Fall 2024 Tourism Update
As we conclude the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, the Chamber is pleased to share this update of our tourism affiliate Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM). This report highlights our marketing efforts, achievements, and future plans to promote our region as a premier destination.
Branding & Advertising
Our advertising strategy combined print and digital media across target markets, with messaging such as “Everything You Love About New England… A Lot Closer to Home.” and “Drive to, not through, North Central MA” through various channels, including:
- Paid social media campaigns via MassLive
- Search Engine Marketing through Local IQ
- Print/digital campaigns in Boston Magazine
- Digital and email campaign with AAA
- Digital bundle campaign with Yankee Publishing
These efforts showcased our region’s diverse attractions and increased web traffic, aiming to captivate potential visitors and encourage exploration of North Central Massachusetts.
Visitor Guide
We also published the Fall/Winter edition of the Guide to North Central Massachusetts, a popular glossy, full-color magazine aimed at informing and inspiring readers. It showcases the region as a unique destination for living, working, and visiting. We printed 40,000 copies per edition and distributed them to 350 high-traffic locations throughout New England through AAA and CTM Media Group. A digital version is also shared on our website, social media, via email, and shared with the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism (MOTT) to maximize its reach and engagement.
FAM Trips & Travel Shows
We actively participated in Familiarization Trips & Travel Shows. We also continued our “Super Region” collaboration with two other Central Massachusetts Regional Tourism Councils (Discover Central MA and MetroWest Boston Visitors Bureau), implementing an off-season marketing campaign. We hosted two regional travel writer press trips in January and March to assist us with generating more interest in the region among the travel media and other travel influencers. We have several advertising campaigns underway and are working with CM Communications, a Boston-based PR Agency that specializes in destination marketing. Our participation in the Dream Destination Travel Show in October also further promoted our region as a desirable travel destination.
Social Media
We maintained a strong presence on social media throughout the year. From January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024, our Visit North Central Massachusetts Facebook page had a total reach of 500,291, a 21% decrease over the previous six months, but a 17% increase over the same timeframe the previous year. Our Facebook channel also attracted 4,068 new followers, an 11.66% increase over the previous six months. In addition, the page also had 7,400 content interactions and 12,600 link clicks during the same timeframe. Paid reach was 250,017 and 1,395,876 paid impressions. On Instagram, the page achieved a reach of 43,700, a 33.9% decrease over the previous six months, but a 250% increase over the same timeframe the previous year. We gained 419 new followers, had 2,300 content interactions and 1,200 link clicks during the same timeframe.
Website
Our tourism website, Visitnorthcentral.com, has experienced growth in traffic for FY24. Google Analytics indicates that our website experienced a 44.5% increase in pageviews; a 51.1% increase in sessions; and a 48.1% increase in unique users from January 1, 2024, to June 30, 2024, when compared to the same timeframe in 2023. During the same time period, we also had over 1,587,649 Google impressions. Additionally, we are actively aligning the content of Visit North Central’s seasonal landing pages with our SEO strategy to maintain consistency with our SEM campaign efforts.
Lodging & Other Data
STR data through June indicates that YTD hotel occupancy was 73.6%, a 2.6% increase over the previous year; ADR was $187.81, which is a 1.8% decrease; RevPar was $138.21, a 0.8% increase over the previous year; total room revenue was down 3.8%; and rooms sold was down 2.1%. AirDNA data indicates that short-term rentals in the region have continued to trend upwards, growing from 4.4% of total lodging revenue in the region in FY23 to 5.7% in FY24. Research from Datafy indicates that the region had 4,428,731 trips in FY24 and 8,346,506 visitor days. Average length of stay in the region was 1.9 days and our top four origin markets were Boston; Hartford/New Haven; New York; and Providence-New Bedford.
Email Newsletter
We launched a quarterly Visit North Central Massachusetts (VNCM) subscription-based email newsletter to help promote the region to visitors. Our VNCM email list already has 3,117 subscribers and has an average open rate of 46% and click-through rate of 9%.
Looking Ahead
As we enter the Fall season, our focus remains on showcasing North Central Massachusetts as a premier destination for outdoor enthusiasts and those seeking authentic New England experiences. Our strategic approach includes:
- Enhancing our digital marketing presence
- Developing exciting seasonal itineraries
- Targeting the Route 2 corridor with geofenced ads
- Refreshing our website homepage for improved user experience
- Continuing to highlight outdoor attractions and traditional New England experiences
We’re implementing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy, including paid search, social media advertising, targeted YouTube ads, and organic engagement. By combining these strategies, we aim to engage a broader audience and demonstrate the unique benefits of visiting North Central Massachusetts.
We invite you to join us in promoting our region’s unique attractions and experiences. Stay tuned for more updates and opportunities to get involved!
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