Suffolk tourism gets boost for promotion

Top Long Island tourism officials have announced a new matching grant program that will drive a 50 percent increase in spending on local tourism promotion in Suffolk, particularly on the East End.

Moke McGowan, president of the Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the new matching grants, approved by the bureau board last month, will increase for locally originated tourism promotion from $117,000 to $186,000, with 60 percent specifically earmarked for East End use.

"We believe this new program will insure a stronger return on the county's investment in both the . . . [bureau] and Suffolk's own tourism economy," he said. The bureau got a $1.6 million share of Suffolk's 3 percent motel room tax last year and about $670,000 from Nassau. McGowan said the extra money Suffolk pays goes to specifically fund local tourism efforts beyond joint bicounty promotion.

The revised program, disclosed Tuesday during the bureau's official annual report to the county legislature, comes after county lawmakers last year considered proposals from Legis. Jay Schneiderman (I-Montauk), himself a motel owner, to increase funding for local promotion efforts throughout Suffolk. The bureau's contract with Suffolk expired at year's end, and the county is about to seek proposals for a new contract.

In his annual report, McGowan said that 2010 hotel occupancy in Suffolk improved to 63.3 percent, a 2.6 percent increase over the previous year, but hotels had to reduce nightly room rates 1.9 percent from an average of $117.71 to $115.45 to stimulate demand. Islandwide, occupancy grew 4 percent to 64.8 percent, but rates dropped 2.2 percent to $119.83.

McGowan, however, said the region "has a long way to go to catch up" from the nearly 8 percent drop since pre-recession 2008, when Suffolk hotel occupancy was at 68.8 percent and Islandwide it was 69.4 percent. Tourism officials, however, noted that the occupancy rates do not include many family-owned East End resorts.

The problem, McGowan added, is exacerbated because six new properties have opened in Suffolk since 2008, adding 700 hotel rooms, and a seventh, the Hyatt Place Hotel with 110 rooms, is scheduled to open in Riverhead this year.

Other efforts to boost Suffolk, McGowan said, include the bureau's promotion of Cooper's Beach in Southampton, which has been designated by drbeach.org as the top beach in the nation, an improved website and access to smart-phone traffic.