HONESDALE, PA — The Pennsylvania counties along the Upper Delaware River valley will be partners in tourism marketing this coming spring.

Officials of the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau (PMVB), CEO Carl Wilgus, Wallenpaupack Visitors Center manager Keith Williams and marketing director Brian Bossuyt came before the Wayne County Commissioners on January 21 to illustrate the value of Wayne joining with Pike in tourism marketing for the first time.

The focus is on what will be the Northern Poconos Guide, a color, magazine-style publication that Pike County annually does with the PMVB.

Williams, who delivered the presentation, said 60,000 copies of the free 30-page guide will be printed locally and distributed at various contact points, beginning in May.

Williams said reduced advertising rates will be offered as inducement for recreation and hospitality businesses to participate. Seeking advertisers, the PMVB will pave the way for the guide with press releases, email “blasts” and postal mailings to Wayne County businesses unfamiliar with it.

The guide is again being designed by and produced through Bailey Design and Advertising of Honesdale.

“Most visitors go to a region. They don’t always know which county they’re visiting. Branding the region makes for better understanding,” Williams said. He said the guide would highlight the region’s natural features, including the Delaware River, waterfalls and trails.

Regional historic sites and museums are to be highlighted to cover activities for “inclement weather.” The guide will also provide Internet links for more individual site information. “There are plenty [of sites] up here,” Williams said.

The commissioners were not without ideas. Brian Smith recalled that the county’s “Wayne Tomorrow” plan speaks to branding. He mentioned Wayne’s agricultural businesses, noting that the Calkins Creamery already hosts bus tours. Farm milk, maple syrup and ice cream produced in Wayne could also be branded, he said.

Additionally, he suggested that coordinated, summer Lackawaxen River kayak trips could involve an upstream return trip on the Delaware-Lackawaxen & Stourbridge Railroad Company excursion train.

Commissioner Wendell Kay said tourism was “probably at the top of list” of the two counties’ common interests.

“We have a lot in common. It makes sense,” added Commissioner Jonathan Fritz.

Noting Smith’s support for highlighting Wayne’s hunting and fishing opportunities, Wilgus said the PMVB outreach effort will get underway at the annual Great American Outdoor show in Harrisburg in February.

The PMVB is also heavily involved in the National Geographic Society’s new web-based geo-tourism site, which is to premiere in May. “As of two weeks ago, some 300 nominations of visitor sites have come from Pike, Wayne and Northampton counties.” He said the society’s interest will provide “much bigger penetration” for the region than has ever been possible before. “It’s like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for tourism. It speaks volumes,” he said.

Pike welcomes neighbor aboard

MILFORD, PA — The Pike County Commissioners heard a familiar presentation from the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau (PMVB) on January 20.

Speaking to the new joint marketing program with Wayne County, Pike Chair Matt Osterberg welcomed the neighbors and the regional brand. “We have so much in common… It’s important to get them in here. No one visiting knows where the county lines are.”

The combination isn’t unprecedented. “We’ve had joint efforts going for a while and we’ve worked well with Wayne County,” he said.

Pike and the PMVB have been distributing Pike’s Visitor Guide for the past seven years.

In other business in Milford last Wednesday, Osterberg reported that plans for the “Working Pike” job fair are gaining thrust. More than 40 volunteers recently attended an organizing session at St. Patrick’s Church Hall in Milford. The fair is scheduled to be held at Hunt’s Best Western in Matamoras on April 15.

The commissioners also heard a report that the roofing of a 92-unit senior citizens housing project on Hulst Drive, near K-Mart, in Westfall is nearing completion.