Did you know penguins live in Binghamton?
Ross Park Zoo is the seasonal home of several black-footed penguins, and is an attraction the Greater Binghamton Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) hopes will draw tourists into the area.
Recently, the Bureau released two new tourism promotional videos showcasing what the Greater Binghamton area has to offer.
Spiedie Fest, Clinton Street’s Antique Row and the area’s natural beauty were just a few attractions highlighted in the two- and four-minute clips.
The CVB hadn’t released a tourism video in more than five years, so it held several meetings with Communique Design and Marketing, the designers of the video, to compose a checklist of recognizable attractions.
One of the places filmed was the Bennett Street childhood home of Rod Serling, an actor famous for his role in the TV series “The Twilight Zone.”
“We had to look at all the hot button areas,” Judi Hess, manager of tourism and special events at CVB, said. “Because this year is the 50th anniversary of Rod debuting in the series, it felt opportune to feature his former residence.”
For the past two years, tourism in the Greater Binghamton area has had an increasing impact on the local economy.
In 2007, conventions and events hosted in the area attracted 67,850 tourists and $25,791,000.
The following year Binghamton hosted the Empire State Games and a national synchronized swimming meet. These and other events drew in 78,385 people and $37,915,000.
Hess hopes the new videos will maintain those tourism numbers.
“People in the past said that our videos were too long at 10 to 15 minutes, so we decided to make these much shorter,” Hess said.
The condensed format allows the videos to be shown on more platforms, such as placing the two-minute clip on Web sites.
Communique Design and Marketing, based in Ithaca, took five trips into Broome County to film, and planned their visits around yearly events such as the Spiedie Fest.
However, the weather didn’t always cooperate.
“After the Spiedie Fest there is a hot air balloon rally, but in 2008 it was pouring rain, so they canceled it,” Eric Lindstrom, co-owner of Communique Design and Marketing, said.
The firm then edited into the videos older footage of the balloon rally that was shot a year earlier.
After a week’s worth of filming, the $12,100 project was complete, paid for by hotel and motel tax dollars.
Lindstrom’s firm was a natural fit for the task, as he grew up around Binghamton during his childhood.
“I think the diversity in Binghamton tourism is great,” he said. “I mean, people would sit there while watching the video and think, ‘They have penguins here?’”
Both videos can be viewed at gobroomecounty.com.