Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | August 7, 2017 | wbjournal.com Two years after Discover Central Mass. formed, the agency is struggling for financial support from 34 of its 35 towns Fighting for funds Visitor events Amateur sporting events are a major component of tourism in Central Massachusetts. These 2016 events contributed the following estimated number of hotel-room stays and total visitor spending. Event Hotel rooms Spending Northeast Knockout (cheerleading) 1,440 $2,150,000 USRowing Masters Nationals Championships 5,460 $1,382,000 NCAA Division I Men's Hockey Regional 701 $688,000 USRowing Eastern Sprint 887 $443,800 Northeast Select Baseball Prospects Tournament 1,125 $335,450 USRowing New England Rowing Championships 9,746 $311,450 American Dance Awards Regional Tour 450 $187,500 USRowing Patriot League Championship 211 $102,350 USRowing Women's Sprints 180 $94,350 Northeast 10 Swimming Championships 336 $86,000 America East Swimming & Diving Championships 375 $68,800 Nexstar National Dance Competition 395 $65,000 Source: Discover Central Massachusetts D iscover Central Massachusetts has a straightforward mission: get visitors to eat, shop, stay or hold meetings in any of the 35 communities in the mid- dle part of the state. But of all those communities, only one donates to the agency's cause: Worcester. The state's second largest city con- tributes most of the budget for DCM while other communities have put the agency in an unusual position: having to prove its worth to its own member cities and towns, including many whose chief officials serve on its board. At least several communities want to see data support a return on invest- ment for something that's hard to qualify. After all, who knows for sure how many people are eating at a res- taurant, staying at a hotel or visiting an attraction because of the tourism agen- cy? At the same time, the region appears to suffer from a lack of cohesion. Blackstone, on the Rhode Island bor- der in the southeastern part of the agency's district, has little in common with Hardwick to the west, or Sturbridge with Worcester. "There isn't really a shared profile," said Matthias Waschek, the director of the Worcester Art Museum, who serves on DCM's board. Despite what BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor he called a lack of homogeneity, "that doesn't mean at all that it's a lost battle." $500K from Worcester, $0 from the rest Despite the name, DCM doesn't cover the entire region. Princeton, Sterling and communities to the north are part of the Johnny Appleseed Trail Association. DCM was formed just two years ago this summer, a successor of sorts to both Destination Worcester and the Central Massachusetts Convention & Visitors Bureau. Destination Worcester, an agency marketed the city to tourists, was formed in 2007 by then-City Manager Michael O'Brien as he pulled the city's funding from the convention and visi- tors bureau, which itself suffered from a lack of financial support. Worcester gives $500,000 a year the DCM. The organization's individual members, such as hotels and tourist destinations, total only about $50,000 in funding a year on average, said DCM President Christina Andreoli. The only other financial support DCM receives is from the state, which last year was $200,000, but cut to $98,000 mid-year. Andreoli was asked about those funding challenges at a June meeting with the Worcester City Council's eco- nomic development committee. Councilor George Russell asked her why Auburn or Sturbridge don't con- tribute. "They want to see data" to show why the agency is worth the funding, Andreoli said. "To be quite frank, we need them right now." Until then, DCM is directing much of its efforts to the city that covers a large share of its bills. "We're probably not going to be focusing them on the areas of Sturbridge and Auburn until those types of relationships are formed," Andreoli said. Otherwise, the agency plays up all areas of its district, such as having spe- cial pages on its website for five areas: the 395 Corridor, Blackstone Valley, Sturbridge Townships, Wachusett and Worcester. Russell called the arrangement unfair, and said towns shouldn't have member- ships on the agency's board of directors unless they give financial support. "I'm just so disappointed that those towns don't give anything," he said. Christina Andreoli, the Discover Central Massachusetts president, is working to prove the tourism agency's value to its 35 member communities. Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston sees 134,000 visitors annually. The organization named Grace Elton its new CEO this year. Old Sturbridge Village is the fifth most popular tourist attraction in Central Massachusetts, with 251,425 visitors in 2016.

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