Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance launches new brand campaign

PENN YAN, N.Y. — The Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance has rolled out a new brand campaign, called “Explore Finger Lakes,” designed to better convey the Finger Lakes experience to travelers, the organization announced.

New leadership at the Alliance last spring identified the need to provide higher–value communication with those planning trips to the region. Research was underway by the summer, with the organization contacting tens of thousands of past and potential visitors to identify their core travel motivations and what most attracted them to the region.

Working with Mendon–based design company Crafting A Brand Co., the Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance spent seven months crafting its new Explore Finger Lakes brand, which launched with the Alliance’s 2024 travel guide.

“We exist to express the bounty of great things to do in the Finger Lakes,” Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance President/CEO Meghan Lawton said in a release. “As the region’s destination marketing organization, we lean into and amplify those things with our messaging. “The name Explore Finger Lakes serves as an inspiring and highly functional starting point for visitors to connect with our attractions, natural wonders, lodging, wine and craft beverage culture, dining options, and more.”

Now available by request, the travel guide is the 73rd edition published by the organization and also features a new look geared towards a simple concept of “people having fun in the Finger Lakes,” Jason Jordan, manager of social media and communications at the alliance, said. “Nothing sells a destination like seeing people smiling and having a good time, and we have that in abundance here in the Finger Lakes.”

The new branded campaigns will be accompanied by a new website, ExploreFingerLakes.com, launching later this spring.

Founded in 1919, the Finger Lakes Tourism Alliance leads tourism marketing efforts for the region. Based in Penn Yan, the organization says it reaches nearly 2 million people annually through its website and array of publications promoting more than 540 tourism-dependent and hospitality-related partners. The alliance is an association of private-sector attractions, tourism-related businesses, and county tourism offices working together to enhance and promote tourism across a 9,000-square-mile region.