BURKE AREA DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

In 2011, the Burke Area Chamber of Commerce formed a new committee called the Burke Area Destination Development Committee (formally known as the Burke Area Travel & Tourism Committee). The goal of the BADDC is to attract more visitors to our area in a strategic and responsible way that benefits the community as well as our visitors. More visitors keeps our businesses open and your neighbors employed and purchasing local services.

In the past year, the BADDC in conjunction with Northeastern Vermont Development Association (NVDA), Northeast Kingdom Travel & Tourism Association (NEKTTA), and Hannah Marketing Group have compiled a huge amount of data from a survey sent out to visitors of the Burke area. The survey results help us to better understand visitor habits, enhance their experiences, and to gain insight as to who and where new guests will likely come from. A strategic marketing plan has been created to guide this process. You can download the results of the survey and the strategic marketing plan here:

BURKE AREA VISITORS SURVEY (zip file 5.7 MB)

BURKE AREA STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN (2.5 MB)

One way BADDC plans to attract more visitors is through a collaborative marketing effort that involves several businesses advertising together to create a bigger and more visible message to potential travelers. We not only want to show them all that we have to offer in and around Burke, but we want to show them that we are working together as a community to welcome them.

The Chamber, in conjunction with Kingdom Trails and Burke Mountain, will be hosting events in town that will draw thousands of people to the area over the next year including the East Coast SnoCross, Sled Dog Dash, the New England Mountain Bike Festival, the 25th Anniversary of the Burke Fall Foliage Festival, and possibly the Vermont Mountain Bike Festival. The funds generated from these events will be given back to the community in many ways including downtown beautification, improving signage in town, increasing public parking, and someday creating public bathroom facilities.

Although mountain biking and skiing prove to be very important demand generators none is more important than the community itself. It’s everyone knowing each other’s name at the local store. It’s the laid back atmosphere you sense as you drive through town, when you stop to fill your tank, or when you go out to dinner. Whether you’ve lived here for generations or it’s the first day you’ve stepped into town, you sense this. It’s the reason we live here, the reason we do business here, and the reason people come to visit and then come back. Few towns, even Vermont towns, have maintained this way of life. The BADDC recognizes that village charm is something to preserve and only seeks to share it with more people. But to do that we need your help. The BADDC meets every month and we invite you to come, learn more, ask questions, get involved. The next BADDC meeting is on Wednesday May 16th at 3 pm at Burke Mountain Ski Resort in the Administrative Building.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Chamber if you have any questions or would like to be added to the BADDC email list to keep informed about upcoming developments.
 

{ Contact the Chamber }  { Directions }  { Membership }  { Business Resources }  { Destination Development }