This Summer, Bucks County Visitors Can Win

Sure, the folks at the Visit Bucks County want folks to come to the area this summer and have a great time.

But this summer, they want more. They want visitors to check in on Foursquare, contribute reviews to Trip Advisor and Foodspotting, take and e-mail photos and, in general, share their experiences via social media.

What’s in it for visitors? Well, how about an Amazon Kindle, or an iPad or a digital camera?

It’s the center’s “Unforgetaways” contest that starts Friday and runs all the way through Labor Day. The contest is an acknowledgement that social media is changing the way people decide to spend their time and money.

“We want to interact with people through social media this tourist season,” said Paul Bencivengo, Director of Marketing & Communications for Visit Bucks County. “We want to amplify that content and allow people to react to it.”

There are multiple components to the contest. For example, folks at Sesame Place can take a photo of their child enjoying their day, upload it to Twitter and have a chance to win a digital camera and four one-day admissions to the park. Other partners include Peddler’s Village, the Crayola Factory, the Bucks County Wine Trail and the Bucks County Bed & Breakfast Association.

Each component has its own prize package, including Visit Bucks County, which is promoting its smartphone app with an opportunity to win an iPad2 among other items.

Bencivengo said the partners understand the power of online interaction.

“People trust online reviews,” he said. “Our partners realize that reviews give travelers an understanding of what’s available.”

He said his organization monitors sites like Trip Advisor and Yelp and alerts partners when there is a negative review “so they can address it and help turn that experience around.”

He added that he’s seen other contests with similar pieces, but nothing that involved as many partners and destinations, not to mention so many third parties such as Twitter and Foursquare.

“Just four or five years ago, we could just post a destination guide on our website,” he said. “Now, it’s more than the website. We have to take advantage of multiple conversation channels.

“People expect more interactivity and the more content that’s out there, the more we can get the message out. We’re doing business in a completely different way.”

That being said, the center will continue to us more traditional media outlets, especially in New York and northern New Jersey. But this contest isn’t just for “outsiders.”

“We encourage tourism in our backyard,” Bencivengo said. “We have a great product here.”