Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | October 24, 2016 | Worcester Business Journal 11 existing tourist pulls while recruiting new events to come to the area. A major component of the work DCM does is bringing tournaments to sports complexes like the New England Sports Center in Marlborough as well as vari- ous concerts, events and conferences to the DCU Center in Worcester. "The Central Massachusetts market is a driving market. They are going to come from Boston and Connecticut and Southern New Hampshire and the edge of New York state. They are com- ing for family, school and to see friends and visit," said Francois Nivaud, the executive director of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. The new team from DCM has brought an energy to tourism in the region, Nivaud said, coming along at a transformative time for Worcester and the region through an influx of new restaurants and businesses drawing new crowds to the area. Family, art & beer Among these new attractions is beer, and plenty of it. In the last few years, Worcester's Wormtown Brewery has opened a tasting room; Framingham's Jack's Abby Craft Lager undertook a massive expansion that now includes a restaurant and announced plans in September for another expansion; and Rapscallion Brewery in Sturbridge has established itself as a destination with music and apple picking on site. A 70-acre destination location from Tree House Brewing in Charlton, set for an early 2017 opening, will only add to the tasty pull of the region once it opens. These new attractions aren't limited to beer. In the last five years, a number of family destinations and artistic institu- tions have arisen. While the Hanover Theatre may seem a bit old hat to those within the city, an upcoming expansion is set to turn the Theatre District into a proper destination. Up in Fitchburg, the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark resort has given families a unique reason to ven- ture up into a Central Massachusetts community that has also seen a concert- ed outreach effort from its art museum. "There's a lot of great spaces in Worcester that have some novel oppor- tunities that are different types of busi- ness and are not your grandfather's business," said Hebert. "We want to attract a younger audience and make (tourism) sustainable." The early figures are showing small positive returns from these efforts. Tourism spending in Central Massachusetts increased from $504 million in 2014 to $523 million in 2015, even as DCM was only got up and running in August 2015. Last year, the industry employed 3,306 people, up from 3,220 employees in 2014. Attracting untraditional visitors Kyla Pacheco is the co-founder of Action! Worcester, which has the goal of connecting college students and professionals to the city. She has been conducting surveys at city events as part of an Americans for the Arts' Arts & Economic Prosperity Study. As part of those surveys, she has gone to many events throughout the city. Perhaps unsurprisingly for those who know Worcester, Pacheco said many visitors are coming in for cultur- al events or even just to visit friends and family in the community. As Worcester continues to develop its night and restaurant scenes, people who would not traditionally be con- sidered tourists are becoming increas- ingly interested in visiting. Once they are here, she said, they get hooked. "We've got a movement where when people come in and experience one thing… It's hard not to want to check something else out or be near some- thing else you want to check out later," Pacheco said. The entire city, from businesses to cultural organizations to officials, also are pulling in the same direction, she said, and it shows to those who visit the community. "There's a real growing together… so that there is a common agenda and that is to make Central Massachusetts a great place to live work make and play. Each of us has our own niche of where we fit in," said Erin Williams, Worcester's cultural development offi- cer and the executive director of the Worcester Cultural Coalition. Standing out from the three B's Pushing Central Massachusetts for- ward will be about attracting and sup- porting events of a similar scale as POW! WOW! Worcester in August, Andreoli said. "We want to attract planners and organizations," she said. "Our goal is to market those (events) to a wider and more diverse audience to grow that market share for the region." Ultimately, all efforts will be about the elbow grease the region is willing to put into the effort, said Hebert. "We're never going to be one of the three B's: Boston, Berkshires and beach- es, so we have to strive harder and we have to be the best," Hebert said. New events In its first year, Discover Central Massachusetts focused on bringing new events to the region. Those included: Hotel rooms Event Location booked Source: Discover Central Massachusetts While most tourism outreach is designed around a 90-mile tourism radius for Central Massachusetts, POW! WOW! Worcester hit another layer of tourism by bringing international attention. For the week it took place, the POW! WOW! Worcester Facebook page drew more attention than the organization's core Facebook page. US Rowing Northeast Junior District Championship Worcester 850 Disc Golf Pro Tour Vibram Open Leicester 600 World Series of Youth Lacrosse Worcester 500 American Junior Golf Association Boylston 450 US Masters Swimming New England Championships Worcester 350 W P H O T O / S T E V E N K I N G , P O W ! W O W ! W O R C E S T E R

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