cultural tourism initiative (cti)
grant program

Grantees

Project Narratives: 2006

A total of $200,000 in Cultural Tourism Initiative grants was recently awarded to the following grantees:

• Alliance for the Arts (Erie, Monroe, New York, Niagara, and Otsego counties)
  In support of efforts to encourage and increase Japanese tourism to New York City and select upstate cities. Working with NYC & Company and cultural institutions in Buffalo, Niagara, Rochester, and Cooperstown, the project will leverage Japanese tourists’ established interest in New York City and Niagara Falls and provide incentives to extend and expand these visits across the state. A Japanese language brochure will be printed as a resource, and collaborations will be made with Japanese tour operations to develop new tour packages to/from New York City that include destinations in upstate New York.
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden Corporation (Kings County)
  Third-year funding to expand the Experience the Heart of Brooklyn campaign. This year, new efforts will be launched that build on the successes of previous tourism products and focus on the new market of international leisure travel. With new tourism partner Brooklyn Tourism, Heart of Brooklyn plans attendance at targeted trade shows, diversification of collateral pieces, more personalized familiarity tours, and enhanced website functionality to target tour operators and better attract new visitors to the cultural institutions and vibrant neighborhoods around Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza.
  www.heartofbrooklyn.org
• Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Columbia and Greene counties)
  To promote the artistic heritage and scenic views along the Hudson River School Art Trail. Trail highlights include Thomas Cole’s Cedar Grove home and Frederic Edwin Church’s Olana, where visitors are able to see the actual landscapes that inspired the famed paintings of the Hudson River School movement. Through website development and increased marketing, the project seeks to attract more visitors to the historic sites, museums, hiking trails, waterfalls, and other cultural and natural resources in the “birthplace of American landscape painting.” Greene County Tourism is the primary tourism partner.
  www.thomascole.org
• Council on the Arts & Humanities of Staten Island (Richmond County)
  To develop and produce a new mobile audio walking tour of Staten Island that leads riders off the Staten Island Ferry and into the neighboring community. The project seizes the opportunity to enrich the cultural experiences of the estimated two million tourists who ride the free Ferry each year. Featuring interviews, historic audio, dramatic readings, eyewitness accounts, an original score, and narration by actor Paul Sorvino, the self-guided tour will introduce Staten Island’s historic sites and points of interest, while encouraging visitors to patronize restaurants and retail establishments in the downtown St. George area and to explore nearby Snug Harbor and beyond.
• Aaron Davis Hall, Inc. (New York County)
  Third-year funding to the Harlem One Stop project to enhance marketing efforts that further its mission to become a complete resource for Upper Manhattan/Harlem-based tourism. In 2006, the project—in partnership with NYC & Company, Hamilton Heights West Harlem Community Preservation Association, and numerous local organizations—will launch an interactive website, start a visitor’s center, and develop custom tour packages targeted to niche markets. At the same time, the project will continue to develop relationships within the greater Harlem area and between uptown and downtown destinations that reinforce the connection between increased tourism in Upper Manhattan with the community’s economic revitalization.
  www.harlemonestop.org
• The Farmers’ Museum (Chenango, Delaware, Otsego, and Schoharie counties)
  Third-year funding to support ongoing branding effort around “destination” activities in the Upper Catskills. The Changing Colors effort will expand beyond local festivals and introduce environmental organizations, hospitality vendors, and restaurants as new partners. Otsego County Tourism leads a partnership that has been expanded to now include 15 organizations and attractions. This year, new group tour packages will be developed to build awareness of the environment and culture of the region and attract weekday and overnight stays by visitors during the fall shoulder season.
  www.changingcolors.org
• Roxbury Arts Group (Delaware County)
  To create and implement the “First Strokes” series of hands-on art experiences as a new tourist package. In collaboration with tourist partner M-ARK Project, Inc., the organization will market three- and five-day packages that allow visitors to learn painting, drawing, writing, weaving, and sculpting from local artists in their studios. Workshops will be offered midweek during non-peak periods for regional tourism. The initiative will introduce tourists who may have previously come only for recreation to experience the art and culture of the Catskills.
• Second Stage Theatre (New York County)
  To launch the Off-Broadway Passport program, a new outreach promotion aimed at residents of “metropolitan suburban communities” along New Jersey’s Hudson River shoreline. Through targeted advertising and one-stop online resources developed by partner Broadway.com, the Passport program will encourage this audience from out-of-state—but with proximity to New York City—to explore a diverse selection of Off-Broadway theaters and offer incentives for multiple visits, with the hopes of generating new theater subscribers.
• St. Lawrence County Historical Association (Cayuga, Chautauqua, Erie, Jefferson, Monroe, Niagara, Orleans, Oswego, St. Lawrence, and Wayne counties)
  To market the scenic Great Lakes Seaway Trail. The project seeks to raise awareness of this 455-mile long route along the freshwater shoreline of Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River and direct visitors to sites on the trail. The trail’s website will be revised and enhanced, and traffic will be driven to the site through online search engine optimization. Meanwhile, a series of large-scale, graphic interpretive panels will be developed and installed at key stops along the trail to “tell the story” of these major cultural sites and encourage visitors to explore their surrounding areas.
  www.seawaytrail.com