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Date: 8/10/2021
AMHERST – The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce has launched the What’s Next Campaign to promote tourism in the local region.
The What’s Next campaign launched on July 30 and intends to cover Amherst, Hadley, Belchertown, Pelham, Leverett, Sunderland, and Shutesbury.
“We wanted to create an opportunity where we could create and stir tourism. It's a little bit more than just hyper-local, but certainly local enough for folks who traveled from other states to us, knowing that people are not traveling abroad right now,” said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Claudia Pazmany.
The Amherst Chamber of Commerce received a grant in June that has made this program possible.
“The Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism Recovery gave us a $116,000 grant to promote tourism in the area,” she said.
With local tourism being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chamber of Commerce wants to highlight local attractions through different media avenues. “This is a pivotal brand development, content creation and website development optimization,” began Pazmany. “So we’re using all digital platforms, including Google ads, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Pandora, TripAdvisor, along with social media influencers.
What’s Next wants to show tourists that there’s something for everybody, Pazmany explained, “We’re inviting people to come to our playground of natural beauty and rediscover passions through our iconic arts and culture scene.”
They have also partnered with the Amherst Business Improvement District to showcase local trails and parks, museums and local farm-to-table restaurants.
The campaign will also host giveaways and contests as a way to keep momentum for the new program.
For more information and to see what the What’s Next campaign has to offer, visit their website at www.greateramherst.com or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/greateramherst.com/.