Finalists Announced for Dutchess Tourism Awards of Distinction
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY– Dutchess Tourism, Inc. (DTI) announced the finalists for the 2017 Dutchess Tourism Awards of Distinction. Award winners in seven categories will be announced at a special breakfast on Tuesday, May 9th at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum during DTI’s National Tourism Rally Day celebration.
These are the finalists in each category:
- The Dutchess County Executive’s Award for Overall Distinction: Bardavon 1869 Opera House; Millbrook Vineyards & Winery; Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College.
- Arts Award of Distinction: County Players; Dia: Beacon; Jazz in the Valley Festival.
- Culinary Award of Distinction: Oliver Kita Fine Chocolates; Sprout Creek Farm; Taconic Distillery.
- Family Entertainment Award of Distinction: DC Sports; Dutchess Stadium/Hudson Valley Renegades; Spins Bowl.
- History Award of Distinction: Bannerman’s Castle; Historic Red Hook; Staatsburgh State Historic Site.
- Outdoors Award of Distinction: Ferncliff Forest; Harlem Valley Appalachian Trail Community; Interlake RV Park.
- Hospitality Award of Distinction: Kisha Jones, Poughkeepsie Grand; Doris Mack, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site; Patty Polmateer, The Culinary Institute of America.
Tickets for the awards breakfast, catered by Simply Gourmet, are available by calling (845) 463-5432 or at www.DutchessTourism.com/awards. The breakfast will include premier local products from Crown Maple Estate, Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, and Harney & Sons Fine Teas among other outstanding providers. Reservations are required by May 1. Central Hudson is the event’s Platinum Sponsor.
Following the Awards Breakfast, there will be a Brochure Exchange outside the FDR Library & Museum, where tourism-related businesses are invited to participate for free, from 10 a.m.-12 noon. This is an opportunity for tourism business to network with other attractions, accommodations, organizations, event promoters and transportation firms. It’s a great way to start the busy tourism season.
National Tourism week, which runs from May 7–13 this year, was established by a congressional order in 1983. The rally serves to champion the power of travel and the impactful contributions tourism makes to the US economy. Tourism supports almost 10,000 jobs in Dutchess and in 2015, tourists spent more than half a billion dollars in the county.
ABOUT DUTCHESS TOURISM, INC.
The DTI office is located at 3 Neptune Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie with 18 Tourism Information Centers located around Dutchess County. Their website is www.DutchessTourism.com and they can be reached at 845-463-4000. Dutchess County Tourism was founded in 1984 under the umbrella of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corporation, became incorporated as Dutchess Tourism, Inc. in 2014 and is partially funded by monies received from the County of Dutchess.
