Hartford Business Journal

10 Hartford Business Journal • May 14, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com CT's tourism industry readies for busy season Q&A talks with Randy Fiveash, director of the Connecti- cut Office of Tourism. Q. As we march toward the spring and summer tourism seasons, is there any- thing new happening within Connecti- cut's tourism industry or how the state intends to help promote the industry? A. Despite reductions to the statewide tourism marketing budget, our industry continues to work together to grow the tourism business for Connecticut — which now contributes $14.7 billion in business sales, generates $1.7 billion in tax revenues and supports nearly 83,000 direct jobs and 121,000 indirect jobs. Right now, we're about to launch our spring/summer marketing campaign. This year, that includes targeted digital advertising, search marketing, content marketing, email, social media and public relations — an integrated mar- keting mix that's proven to be effective for us. We're also putting a greater emphasis on video marketing as well as returning to out-of-home advertising, including placements in the highly traf- ficked areas of Boston and New York. Many of those tactics drive interested travelers to the state's official tourism website: www.CTvisit.com. The website, which features over 4,000 attractions, hotels/B&Bs, restaurants, events and cities and towns, received nearly 5 mil- lion visits and generated over 3.2 million leads for partners last year. Through our regional marketing program, we've also been working even more closely with local organizations across the state. Our goal is to make sure every tourism-related business in Con- necticut capitalizes on the state's exist- ing broad array of marketing initiatives. Q. What are the driving factors (eco- nomic and otherwise) that determine Randy Fiveash Director, Connecticut Office of Tourism FOCUS: Tourism By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal A few years ago, when TheaterWorks — the intimate 195-seat performing-arts theater on Pearl Street in Hartford's downtown — celebrated its 30th anniversary, the organization took the opportunity to not only celebrate its history, but also look forward to its future. "We had just completed our strategic plan and three of the major components were focused on growth, increased access and expanded community in- volvement," said Gerry Lupacchino, the organization's current board president. As an opening act to its next 30 years, TheaterWorks is investing more than $4 million — including $2.5 million from the state — to thor- oughly renovate the 91-year-old building. Rob Ruggiero, TheaterWorks' producing artis- tic director, says the renovations will begin late this summer and continue into 2019. They will in- clude major upgrades to the theater's lobby area, including the restoration of the building's original staircase, the addition of a second elevator, new bathrooms and updates to the the- ater's electric and heating systems. "It's going to change audience flow and make patrons who need to use our elevators feel much more integrated into the whole experience," Ruggiero said. The basement-based theater area will also undergo significant upgrades, including the restoration or replace- ment of all seating, elevated lighting, expanded dressing rooms for perform- ing artists and a more open stage left, which Ruggiero says will provide more space for scenery and set design. "Those enhancements will make a great difference to the comfort and access of our audience," Ruggiero said, "and artistically we'll be able to do more." That's good news not only for the 40,000 people a year — including more than 5,000 subscribers — who see shows at TheaterWorks, but for restau- rants in the Pearl Street area, including Max Downtown, Salute and Bin 228 Wine Bar, if the renovations help drive more foot traffic to the theater. According to a report by Americans for the Arts, the average attendee to an arts-related event spends an estimated $24.60 after admission in the local economy. By that measure, Theater- Works, which performs 225 nights a year from October through August, helps generate nearly $1 million a year for the local economy, said Freddie McInerney, TheaterWorks' communica- tions director. Understanding the positive economic impact his theater has on neighboring businesses, Ruggiero says he is commit- ted to creating programming down- town even when the theater itself will be shut down temporarily in early 2019 for the renovations. "We want to be good partners and we know that a lot of restaurants around us depend on our shows to create great business for them," Ruggiero said, "so we are looking for temporary space downtown [during the renovation]." But the organization's interest in additional space is also part of its long-term goals. "We are looking at our capacity in our [current] building," Ruggiero said, noting that more space would enable Next Act TheaterWorks' next big performance includes $4M renovation Christiane Noll and David Harris starred in TheaterWorks' hit musical "Next to Normal" in 2017. By the end of this year and into 2019 TheaterWorks' Pearl Street venue will be getting a major facelift. Rob Ruggiero, Producing Artistic Director, TheaterWorks PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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