East End group pushes Hamptons tourism

The Hamptons region will get its 15 minutes of fame -- actually its 15 spots of fame -- this spring on ABC's giant Times Square TV screen, where the East End's Atlantic beaches will be featured in spot advertisements.

The ads, to run 15 times a day, are part of a planned campaign by the Hamptons Visitors Council, based in Southampton.

"It's a big deal for us," council chairman Hank Beck said Thursday. "That's our market, in Times Square. Those are the people we want to reach," especially foreign tourists, he added.

In a weeklong run, the 5-second ads will show a couple on a Hamptons beach, and will include the text: "The Hamptons. #1 Beach in America. Just 2 Hours Away."

The ads will run each day from April 11-17, and will show the Hamptons Visitors Council website and its toll-free number.

The council will also run a four-color, double-page advertisement in the spring issue of Horizon Travel Magazine, which will be inserted in 100,000 copies of the New York Post.

The advertising package deal - Times Square ad and magazine insert - usually costs nearly $25,000, but the council's executive director, Andrea Gurvitz, negotiated a substantial discount, Beck said.

The ad campaign will target preseason travelers for an immediate East End trip, and will also give travelers a nudge toward making summertime reservations, Beck said.

"We want people to come here year-round, to extend the season into the spring and the fall."