05.20.2010
Brochure, audio tour translated for German visitors
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jayne O'Connor
White Mountains Attractions Association
603-745-8720
jayne@visitwhitemountains.com
WOODSTOCK, N.H. - For years, New Hampshire’s White Mountains have been a popular destination for German travelers and this year, those visitors will be able to plan their vacations and excursions with a brochure and audio tour that’s been translated into their language.
“Germany is second only to the United Kingdom for the number of long-haul international visitors coming to our region,” said Jayne O’Connor, president of White Mountains Attractions, which has published the popular White Mountains Travel Guide for 19 years and, two years ago, produced an audio tour of the region.
A year ago, the guide and tour were published in French to accommodate travelers who speak that language.
For the most part, O’Connor said, international visitors are conversant in English, but having a guide available in their native language is more welcoming, and insures that “the information they want, and need to know, is right at their fingertips.”
German travelers are adventurous and take advantage of the six weeks of paid vacation they get annually and tend to spend considerable time trips abroad.
“We see them in the summer, but they also come in our off-season, like June and November,” she said. “They are weatherproof - they really don’t mind coming here and experiencing all our seasons.”
Just under 1 million White Mountains Travel Guides have come off the press this year and they are being distributed around New England and through AAA offices and foreign travel agents. The translated brochures and audio tours can also be downloaded for free at the White Mountains Attractions website, www.VisitWhiteMountains.com.
International visitors are an important part of tourism in the White Mountains and O’Connor said that information provided at the recent annual Discover New England conference in Newport, R.I. shows that European visitors spend four to seven times more that their domestic counterparts.
In 2008, the latest figures available, there were 1.6 million international travelers who came to New England, which represented a 9 percent increase over 2007.
“This is just another way we can help our international visitors feel welcome in the White Mountains,” O’Connor said.
The translations of this visitor information will continue, she said, as new travel markets emerge.
“We’ll be watching the trends to determine what our next project will be and it is looking like we’ll be translating next for either our Spanish-speaking guests, or those who are coming here from Italy.”
White Mountains Attractions, founded in 1958, is the marketing association for 16 attractions within the White Mountains region, including Attitash, Cannon Mountain, Clark’s Trading Post, the Cog Railroad, the Conway Scenic Railroad, Flume Gorge, the Hobo Railroad, Loon Mountain, Lost River Gorge, Mount Washington Auto Road, Polar Caves, Santa’s Village, Six Gun City, Story Land, Whale’s Tale and Wildcat Mountain.
For information about the White Mountains, the visitors’ center is located off exit 32 on Interstate 93 in North Woodstock; visit www.visitwhitemountains.com or call 800-FIND-MTS.
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