German visitors tour Finger Lakes

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Feb 04, 2005 by Dickinson, Casey J

SYRACUSE - As temperatures hovered near zero and snow stopped travel on the fourth weekend of January, members of the Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance showed off the region to their German counterparts. A delegation of a dozen members from Germany's foreign-travel industry visited New York State from Jan. 19-23 to familiarize themselves with regional attractions. They spent the latter half of the tour in the Finger Lakes area.

The hope is that the trip will lead to more German tourists taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of the Finger Lakes region in the future.

"Our guests represented travel companies from all over Germany," says Alexa Gifford, President of the Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance. "Now they can return home and tell clients about upstate New York from their own experiences."

Familiarization or "fam" tours, are a standard practice in the travel business, allowing travel professionals to see where they're sending their clients. The Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance is an association of private businesses, tourism-promotion agencies, and attractions that serve the 14-county, 9,000square-mile Finger Lakes region.

Several tourism businesses and the New York State Division of Tourism contributed goods and services to bring the group over, says Gifford. Continental Airlines flew the group into Kennedy Airport January 19 for a tour of New York before members headed Upstate. In June, Continental will start offering direct flights from Newark Liberty airport to Berlin and Hamburg.

"The tours are a collaborative effort by those companies that are interested in the international market," explains Gifford.

In the past, the Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance has hosted tour groups from Canada, the United Kingdom, and other nations, she adds.

Tour events for the German travel-industry professionals included stops in Cortland, Ithaca, Syracuse, and Waterloo. In Syracuse, the group toured the Syracuse China plant and stopped at the Carousel Center to shop and learn about the DestiNY USA project. While in Cortland, the group went snow tubing at the Greek Peak ski resort. The stop in Ithaca included lunch at Olivia Restaurant and a tour of Cornell University's campus. In Waterloo, the group visited the Premium Outlets shopping plaza before stopping for the evening.

The weekend's winter weather put a stop to several planned activities because of travel hazards, says Gifford. The group had to cancel a King Ferry winery tour and a stop at the Mackenzie-Childs plant in Aurora. A Mackenzie-Childs representative traveled to Olivia Restaurant to meet with the group in lieu of the tour.

The German delegation stayed at the Syracuse Ramada Inn. for an extra night because of a weather-related flight cancellation before traveling by motorcoach back to New York for the flight home. Trip organizers, weren't concerned about having the visit during January, says Gifford, because their guests already know about New York's winter weather.

"It snows in Germany; they understand that it's cold here and it snows," says Gifford.