Page 106 - Innovation Delaware 2018

BY PAM GEORGE
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HOSPITALITY / TOURISM
IDelaware’s Tourism Marketers Find Innovative Ways to Promote Assets
n 2016, a record 9 million people visited Delaware, and Delaware Tourism markets the area as the “Culinary Coast.” their choice of a destination demonstrates the appeal of In fact, Delaware’s considerable assets are being the state’s diverse tourism infrastructure. promoted by some of the most creative minds in tourism.
In the north, visitors come for internationally known Knowing that younger travelers in particular value attractions such as Winterthur Museum & Gardens experiences over static displays, the marketing department and Longwood Gardens. With its deep infrastructure of at Hagley Museum & Library launched a wildly successful
experts in corporate law, the Wilmington area is also a hub for business travelers.
In the south, visitors are drawn to the award-winning beaches in Sussex County, where tourism generates $1.7 billion in annual gross domestic product for the county and supports 18,000 jobs. Thanks to a roster of off-season special events, tourists are also coming all year long. Partly that’s due to the vibrant restaurant scene, which is why Southern
Bike & Hike & Brews program in collaboration with Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.
In 2016, the Kent County Tourism Corporation rolled out a major rebrand, informed in part by an online conversation tool that “listened” to feedback from visitors. Visit Delaware recently unveiled a new virtual- reality tour of some of Delaware’s most scenic sights, such as Nemours Estate and Rehoboth Beach.
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Hagley Museum & Library
centers, performing venues and community centers.
Credit the graying of the audience. In 2009, a National Endowment for the Arts report on attendance showed that visits to museums, galleries and performing arts institutions have been steadily declining for decades.
When it comes to
attracting young people who want experiences instead of static displays, Hagley has an advantage, namely a picturesque 235-acre property with water views.
In summers, the museum offers a Bike & Hike &
COMPANY TO WATCH
In 1802, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours founded
a gunpowder mill on land known as Hagley. The DuPont Company would later develop such groundbreaking products as neoprene, nylon, Corian, Teflon, Mylar and Tyvek.
Located on the banks of the Brandywine River, Hagley is now a museum with a prized library. Some 70,000 visitors
a year come to do research
104 DelawareBusinessTimes.com
on industry and innovation, attend special events or
tour the restored mills, the workers’ community and the du Ponts’ ancestral home and garden.
But like many area museums, Hagley is thinking outside gallery walls. Looking to engage a new generation
of patrons, forward-thinking institutions are taking on certain attributes of parks, arts
JESSICA EISENBREY