Cayuga County’s tourism office is shifting its work — and its identity. That was the central theme as newly appointed Executive Director Courtney Rae Kasper and new Marketing Director Hillary Fenner joined host Guy Cosentino on Inside Government to discuss the future of local tourism, how the office is funded, and what residents can expect from major campaigns rolling out in the coming months.
Moving from promotion to “destination stewardship”
Kasper said the office is intentionally moving away from the traditional “visitor promotion agency” model. Instead, it’s becoming a destination stewardship and management organization — one that focuses on long-term sustainability, resident feedback, and community involvement as much as marketing.
The shift is driven by a strategic plan and modeled partly on guidance from Destinations International. Kasper explained that when a place becomes attractive to visitors, it becomes attractive to residents and businesses, generating a long-term economic return. The goal is to build a tourism framework that benefits residents as much as travelers.
How the office is funded and where the money goes
The discussion also addressed a major public misconception. The tourism office is not a county department. It is a nonprofit that receives 95% of Cayuga County’s occupancy tax revenues, generated when visitors stay in local hotels, short-term rentals, or Airbnbs. The county retains the remaining 5% for administrative costs.
Kasper noted that the office’s operating budget has grown significantly in recent years as tourism rebounded after the pandemic. Occupancy tax revenue rose from roughly $750,000 pre-COVID to an expected $1.2 million this year — one of the reasons the office became a subject of public debate over the summer, when a failed proposal sought to divert $200,000 of its revenue to the county.
Cosentino emphasized — and Kasper reiterated — that the occupancy-tax law is revisited every three years, not through the annual county budget process.
Most spending goes toward operations, marketing, sales efforts, and public relations, including print and digital campaigns, the annual Tour Cayuga magazine, and targeted advertising driven by visitor data.
Increasing emphasis on group sales and targeted marketing
Fenner, who joined the staff after seven years as director of the Skaneateles Chamber of Commerce, said the office is focused on being more intentional with campaigns. That includes both broad efforts — like digital ads and search engine optimization — and highly targeted messaging based on visitor behavior.
Tour Cayuga will expand its work on group travel and bus tours, aiming to turn day-trip stops into overnight stays by coordinating itineraries and highlighting the county’s depth of attractions. Kasper said better coordination should reduce the number of tour buses that stop for a single historic site and leave without dining, lodging, or exploring.
Data is reshaping how Cayuga County markets itself
The office relies heavily on Zartico, a data analytics platform that tracks visitor spending and cell-phone location trends at key attractions. The goal is to identify where visitors come from, how long they stay, and what they do once they arrive.
Recent reports, for example, showed unexpected visitation from Wilmington, North Carolina, while traditional markets — like New York City, Albany, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh — remain strong. The office is also watching how new state rules for short-term rental registration may affect future occupancy-tax revenues.
Canadian and European tourism remains depressed, a statewide trend that local and regional tourism agencies are still trying to reverse.
Highlighting food, outdoors and women-owned businesses
The office is currently running several major campaigns built around visitor preferences:
• Cayuga Cuisine – storytelling-driven promotion of restaurants, chefs, and local food culture.
• Go Beyond – encouraging outdoor recreation beyond traditional hiking, including mountain biking and bowfishing.
• Hibercation – a winter-season push encouraging both residents and visitors to embrace slower, cozy, off-season travel.
• Brave Women Winter – a regional collaboration celebrating women-owned businesses and women’s history, aimed at girlfriend getaways and winter shoulder-season visitation.
Fenner said the county’s broad geography — from Fillmore Glen to Fair Haven — creates opportunities to market experiences that appeal to different types of travelers.
New leadership with strong local ties
Kasper steps into the executive role after seven years managing the New York State Equal Rights Heritage Center and working closely with Auburn’s historic and cultural institutions. Originally from Alabama, she came to New York for graduate school at Syracuse University and has lived in Cayuga County for 16 years.
Fenner is a Cayuga Community College graduate who later earned degrees from Hobart and William Smith Colleges and University College London. She said her experience balancing business and tourism work in Skaneateles made the move to a countywide tourism role a natural next step.
Looking ahead
With a new edition of the Tour Cayuga magazine set to debut this spring — and Cayuga County’s bicentennial beginning in 2026 — both leaders said they plan to return to the program for deeper discussions about upcoming marketing efforts and new data trends.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.