Wine trails part of tourism plan
Summit held on promoting NY
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Proposed legislation would expand existing wine trails and add two new ones in the Adirondacks and Upper Hudson Valley.
The measures are being viewed as ways to boost the economy of upstate New York through agriculture and tourism.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo hosted a statewide tourism summit Wednesday in Albany.
“The Upper Hudson Valley Wine and Grape Association is excited about creating a wine trail in Saratoga, Warren and Washington counties, New York’s newest wine region,” said Gerry Barnhart, the association’s acting chair, who owns Victory View Vineyard in Washington County.
Saratoga Winery in Saratoga Springs belongs to the association and will be on the trail.
State designation is required for an official wine trail, although wineries themselves pay for road signs marking the trail at no cost to the state.
Two bills would allow additions to existing wine trails — the Niagara and Shawangunk East Wine Trails. Another bill would create a new trail — the Adirondack Coast Wine Trail in the North Country — and a fourth piece of legislation would establish the Upper Hudson Valley Wine Trail, just north of the Capital District into Saratoga County.
The first three bills have passed in the Senate. Legislation allowing for an Upper Hudson Wine Trail is still being written.
“Designation of the Upper Hudson Valley Wine Trail will brand our region as a wine tourism destination, help our 10 member wineries grow their businesses and introduce visitors to the many cultural, recreational and gastronomical resources our area has to offer,” Barnhart said. “We urge the New York State Legislature to expedite passage of our wine trail designation bill as well as the several other wine trail designations and amendments that are pending.”
It’s believed that expanded trails would give local wineries the opportunity to attract more visitors and serve as focal points for their regions to connect agriculture and farm-based businesses to tourism.
New York Farm Bureau says the cross-promotion and branding of a wine trail as a destination is critical to giving smaller farms and commercial wineries the chance to work together to capture tourism dollars and new customers. More visitors will provide a spin- off boost to rural economies as well, the group says.
“These bills help both our wineries and growers as many of the wineries retail other local farm and local business products,” Farm Bureau president Dean Norton said.
At Wednesday’s tourism summit, Cuomo said New York will seek to lure tourists from other states and countries vacationing in New York City to upstate destinations.
“Now is the time to tell New York’s story,” he said, adding that the state in the past hasn’t focused on promoting its natural attractions. But, he said some bragging is needed now to help boost local economies and create jobs by drawing in money from other states and countries.
Cuomo called the meeting of hundreds of tourism business operators and government officials “highly productive” in trying to find new ways to stir the state’s economy, which is still in a slow recovery.
The state’s new tourism focus will range from summer attractions such as Niagara Falls, the Erie Canal and the Adirondacks and Catskills. He said even the state’s biggest attractions, the boardwalks and beaches on Long Island, are recovering after being hit hard by Superstorm Sandy last fall.