Encouraging visitors to ‘Make it Montco’
Winter hotel marketing campaign underway in targeted areas
UPPER MERION >> For the third consecutive year, the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board kicked off its annual winter marketing campaign before the official start of winter.
Montgomery County’s tourism agency officially kicked off the initiative — #MakeItMontco Winter Hotel Package — Nov. 22, with marketing and advertising targeting the Philadelphia, southern New Jersey, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York markets. The goal of the campaign
— to increase hotel stays for people visiting Montgomery County.
For this year’s campaign, the board has partnered with a record 37 local businesses and attractions and 30 of the county’s hotels, to create the winter hotel marketing package.
The seasonal package raises awareness about the county as a potential tourism destination, while offering incentives to make a winter visit, according to Edward Harris, Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board chief marketing officer.
“The wide range of members who participate in this hotel package continues to grow, which only helps encourage more visitors to come to Montgomery County during the winter months,” he said. “You don’t have to go far to get away. There’s so much to do and see here this season, and plenty of reasons for folks to #MakeItMontco.”
The marketing campaign — which runs through April 22 — includes television, radio, regional print ads and billboards. This is the second year there has been a television commercial as part of the initiative.
The Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board had traditionally started its winter campaign
after Jan. 1 each year, a tactic that changed in 2017.
It’s a strategy that has been working, according to Harris, who said hotel bookings have increased each year.
In the first two weeks of the campaign, nearly 150 room nights were booked through the package — which is a record compared with the same time frame in previous years.
Visitors that book a stay at a participating Montgomery County hotel as part of the #MakeItMontco Winter Hotel Package receive a coupon book at check in, offering an estimated $350 in savings at restaurants, attractions, entertainment venues, breweries/wineries and shopping. Something new the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board is incorporating into its social media marketing campaign this year is its new mini Monty the Fox mascot plush. The figure was created for the agency by Bleacher Creatures, of Plymouth Meeting, in response to the growing popularity of the tourism board’s life-sized Monty the Fox mascot. Through the rest of 2019, the Monty plush will be making appearances at Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board partner locations — to create “viral-worthy social media content and to create buzz around the package,” according to Rachel Riley, spokeswoman for the board. She said social media users can follow @VisitValleyForge and #MakeItMontco to see how they can win a mini-Monty.
The mini Monty plush made its official debut in October, when 500 of the plush figures were given out to patients and family members at CHOP’s Specialty Care & Surgery Center in King of Prussia.
A total of 1,500 of the figures were manufactured, according to Riley, who added that they are being distributed through social giveaways and at events and festivals where Monty and the Valley Forge Tourism
and Convention Board’s traveling kiosk may be.
The Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board added its mascot Monty the Fox in May 2017.
“Having a mascot brings an element of excitement to our events, and also helps elevate our reputation as a family-fun destination. This new plush gives us an op- portunity to form stronger connections with kids, and helps build word of mouth awareness for our brand,” said Harris. The Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board has more than 670 members — about 40% more than four years ago, the agency said. Montgomery County currently has 80 hotels and 9,200 guest rooms, according to statistics provided by the agency, and by the end of 2020, it is anticipated the county will have 85 hotels and almost 10,000 rooms. For more information about the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board’s #MakeItMontco Winter Hotel Package, visit www.makeitmontco.com. For more information about the Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board visit https://www. valleyforge.org/
“The wide range of members who participate in this hotel package continues to grow, which only helps encourage more visitors to come to Montgomery County during the winter months. You don’t have to go far to get away.”
—Edward Harris, Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board chief marketing officer