Visitors search for real America

Tourism key to region's development and appeal

By Kathleen King
For the Poughkeepsie Journal

The steamboat reinvented river traffic. Construction of canals and railroads meant that by 1825 the Hudson Valley was open to the people of the world. And they came, to live and to do business and to sightsee. Tourism was born out of the new methods of transportation.

‘‘Travelling is the most exquisite mode of killing time and spending money ever yet devised by lazy ingenuity,’’ said James Kirke Paulding in the 1825 publication, “The New Mirror for Travellers and Guide to the Springs.”

John Sears mentioned in his book, ‘‘Sacred Places,’’ that ‘‘the development of American tourism had deeper cultural sources than the need for diversion. Tourism played a powerful role in America’s invention of itself as a culture.’’ He was talking about America’s increasing secularism and its drift toward consumerism. His message is worth remembering.

New York and the Hudson River were key to a brand new vista of ideas for tourists. The Adirondacks, Saratoga Springs, Niagara Falls, the Erie Canal and many other stops provided a mecca for travelers.

But that was then, and this is now, when we are about to enter a new millennium. Hospitality and tourism are key to the development and appeal of the area we refer to as the Hudson Valley.

Hospitality growing in area

Projections show that hospitality and tourism will be the number one employer in the new millennium. At this time, there are more than 9,000 full- and part-time jobs in hospitality and tourism in Dutchess County — roughly 9 percent of the county’s nonagricultural work force — accounting for $157 million in payroll, according to figures from the Travel Industry Association of America. Tourism is the nation’s third largest retail industry, after car dealers and food stores.

Dutchess County is firmly planted in the middle of the Hudson Valley, a source of abundant attractions both natural and manmade that bring tourists to our area.

The challenge in the 21st century will be to maintain balance between the need to attract tourists and the wealth they represent and the need to keep intact the very things that tourists come to see, including the villages and hamlets that are the settings for the attractions.

Touring was once only for the wealthy who could afford to spend money while not working for long periods of time. Nowadays, a paid vacation is a benefit for most full-time work. Freed from the home office by computer modems, fiber optics and other devices not yet dreamed of, travelers of the 21st century will gas up the Airstream or load up the minivan and set out on the open road in search of the real America.

It is important that they find this real America — past, present and future — in the mid-Hudson Valley. Anything can be developed into a tourist attraction. It is with this in mind that care needs to be taken not to overdevelop, but to improve and accent the beauty of what is here. Improvements are under way at several mid-Hudson Valley historic sites, including construction of a visitor’s center at Locust Grove, the Samuel F.B. Morse Estate in the Town of Poughkeepsie, and at the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt sites in Hyde Park.

The value of cooperation is not lost on the public and private managers of the tourism sites. The Great Estates Region of the Hudson Valley, a recent alliance of 10 National Historic Landmarks in Dutchess and Columbia counties, is forging new programs and designing fresh marketing approaches to lure audiences of the future that will be more diverse than ever.

We are fortunate in New York state, and particularly in Dutchess County, to have such a wealth of choices open to us. Historic estates, as well as festivals and farm markets, parks, lakes, green space and wildlife are available to the traveler. Most are complemented by a selection of tourist services and activities.

However, the consumerism Sears talked of is a persistent — and worldwide — threat.

Take the case of one of the wonders of the world, Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain in England. The standing rocks were thought to be associated with the Druids. For years, the tourist was allowed to go into the area of the stones, take photographs and do what most tourists seem to like to do: touch and rub the stones. So much of that occurred that the stones’ surfaces were affected. Out of fear of losing the essence of the stones, wire fences were erected and the tourist must view the stones from a distance. Souvenir shops and vendors have spring up not too far from the site, and the historic significance of the monuments has been dimmed.

Be careful of heritage

The American tourist also suffers from the touching syndrome as well as the souvenir affliction. We cannot afford to cheapen our heritage, but on the other hand, the revenues realized from these accompanying businesses and the permission to touch history are important.

To quote again from ‘‘Sacred Places,’’ ‘‘religious and national symbolism continues to cling to tourist attractions in the twentieth century, and continues to combine the sacred and the profane, the religious and the secular, the mythic and the trivial, the spiritual and the commercial.’’

Let us be careful, here in our valley, to continue to offer high-quality tourist attractions and to monitor those supporting businesses with the help of local environmental groups, planning and zoning boards and municipal officials.

‘‘Communities know they are in trouble when new development shapes the character of the community, instead of the character of the community shaping the development,’’ wrote Edward T. McMahon in the Planning Commissioners Journal in 1997. ‘‘How can a community attract tourists and their dollars without losing its soul? First recognize that sustainable tourism is a long-term strategy, not a quick fix. Second, understand that people are tourists in order to visit a place. Sustainable tourism means preserving and protecting resources.’’

If the community does this, it will attract more tourists and will not lose revenue, but gain quality revenue. Be careful of commercialization. Care for and preserve the authentic, as the National Park Service is doing in its repair and restoration at the Roosevelt home and Vanderbilt mansion.

Think carefully about how the possibility of a lot of growth and a lot of tourists can change the identity of the area. We want to attract tourists, but we do not want to lose the essence of the Hudson Valley.

Kathleen M. King is chairwoman of the hospitality and tourism program at Dutchess Community College and president of the Millbrook Business Association.