SURVEY RESULTS
Local leaders make effort to bring visitors to Saratoga County
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » As the region continues through the phases of reopening, local leaders are making an effort to bring visitors to Saratoga County.
During a press conference on Wednesday in downtown Saratoga Springs, area officials shared the results of a recent survey that asked participants about their motivational preferences for visiting Saratoga County during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the 3,203 participants who completed the survey in early June - primarily New
York state residents who have been to the region multiple times in the past - findings show that 71 percent are very likely to visit Saratoga County within the next six months.
The other 29 percent answered that they are not likely to visit in the next six months.
When asked what is deterring these respondents from visiting, they reported a lack of trust in venues enforcing proper safety guidelines, a desire to avoid crowds, and the lack of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Looking ahead to when all restrictions are lifted, 86 percent of survey participants say they are likely to visit at that time.
In the meantime, according to the survey, businesses and their employees can take safety precautions that will motivate visitors such as wearing masks, enhancing cleaning and disinfecting protocols, and enforcing social distancing.
The survey was created by Saratoga Springs-based company Mind Genomics, which identified three different and distinct mindsets among respondents.
One viewpoint includes half of participants, who are extremely interested in visiting regardless of what messages are sent by economic development initiatives. However, officials believe that their interest can be piqued even further by showcasing din
ing, the great outdoors, and horseracing.
The second group, which includes a quarter of the respondents, is motivated by outdoor recreation, health and wellness along with arts, culture and history. Attractive qualities of the region for these visitors are natural springs, mountain hikes, parks and the area being a place to relax and destress.
The last group, also onequarter of respondents, are motivated by the quintessential Saratoga experience and will respond to messages pertaining to the arts, culture, history, dining shopping, and horseracing.
“This project gives us the data to target these three groups, and now we know how to get them excited to come out and visit Saratoga,” Discover Saratoga president Darryl Leggieri said at Wednesday’s press conference.
“From the beginning of COVID, back in March, we have been working collaboratively as a seamless one-stop shop effort to ensure that we’re delivering the most relevant information to businesses, to ensure that they could survive the shelter-in-place shutdown that we experienced, as well as how to reopen their businesses and survive this pandemic, and the information that we received from this Mind Genomics study is critical for businesses to understand best practices on how we can keep both their customers and their employees safe,” Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership president and CEO Shelby Schneider said.
In addition to the survey results, event leaders shared the area’s latest advertising campaign, which was created using feedback from the survey. This includes a television commercial, paid for by the county, that shows historical landmarks, mountain biking, beach-going, outdoor dining, dance performance, boating and hiking, accompanied by an invitation for viewers to “Feel the Freedom in Saratoga County, New York.”
Saratoga County Chamber President Todd Shimkus, vice president of the Saratoga County Reopening Advisory Group, spoke about the new
“Feel the Freedom” campaign. “We love that theme that we are suddenly able to freely go out again and patronize local businesses and visit other places,” he said. “We want people to do that.”
Saratoga County Reopening Advisory Group Chairman Jack Lawler, Town of Waterford supervisor, said the campaign is meant to convey that Saratoga County is open for business.
“We have responsible business owners. We are open safely. People can come patronize our stores, our shops, our facilities, our recreation areas and they can do it safely because our business population is well informed and well guided in that matter.”
Survey respondent Sheila Smith Sperling of boutique hotel Saratoga Arms, the site of the press conference, spoke about the pandemic from a small business perspective.
“As a small, familyowned business, we’ve been challenged like we’ve never been challenged before this year,” she said.
“The survey really opened our eyes to what we need to do,” she continued, explaining some of the procedural changes recently implemented at the hotel.
Looking ahead, Smith Sperling added, “Saratoga has so much to offer and we hope that everyone comes and visits us.”
More information about Saratoga County tourism can be found online at ILoveSaratoga.US.