Funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce through the Economic Development Administration
Westchester County Tourism & Film was awarded an EDA grant as part of the American Rescue Plan. This EDA Tourism Recovery Action Plan is an investment to support the development of the Westchester County Tourism Recovery Plan with tourism research, stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and prioritization of initiatives and projects that will help the tourism sector recover from adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Westchester.
County Executive George Latimer launched the initiative at the Guiding the Future of Tourism forum that was held at Westchester Marriott and attended by tourism partners from hotels, arts and cultural attractions, transportation companies, chambers, and others.
Latimer: “The hospitality and tourism sector has shown remarkable resilience during the past few years. This unprecedented project will guide us to take our economic recovery to a new level, bringing jobs and economic benefits to the entire region. When one attraction succeeds, we all succeed as a destination. We are stronger together.”
Westchester County Tourism & Film has engaged with a team led by Hunden Strategic Partners (Hunden), a full-service, national destination development advisory practice to support the post-pandemic redevelopment and revitalization needs of the region.
Director of Westchester County Tourism & Film Natasha Caputo said: “Westchester County Tourism & Film is excited to work on this comprehensive tourism action plan to help boost tourism, support workforce development, and emphasize diversity and inclusion, benefiting local businesses. I look forward to collaborating to gain sector insights that are essential to the plan’s success.”
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo said: “The Economic Development Administration believes that regional collaboration is essential for economic recovery as regions are the centers of competition in the new global economy. Travel and tourism play an important role in that process by attracting fresh energy and investment to the region.”
Founder, Hunden Strategic Partners, Rob Hunden said: “We are delighted to be working with Westchester County to reinvigorate its economy and grow it as a renewed tourism destination. Our team has extensive experience evaluating the economic potential of tourism attractions and events as part of larger economic development goals. Our recovery plan will include data-driven recommendations and action steps.”
The plan will produce professional documentation of short, medium, and long-term actions and priorities that should be taken to recover and grow the tourism sector for maximum economic benefit in the region. Once implemented, the recovery plan will help encourage new business opportunities to develop in the tourism sector, particularly focusing on new business models and improving the attractiveness of the county as a destination, which will help increase employment opportunities, spur private investment, and advance economic resiliency in the area.
About the U.S. Economic Development Administration
The mission of the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) is to lead the federal economic development agenda by promoting competitiveness and preparing the nation’s regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. An agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, EDA invests in communities and supports regional collaboration in order to create jobs for U.S. workers, promote American innovation, and accelerate long-term sustainable economic growth.
About Westchester County Tourism & Film
Westchester County Tourism & Film is the official destination marketing organization of Westchester, N.Y. Its mission is to generate economic benefits for the County by enhancing and promoting its image as a premier Hudson Valley business and leisure destination. Encompassing big cities, small towns, farms, and vast expanses of natural beauty, Westchester is easily accessible by car, its own regional airport (HPN) and three major rail lines. Accommodation choices range from independent to internationally branded hotels and conference centers. Learn more at at the Westchester County tourism website and connect on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
About Hunden Strategic Partners
Hunden Strategic Partners, also known as “Hunden,” is a leading real estate, tourism and destination development consulting firm, with professionals in Chicago, San Diego and Minneapolis. The firm offers a full range of tourism advisory, market and financial feasibility, economic and impact analyses and other services for destinations and specialty assets, such as sports and event facilities, mixed-use and entertainment districts, convention, conference and expo centers, hotels, entertainment venues, attractions, events, recreation facilities, and other economic development projects.
In addition, Hunden also provides the developer solicitation and selection experience to move projects from concept to funding. Hunden’s clients include cities, states, universities, DMO’s, authorities and private developers. Mr. Hunden has worked on more than 1,000 studies and has had a hand in the development of more than $20 billion in open and underway projects around the world. For more information, visit the Hunden website.