Woodbury Common outlets are a popular
destination for visitors
TOWN OF NEWBURGH – Orange County’s tourism is alive and well, industry leaders told tourism-related business people at a conference on Thursday.
The placemaking concept of identifying distinctive communities to which people are attracted, like Sugar Loaf, Warwick and Cornwall, is one way to bring more tourists into the county, said Nancy Proyect, president of the Orange County Citizens Foundation, which has spearheaded the model for years.
County Tourism Director Susan Hawvermale, who held the conference, said the county has a host of tourist destinations including the Storm King Art Center in Cornwall and so many others.
“We have Woodbury Common; we have Motorcyclepedia; we have Orange County Choppers; Brotherhood Winery, the oldest winery in the United States. We have so many destinations here the county that tourists come to,” she said.
Hawvermale said they would like to attract even more visitors to the county.
“We absolutely have to get the word out even more and get more people staying the night because we welcome more tourists,” she said.
Hand in hand with growing tourism is the need for more hotels.
“I think you are going to see more development in the hotel industry certainly centered around places like a waterpark or possibly Legoland,” Hawvermale said
Plans are in various stages for new hotels in the towns of Newburgh, Highlands, Wallkill, and the City of Middletown.
