Tell us a little about your business/organization:  how did it begin; what are your services/products, etc.
Kent County Tourism, DBA Visit Central Delaware is the official destination marketing organization for Kent County and its jurisdictions. Our mission is to generate incremental economic impact for the county through the attraction of visitors, especially overnight visitors. We are a nonprofit organization, and we promote all our community partners (hotels, attractions, museums, restaurants, etc.) at no cost to them.

Tell us about your role in the business/organization.
My role as the Marketing & Communications Manager is to handle all our marketing efforts which includes but is not limited to email marketing, social media marketing, digital advertising, print publications, graphic design and more. I also handle our public relations efforts, such as press releases, podcast appearances, interviews, creating relationships with local press, and more. I am also a Secretary on the Board for the organization MATPRA (Mid-Atlantic Tourism and Public Relations Alliance), where I promote Central Delaware through networking, attending events and conferences, and a Media Marketplace event which takes place once a year, where I pitch Central Delaware as a vacation destination to journalists, bloggers, and content creators from all over the Mid-Atlantic. We are a very small team of 3 full-time and 1 part-time staff, so my scope of work can include anything that my team needs.

Tell us something that makes your business/organization unique. 
What makes Kent County Tourism unique is that we will work with anyone and everyone we can! We truly believe in the quote, “A rising tide lifts all boats.”, and we operate as such. Although our main goal is to promote overnight visitation, we are very involved in the community as an organization and will often promote events and activities that are not so visitor focused and support local events and festivals via sponsorships or other means. We are a completely free resource for our community partners, so if there’s anything at all we can assist with, like maybe creating a flyer for your event, answering questions about creating social media campaigns through Meta, or even editing an Instagram Reel, we’re here to help, all you have to do is ask!

What do you see for the future of your business/organization?
I’d love to see a future where we are able to help source and deliver even more events and festivals, especially music festivals to Central Delaware, and where we would have a more active role in supporting new attractions and experiences coming to the area.

How has the Chamber helped your business/organization grow?
The Chamber has helped us grow by offering us so many opportunities to network with other like-minded professionals and businesses who we can help promote, plus learn of new businesses in the area. I also am a Leadership Central Delaware graduate, class of 2024, and it was such an amazing experience for me to grow both individually and professionally.

What is your best advice to other businesses/organizations?
I think we have such a unique advantage being in a small state like Delaware, and my best advice to other organizations is to network, network, network! There is always going to be someone who has been through the same hardships, had the same questions, or knows the right person to talk to and help you. We have a really kindhearted community here and there is always someone willing to help, you just have to put yourself out there and ask!