Delaware News

Governor’s Weekly Message Transcript: Celebrating Delaware’s Thriving Tourism Economy

Former Governor Jack Markell (2009-2017) | News | Date Posted: Friday, November 18, 2016



I’m Linda Parkowski, Delaware Tourism Director. Tourism is big business for Delaware. It’s a fact I share with people all over the state every day. Since 2009 tourism employment in Delaware is up 25 percent. The industry is currently responsible for 52,000 jobs in Delaware. It now produces $3 billion a year in economic impact for the state. That saves each Delaware household nearly $1,400 in taxes annually. This makes attracting visitors and their dollars to the state essential.

One of the biggest efforts made in recent years to do that has been a new tourism branding for the state. When we rolled out “Visit Delaware: Endless Discoveries” in 2015, we wanted to spark possible visitors’ curiosity, lead on them on a journey of discovery. A part of that was television advertising in TV markets surrounding Delaware. We reached 18 million people in 2015. While the ads were on the air, traffic to VisitDelaware.com jumped 400 percent in Washington DC alone. This fall we got more confirmation the brand is working. FutureBrand – a mega-brand consulting firm – did an independent study of all state tourism marketing campaigns. FutureBrand determined Delaware has one of America’s two best tourism marketing campaigns. The study showed after seeing our tourism website, official travel guide and other marketing elements 52 percent of people were more interested in visiting Delaware than they were before seeing them.

This success has a direct, positive impact on everyone living in Delaware – from, like I mentioned, smaller tax bills to improved quality of life. Governor Markell has helped us put our foot on the gas for tourism promotion during his administration. Now is the time to press down even harder. Delaware has a great story to share – beautiful state parks, pristine beaches, fun major festivals and events. Together we can tell that story more loudly and more effectively than ever, and that will keep Delaware moving forward.

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.

Governor’s Weekly Message Transcript: Celebrating Delaware’s Thriving Tourism Economy

Former Governor Jack Markell (2009-2017) | News | Date Posted: Friday, November 18, 2016



I’m Linda Parkowski, Delaware Tourism Director. Tourism is big business for Delaware. It’s a fact I share with people all over the state every day. Since 2009 tourism employment in Delaware is up 25 percent. The industry is currently responsible for 52,000 jobs in Delaware. It now produces $3 billion a year in economic impact for the state. That saves each Delaware household nearly $1,400 in taxes annually. This makes attracting visitors and their dollars to the state essential.

One of the biggest efforts made in recent years to do that has been a new tourism branding for the state. When we rolled out “Visit Delaware: Endless Discoveries” in 2015, we wanted to spark possible visitors’ curiosity, lead on them on a journey of discovery. A part of that was television advertising in TV markets surrounding Delaware. We reached 18 million people in 2015. While the ads were on the air, traffic to VisitDelaware.com jumped 400 percent in Washington DC alone. This fall we got more confirmation the brand is working. FutureBrand – a mega-brand consulting firm – did an independent study of all state tourism marketing campaigns. FutureBrand determined Delaware has one of America’s two best tourism marketing campaigns. The study showed after seeing our tourism website, official travel guide and other marketing elements 52 percent of people were more interested in visiting Delaware than they were before seeing them.

This success has a direct, positive impact on everyone living in Delaware – from, like I mentioned, smaller tax bills to improved quality of life. Governor Markell has helped us put our foot on the gas for tourism promotion during his administration. Now is the time to press down even harder. Delaware has a great story to share – beautiful state parks, pristine beaches, fun major festivals and events. Together we can tell that story more loudly and more effectively than ever, and that will keep Delaware moving forward.

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.