York, PA – The Cultural Alliance of York County is partnering with Explore York and the York College Chapter of the American Marketing Association to bring professional marketing resources to grass-roots events and cultural groups in York County so they can attract tourists from outside our market and gain marketing expertise.
Based on a recent non-profit landscape assessment study done by Sangfroid Strategy on behalf of York County Community Foundation, the Powder Mill Foundation, and the J. William Warehime Foundation, lack of marketing expertise and time to build this capacity for the majority of York County non-profit groups was cited as a major obstacle to building resiliency. The Cultural Alliance and Explore York have partnered to build a new tourism marketing resource for cultural groups and events with little to no staff so they can access professional marketing tools to draw tourism from outside our market, increase visibility, and gain marketing knowledge to better reach audiences. Test cases with little to no staff and budgets under $250,00 will be chosen as partners to bring shared marketing tourism services to their event and measure the results.
“As cited in the recent Nonprofit landscape assessment, 40% of York County’s nonprofits operate with no staff, have budgets under $250,000, and their top concerns are marketing and fundraising,” stated Cultural Alliance President Kelley Gibson. “We know that many of our cultural events, programs, and groups that draw tourism fall into this category and have no way to track their value as a tourism draw to York. This will not only market our unique cultural assets outside of our community, it will empower these groups to gain valuable marketing knowledge and assets to better target visitors and grow their tourism in the future.”
The first case study chosen to take part in the tourism marketing partnership is the York Saint Patrick’s Day parade, happening in York on March 15, 2025. Members of the American Marketing Association at York College will assist the Parade committee in creating a marketing plan to attract audiences and parade participants from more than 50 miles outside our market to encourage parade attendance and hotel stays. The Cultural Alliance will oversee the execution of the marketing plan, providing result reports on what marketing efforts were successful, and provide marketing assets to the parade committee that they can use in future promotion.
“We are incredibly grateful to partner with the Cultural Alliance and Explore York,” stated Meredith Hruz, Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Coordinator. “Since its first march in 1983 and through the decades, the York St. Patrick’s Day Parade has served to bring joy to the thousands that gather each year to experience it with friends and family. The parade not only brings out everyone’s Irish spirit, but also provides a solid economic boost to our hotels, restaurants, bars and retail shops. Whether you are in the parade or watching along the route, this is truly a hometown favorite.”
The York County Tourism Grant Program has awarded millions of dollars to organizations and events designed to enhance York County’s billion-dollar tourism industry by providing funds for projects and events that draw visitors from beyond a 50-mile radius to generate positive economic impact through overnight hotel stays.
The program will next open for applications from January 1 through February 15, 2025. Organizations can apply for funding to support tourism-related events, research, development and marketing projects. Round one applicants must request at least $2,500 in funding and provide a 25% cash or in-kind match. There is no cap on the amount of funding that can be requested in this round. The window for round two applications opens in June 2025. For more information on Explore York, and the destination, call 1-888-858-9675 or visit YorkPA.org.
The York College Chapter of the American Marketing Association strives to build connections between the College community and local businesses through a variety of club activities, networking events, and client-based, experiential learning projects.
Founded in 1999 to be the backbone of our cultural community, The Cultural Alliance of York County strategically invests in the work of arts organizations, artists, culture bearers and art educators so that imagination and innovation can thrive in York County. For more information, call the Cultural Alliance at 717-812-9255, visit our website at www.culturalyork.org, visit the Cultural Alliance of York on Facebook, and follow @CulturalYork on Instagram.
