ROCKY HILL, Conn. — Gov. Ned Lamont joined leaders from the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Connecticut Office of Tourism on Monday to discuss some of the successes from the summer tourism season and to promote a new campaign for the Autumn season ahead.
Despite the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lamont’s team noted they were pleased with the results for the summer of 2021. Not surprisingly, numbers rose over 2020, according to Christine Castonguay, the interim director of tourism for the State of Connecticut.
“We saw increased bookings at our overnight accommodations," she said. "We saw increased attendance at all our attractions and events throughout the state were well attended.”
Lamont added that as the fall foliage season approaches, Visit Connecticut will embark on a new marketing campaign called, “Full Color Connecticut”.
“We are marketing this state with a $24 million budget over the next two years, tripling what we’ve done in the past,” said Lamont.
While flooding rains drenched the state numerous times over the summer months, there should be a benefit from that water as it pertains to tourism in Connecticut: the rains should produce a vibrant leaf-peeping season.
“We did have a few rainy weekends as everyone knows but the benefit of that is that usually ends up creating an amazing fall foliage season," Mason Trumble, the deputy commissioner of the DEEP, said.
The Full Color Connecticut Campaign will consist of both television and digital ads with an extended reach to tourists.
"We will be in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island but also Philadelphia which is great from a marketing perspective,” Castonguay added.
Lamont, nearing the end of his press conference remarked: “Fall foliage is our second busiest tourism cycle and it’s really important that we tell our story.”
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
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