visit saranaclake.com to keep up to date on the events and experiences available in the Adirondacks' COOLEST Place!

The Wild Center leadership knew it wasn’t reaching millennial travelers as well as it could, so they decided to look into how to fix that. The Wild Center unveiled research that will help the museum and the entire Adirondack region target their marketing efforts in a way that will draw more millennial travelers. Millennials are currently aged 22 to 34, born between 1981 and 2000, and there are 80 million of them in the U.S. and 2.4 billion around the world, so they make up a significant portion of the Adirondacks’ potential visitor base. Schireson Associates, a New York City-based consulting group who performed research with funding provided in part to The Wild Center through Empire State Development’s Market New York program, surveyed millennials from the Albany and New York City areas. They found more than half of the people surveyed from the Capitol District had visited the Adirondacks, but only about 5 percent of New York City-area millennials had visited. Some of the major points highlighted in Tuesday’s presentation: - Millennials are generally not willing to travel more than four hours, and many of them are used to traveling on a bus. - The millennials surveyed were aware of the variety of outdoor recreation opportunities in the Adirondacks, but they weren’t aware of the variety of cultural opportunities here — museums, arts, breweries, dining experiences, and that sort of thing. That’s a challenge, because one of the big things they’re looking for when they travel is a well-rounded experience that includes opportunities to experience local culture. - They’re also interested in learning a new skill or hobby when they travel, and they’re interested in having experiences they can tell their friends about — in real life and on social media. They’re also looking for unique and authentic experiences rather than overly commercialized, touristy ones, which is something the Adirondacks are rife with. - Many of them plan their visit while they are here on mobile devices. They don’t set up a schedule of what they will do and where they will eat before the trip; instead, they look up the options for attractions and restaurants while they are here. So while the stereotype is that millennials are just taking selfies whenever they’re on their phones, they actually are using them for planning and informational purposes, making cell service and wifi important for the area’s future growth. - People often think of millennials as young people traveling with friends, but in fact the generation is now largely made up of young families. So making businesses family-friendly is important to these travelers. Overall, the Adirondacks seem to have plenty of assets that would appeal to millennial travelers, but we need to make sure we’re telling our story in a way that attracts them and helps them convince others to visit. There will be a few more opportunities to hear a presentation on the research. The Wild Center is also working with Trampoline, a design and marketing firm based in Glens Falls, to develop a tool kit for regional businesses to use to make it easier for businesses to use this information to help market themselves better. ROOST will help publicize both those efforts, so stay tuned!