WILMINGTON – You can now see Delaware like never before with a breathtaking virtual tour of the state’s endless discoveries.

At Nemours Estate Monday, as part of National Travel and Tourism Week (May 6-12), Governor John Carney, Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock and Delaware Tourism Director Liz Keller showcased the experience that takes visitors on a sweeping, 360-degree journey of Delaware.

The virtual reality tour includes the experience of canoeing through Trap Pond State Park, strolling the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk and walking the lavish grounds of Nemours Estate.

The tour is another exciting tool for the Delaware Tourism Office to introduce Delaware to potential out-of-state visitors. It is available to view at VisitDelaware.com to spark travelers’ inspiration as they plan their trips.

“With the launch of this new virtual tour, the Delaware Tourism Office is embracing new technologies when marketing the state’s ‘Endless Discoveries’ at time when, as a state, we are working to grow innovation and the high-tech sector to move the economy forward,” said Gov. Carney.

“The tourism industry is vitally important to Delaware,” Sec. Bullock said. “The sector employs almost 43,000 people thanks in large part to the hard work and ingenuity of small business owners and entrepreneurs, who are a backbone of the state’s economy and who help make the visitor experience here so incredible.”

A record 9 million people visited Delaware in 2016, contributing a record $3.3 billion to the state’s economy, according to the latest Value of Tourism report.

“One of the most important ways the state tourism office works to drive out-of-state visitation to Delaware is by keeping on top of the changing landscape of technology,” Delaware Tourism Director Liz Keller said. “Staying at the forefront means adopting new technologies, listening to customers and engaging with them.”

Nemours Estate expects that being featured in the tourism office’s first-ever virtual tour will help continue the tremendous growth in visitation it has seen recently. The number of visitors grew to 25,000 in 2017, up from 15,000 in 2016.

“The virtual tour will introduce people, who may not yet be familiar with Nemours Estate, to the beauty of our mansion, gardens and grounds,” said John Rumm, executive director of Nemours Estate. “We’re confident that once people see us on a virtual tour they will want to visit us in person.”

Travelers stopping at the Delaware Welcome Center Travel Plaza on I-95 Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. have the chance to put on the headset for themselves to take the tour in celebration of National Travel and Tourism Week.

The Delaware Tourism Office, 99 Kings Highway in Dover, part of the Delaware Division of Small Business, promotes tourism and economic growth in Delaware. For more information, visit the official Delaware Tourism website at http://www.visitdelaware.com or call toll-free at (866) 284-7483.

Media Contact
Gary Haber
Communications Manager
Delaware Division of Small Business
Gary.Haber@delaware.gov
(302) 577-8471 (office)
(302) 222-7114 (cell phone)

For Immediate Release

THE MEZZANINE GALLERY TO EXHIBIT “SPIRIT OF EDEN: NEMOURS”
FEATURING COLOR INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOE DEL TUFO

The Delaware Division of the Arts Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of work by Joe del Tufo during the month of April. Spirit of Eden: Nemours will be on view from April 1-29, 2016, with an opening reception on Friday, April 1 from 5-7 p.m.

This exhibit will feature new color infrared work including the debut of work done over five years of shooting at the Nemours Garden and Mansion. As del Tufo explains, “I’ve always found Nemours to be an intersection of natural beauty and man-made art.”

His color infrared technique captures heat energy, which makes living objects in sunlight turn white, as if under newly-fallen snow, while maintaining the colors of the sky.

Learn more about Joe del Tufo with our YouTube Meet the Artist video series.

About the Delaware Division of the Arts
The Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit artsdel.org or call 302-577-8278.

Contact: Leeann Wallett, Program Officer, Communications and Marketing
302-577-8280, leeann.wallett@delaware.gov

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WILMNGTON – If you are the parent of a child in Delaware who receives health coverage through UnitedHealthcare, you recently received a letter stating that the current contract relationship between UnitedHealthcare and the Nemours Foundation (including A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital) is scheduled to expire on April 1, 2014.

I remain hopeful that UnitedHealthcare and Nemours will resolve their business differences so that UnitedHealthcare policyholders can continue to have A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital and Nemours pediatricians as in-network providers.  It is in the best interests of both parties and of the children they serve to resolve this issue quickly so that the care for these children is not interrupted or terminated.    Along with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, I stand ready to work with both parties on resolving this in the next few weeks.

However, because neither UnitedHealthcare nor Nemours appears to be making serious efforts to resolve their differences – despite the best efforts of the state – it is also important that parents make plans to ensure that their children receive appropriate medical care after April 1, 2014.  There is no “grace” period. Unless you take active steps in advance, services provided by Nemours will not be covered.  We suggest the following to make sure you are prepared:

• Children receiving Medicaid or CHIP benefits administered by United Healthcare.  Parents of children receiving Medicaid or CHIP benefits administered by UnitedHealthcare can ensure that their children continue to have access to Nemours pediatricians and A.I. duPont Hospital by calling the Delaware Medicaid Health Benefit Manager at 1-800-996-9969 and asking to switch their Managed Care Organization to DPCI.  The deadline for transfers is March 15, 2014. Parents who wish to remain with United Healthcare will need to select a new pediatric provider if they currently receive services from Nemours.

• Children whose parents receive self-insured health insurance benefits administered by UnitedHealthcare through a private employer.  There are two different ways that Delawareans receive health benefits overseen by UnitedHealthcare through their jobs.  Some Delawareans work for companies that are self-insured and hire UnitedHealthcare to administer their self-funded health benefit plans.  You can find out if your company is self-insured by asking your HR or personnel department.  Some of these self-insured companies use more than one insurance carrier to administer their benefits.  If your company uses more than one carrier, you should ask your HR department if the company is willing to allow you to switch to another carrier that has Nemours in-network outside the normal open enrollment period.  If your company does not use more than one carrier, you should talk to your HR department about any medical conditions your child has that make it important that s/he be seen at A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital, so your employer can make an informed decision about how to address the situation with UnitedHealthcare.

• Children whose parents receive health insurance from UnitedHealthcare through employer group health insurance or individually purchased health insurance.  If you are a UnitedHealthcare policyholder, through your employer or through a policy that you purchased directly from UnitedHealthcare, you have legal rights that are part of the insurance contract.  These rights include a minimal level of medical care that your child is entitled to receive.  If you have a child who is seen at A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital, you should immediately find out what UnitedHealthcare’s plan is for your child’s future medical care.  If you do not receive a prompt response or are unsatisfied with the response, you should contact the Delaware Insurance Department at 1-800-282-8611 or 302-674-7310 to receive help in enforcing your legal rights.