Dover, DE–Kent County Tourism Corporation, the county’s local destination marketing organization (DMO), hosted a travel familiarization (FAM) tour of Delaware’s Quaint Villages on June 4-6. The touring group involved professional travel writers and group tour planners from all over the Mid-Atlantic and as far as Lynchburg, Virginia, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Boston, Massachusetts.
The FAM Tour kicked off with a track tour of Dover International Speedway along with visiting various museums and attractions in Delaware’s Quaint Villages. Some attractions and museums included the Air Mobility Command Museum, Fifer Orchards & Country Store, First State Heritage State Park, Delaware State Fairgrounds, and Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge to name a few. The group received two special welcomes during their visit to Kent County. Both Mayor Christiansen and Dover City Councilman Fred Neil welcomed the FAM group in Dover.
The tour wrapped up in the Village of Milford with a historical walking tour, and an ice cream treat while the group took in delightful boutique and specialty shops. One of the highlights of the FAM tour involved a sunset charter cruise out of Bowers Beach with libation tastings from some of Kent County’s craft breweries and wineries.
“Hosting annual FAM tours of Delaware’s Quaint Villages is another way to help promote what our great County has to offer from a visitor’s perspective. Not only to travel writers who are looking to write about our destination, but to help book bus tours and meetings in Kent County”, said Pete Bradley, Interim President of Kent County Tourism Corporation.
Kent County Tourism would like to recognize Dover Downs Hotel & Casino, First State Heritage Park, and Harrington Raceway & Casino as sponsors of the event, helping to ensure our guests enjoyed great accommodations, meals, and support during their visit to Delaware’s Quaint Villages.
FAM Tours are one of the many marketing tools that Kent County Tourism uses to sell the destination to potential visitors with the ultimate goal to increase visitation to the area. Kent County Tourism’s goal for the FAM tour is for media and group tour planners to experience what the area has to offer first-hand, so they can better relate information to their readers and clients, in return to book future meetings and tours. The organization plans to hold a similar FAM tour each year in part of their efforts to increase group sales and to promote Delaware’s Quaint Villages as a great destination to visit.
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~ Kent County Tourism Corporation (dba Delaware’s Quaint Villages) is the destination marketing organization for Kent County, Delaware and its incorporated cities and towns. As the primary programmatic arm for Kent County travel and tourism promotion, it leads the Kent County tourism industry to work together to generate visitor spending by developing and implementing comprehensive destination marketing programs. It is a self-governing private not-for-profit 501 © 6 corporation with a Board of Directors.