Suffolk County keeps Discover Long Island as its tourism promotion agency
Suffolk County has no plans to dump Discover Long Island as its tourism promoter despite Nassau County’s decision to do so, officials said.
“I don’t think we have anybody that we could point to and say, ‘They are doing a better job,’ ” said Kevin J. McCaffrey, presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature.
His comments were in response to Newsday questions after Discover Long Island’s annual Meeting & Legislative Breakfast at the Long Island Hilton in Melville. The Lindenhurst Republican was among the event’s speakers Friday.
McCaffrey noted the nonprofit tourism promotion agency is receiving $6 million per year from Suffolk’s portion of the hotel/motel tax, up from $2 million. He said he and other members of the legislature “expect to see a similar result in terms of the return on our investment.”
County Executive Ed Romaine also doesn’t want to cut ties with Discover Long Island, which Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s administration did in December.
The Nassau parks department selected the Glen Head advertising agency RRDA LI Inc. for a $1 million annual contract over Hauppauge-based Discover Long Island, ending 45 years of unified marketing of the two-county region to tourists.
Romaine and Blakeman are both Republicans.
“We have no immediate plans to change the agreement approved by the legislature with Discover Long Island,” Romaine spokesman Michael Martino said. “We are committed to promoting tourism in this beautiful county.”
Kristen Reynolds, CEO and president of Discover Long Island, estimated the Island’s tourism industry last year surpassed its 2022 performance of $6.6 billion in spending by visitors, based on data from the research firm Tourism Economics, of Wayne, Pennsylvania. That spending generated more than $800 million in tax revenue and supported about 100,000 jobs, she said.
The South Shore, including Jones Beach State Park and Robert Moses State Park, is the most popular destination, attracting 45% of tourists, followed by the North Shore, 20%, and the Hamptons and Montauk, 18%, according to the data firm Zartico.
Reynolds also said most visitors don’t know where Nassau ends and Suffolk begins, which is why the agency touts Long Island as a region.
More than four in 10 business travelers said they had visited the Island but only about one in 10 said specifically that they came to Nassau or Suffolk, according to a survey by the research firm Longwoods International in Toronto.
“They’re here visiting Long Island … It doesn’t matter to them what the [county] borders are,” Reynolds said.
With the increased funding from Suffolk, Discover Long Island will expand its partnership with Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma and encourage international travelers who use Kennedy Airport to visit the Island after seeing the city. The tourism promotions agency will also provide content for the revamped East End Show on News12.
On Monday, Discover Long Island employees began a weeklong campaign at the Long Island Rail Road’s Grand Central Madison station to raise commuters' awareness of golf courses and other spring/summer attractions. Commuters availed themselves of the temporary putting green in the station and entered a raffle to win a stay at Gurney’s Montauk Resort in Montauk.
Suffolk County has no plans to dump Discover Long Island as its tourism promoter despite Nassau County’s decision to do so, officials said.
“I don’t think we have anybody that we could point to and say, ‘They are doing a better job,’ ” said Kevin J. McCaffrey, presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature.
His comments were in response to Newsday questions after Discover Long Island’s annual Meeting & Legislative Breakfast at the Long Island Hilton in Melville. The Lindenhurst Republican was among the event’s speakers Friday.
McCaffrey noted the nonprofit tourism promotion agency is receiving $6 million per year from Suffolk’s portion of the hotel/motel tax, up from $2 million. He said he and other members of the legislature “expect to see a similar result in terms of the return on our investment.”
County Executive Ed Romaine also doesn’t want to cut ties with Discover Long Island, which Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman’s administration did in December.
The Nassau parks department selected the Glen Head advertising agency RRDA LI Inc. for a $1 million annual contract over Hauppauge-based Discover Long Island, ending 45 years of unified marketing of the two-county region to tourists.
Romaine and Blakeman are both Republicans.
“We have no immediate plans to change the agreement approved by the legislature with Discover Long Island,” Romaine spokesman Michael Martino said. “We are committed to promoting tourism in this beautiful county.”
Kristen Reynolds, CEO and president of Discover Long Island, estimated the Island’s tourism industry last year surpassed its 2022 performance of $6.6 billion in spending by visitors, based on data from the research firm Tourism Economics, of Wayne, Pennsylvania. That spending generated more than $800 million in tax revenue and supported about 100,000 jobs, she said.
The South Shore, including Jones Beach State Park and Robert Moses State Park, is the most popular destination, attracting 45% of tourists, followed by the North Shore, 20%, and the Hamptons and Montauk, 18%, according to the data firm Zartico.
Reynolds also said most visitors don’t know where Nassau ends and Suffolk begins, which is why the agency touts Long Island as a region.
More than four in 10 business travelers said they had visited the Island but only about one in 10 said specifically that they came to Nassau or Suffolk, according to a survey by the research firm Longwoods International in Toronto.
“They’re here visiting Long Island … It doesn’t matter to them what the [county] borders are,” Reynolds said.
With the increased funding from Suffolk, Discover Long Island will expand its partnership with Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma and encourage international travelers who use Kennedy Airport to visit the Island after seeing the city. The tourism promotions agency will also provide content for the revamped East End Show on News12.
On Monday, Discover Long Island employees began a weeklong campaign at the Long Island Rail Road’s Grand Central Madison station to raise commuters' awareness of golf courses and other spring/summer attractions. Commuters availed themselves of the temporary putting green in the station and entered a raffle to win a stay at Gurney’s Montauk Resort in Montauk.
WHERE TOURISTS GO ON LI
- South Shore, including Jones Beach State Park and Robert Moses State Park: 45%
- North Shore: 20%
- The Hamptons and Montauk: 18%
- Gold Coast of Nassau and Suffolk counties: 11%
- North Fork: 4%
- Fire Island: 2%
SOURCE: Zartico
James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.
