Almanack Contributor Kimberly Rielly


Kimberly Rielly is the director of communications for the Lake Placid Convention and Visitors Bureau / Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism, the accredited destination marketing organization (DMO) responsible for promoting the Lake Champlain, High Peaks, Schroon Lake and Whiteface regions of Essex County.



A lifelong resident of Lake Champlain's Adirondack coast, Rielly writes about the destination marketing and planning issues that affect the region's tourism economy.


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Journalism, Social Media, and Adirondack Marketing

Pew2013DigitalHave you altogether stopped watching, reading or listening to your go-to news source because it doesn’t provide the information you’re seeking? Well, you’re not alone.

The recently released Pew Research Center’s Annual Report on American Journalism, “The State of the News Media 2013”, finds that the power of journalism continues to shrink as the news industry continues to cut jobs and news coverage. In fact, estimates for the decline in newsroom employment – at newspapers – in 2012 is down 30 percent since its peak in 2000.


Tags: , , ,

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

A Regional Tourism Council Profile

I Love New York region breakoutSo, I opened up a can of comments after my last post, “The Sustainable Tourism Equation.”

In that post, I attempted to convey the indisputable fact that in order for Adirondack communities to benefit economically from any increased tourism activity (resulting from increased marketing), those communities have to have cash registers in place to collect the money. If there’s no place to buy anything in a town (retail, restaurant, attraction, lodging), the visitors can’t contribute to the economy there. In other words, marketing is just part of the overall equation.


Tags: , , ,

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Sustainable Tourism Equation

The bottom line: we can market the heck out of Childwold, N.Y. as a tourism destination, but the visitors will stay in Lake Placid anyway.

Marketing alone is not the solution to the sustainable tourism problem.

In a recent post by NCPR’s Brian Mann, he revisits the idea that there is a lack of a coordinated tourism marketing effort for the Adirondacks. He cites the “balkanization” of the region, “with no central governing organization to shape how and where dollars are spent”.

He’s right.


Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The New State Lands: Tourism and Destination Planning

Canoe on Upper Hudson River Near NewcombThe state acquisition of 69,000 acres of the former Finch Pruyn lands in the Adirondack Park has spurred much discussion. I thought I’d chime in from a tourism perspective.

In general, the purchase will ultimately mean public access to incredible natural resources for recreational activity. Or, according to a press release from Governor Cuomo’s office on August 5th, “Opening these lands to public use and enjoyment for the first time in 150 years will provide extraordinary new outdoor recreational opportunities, increase the number of visitors to the North Country and generate additional tourism revenue.”

I applaud the Governor’s office and their efforts, and appreciate » Continue Reading.


Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, July 2, 2012

Kimberly Rielly: The Economy of Adirondack Events

Lake Placid Horse ShowsWell, it’s officially summer.

I know this for a number of reasons; my two-wheeled vehicles are all tuned up and at the ready, the shoes piled near the door at my house are primarily open-toed, my golf clubs live permanently in the trunk of my car, I have at least one patch of poison ivy on my arm, and of course, the ratio of regional events per day has increased dramatically.

As a destination marketing organization (DMO) communicator, I’ve said it before: outdoor recreational opportunities; hiking, biking, paddling and the like are what draw visitors to the region. So how do events fit into the tourism equation?


Tags: ,

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Adirondack Tourism: Social Media Creativity

April in the Adirondacks is…..well…quiet. As far as tourism activity, it traditionally represents the transition month between winter/ski season and the beginning of summer travel. It’s also a time when many north country folk head south for vacation, coinciding with school breaks. Lake Placid welcomes its share of conference attendees in April, but by May the whole region sees more visitors arriving to hike, bike, paddle and fish.

To me, it’s also a good time to ramp up for the busy season; develop content, fine-tune promotional schedules, and to conduct some online social media experiments.

Did you hear about the Adirondack park-wide floodlights » Continue Reading.


Tags: , , ,

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Team Adirondacks: Local and Regional Tourism

Despite the fact that it’s been more than twenty years since I walked the halls of my Adirondack K-12 school, I still consider myself a Westport Eagle.

I’m actually somewhat of a traitor, living in neighboring Moriah. But since our two schools were in different sports leagues (based on enrollment), the people of Westport do continue to welcome me for reunions and the like. (Now, if I lived in Elizabethtown, we’d be having a whole different conversation.) It occurred to me long ago that our Adirondack community rivalries embed themselves early via friendly competition on soccer, baseball and football fields. As » Continue Reading.


Tags: , , , , ,

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Kimberly Rielly: A New Climate for Winter Tourism

Mother Nature has handed us a smorgasbord of weather so far this winter, with wildly fluctuating temperatures and at least 14 types of precipitation. We haven’t got a contract with her; and I am confident that the usual blanket of snow will arrive just a little bit later than expected this year.

Of course, I’m no meteorologist; maybe it won’t.I’m not going to talk about climate change. It’s a fact; and though it might not completely eradicate what we now consider typical winter recreation in the Adirondacks for decades, these weather fluctuations WILL be a factor from now on.

As a » Continue Reading.


Tags: , , , ,

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Adirondack Destinations and Social Media

Ah, the transition to a new year. To many, it means participating in the frenzy of shopping and cooking and parties that mark the season. To me, it also means that I’ve got a couple of weeks to finalize plans for 2012, and to reflect on the previous twelve months while “business as usual” takes a break.

That reflection, I should mention, is somewhat involuntary, as I am required to submit final communication department reports. But, like those piano lessons I hated taking as a kid, I’m glad now that I was forced to do it. The stats and activities that » Continue Reading.


Tags: , , ,

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Kimberly Rielly: Understanding The Adirondack Brand

What does ‘Adirondacks’ mean to potential visitors?

There continues to be much discussion throughout the region centering around the topic of the Adirondack “brand”. As the destination marketing organization for a huge chunk of the Adirondacks, I thought we’d chime in, too. And we bring good news! There is clear evidence that “Adirondacks” does, indeed, mean something to potential visitors.

The basic premise of the various comments is that the Adirondacks need a consolidated brand to compete in the marketplace with established brand concepts like those that exist for Vermont and Maine.

We wholeheartedly agree.The word brand is an overused term and is usually confused in general » Continue Reading.


Tags: ,

Page 1 of 212