Victoria Cimino named President and CEO of Discover Newport

Official Newport, RI region DMO Discover Newport has announced the appointment of Victoria Cimino (pictured, above) as its new President and CEO, effective 17 March 2025.

Current CEO Evan Smith is retiring after 19 years.

Previously, Ms. Cimino served as President and CEO of Visit Williamsburg; Director of the NH Division of Travel and Tourism Development; and Director of International Marketing of the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. She is currently a Director of Destinations International.

Discover Newport promotes tourism to 9 townships in Newport and Bristol Counties, RI.

DNE 2025 Summit Early-Bird Pricing Ends Tomorrow

The Discover New England 2025 Tourism Summit & International Marketplace will take place 7-9 April in Newport, RI. Event is expected to draw more than 300 tourism professionals and host more than 4,000 meetings between representatives of New England tourism businesses and international tour operators.

Unfortunately, the early-bird pricing for suppliers can only be found by engaging with DNE by email. But the early-bird rate for domestic receptive operators and OTAs is $395 vs. regular price of $495. So discount for suppliers is probably of similar magnitude.

You can begin the registration process here:

https://discovernewengland.org/registration/

Discover Newport partnering with DATTCO on Boston-Newport shuttle bus

Discover Newport - the non-profit regional DMO for the City of Newport, RI and 8 surrounding townships in Newport and Bristol Counties - is offering in partnership with New Britain, CT coach operator DATTCO twice-daily weekend shuttle bus service between Boston South Station and the Newport Gateway Terminal.

Buses will make 2 round trips daily morning and afternoon on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays at one-way fare of $30.

Tickets are available online at the DATTCO website - reservations recommended.

Rhode Island launches "All That" tourism campaign

New RI tourism campaign "All That" was produced for Rhode Island Commerce by Florida-based Zimmerman Agency as a $482K piece of a $2.2M advertising contract awarded in June 2023.

The campaign, which highlights RI's diversity of tourism offerings, is being kicked off on network TV's The Jennifer Hudson Show. Other media used will include billboards, social media, digital and broadcast ads.

Centerpiece of the campaign is 6 videos with scenes of Providence, Newport, Castle Hill, Block Island, Narragansett and other tourist spots.

Print ads feature photos organized around themes like food, history and outdoors.

The launch video posted on Vimeo has as of right now (28 February 2 PM) received 4 comments, all of which are negative.

Will the new campaign outperform "Cooler & Warmer", "Fun Sized" and the "stuffies"? Stay tuned.

Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza yesterday in a media conference revealed his budget proposal for spending the city's American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds totaling $123.8M.

Under the proposed budget, Arts, Tourism and Hospitality would be supported to the tune of $7.7M, distributed like this:

• Arts, culture and special events: $1,225,000
• FirstWorks, producers of the PVDFest outdoor arts festival scheduled to be held in June: $275,000
• Cultural facilities: $4,200,000
• Public art to encourage tourism: $800,000
• Tourism marketing: $700,000
• Providence-Warwick CVB: $500,000 (I assume this is the Hospitality piece.)

Other budget items include:

• Business and economic development: $5.3M
• City services and infrastructure: $12.5M
• Housing and homelessness: $26.1M
• Racial equity: $15.0M
• Youth and community investments: $12.2M
• General fund: $28.0M
• FY22 and FY23 administrative expenditures: $3.0M