Tourism Office

The Tourism Office is run by the county government as part of the Department of Public Information and Tourism.Charged with the responsibility of promoting Carroll County as a tourism destination, the office focuses both on the individual and the group markets.The individual and family market is the target for the current advertising campaign, which won the coveted award for best tourism advertising campaign at the 1989 Maryland Governor's Tourism Conference.Additionally, a variety of brochures are produced by the office toprovide easy access to information needed by the traveler.

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Carroll County's office of tourism is applying for three state grants to help pay the advertising costs for certain events, director Joan Meekins told the county commissioners yesterday."

Maryland's Gov. Warfield made the pages of the Times that week because he wanted to honor "young men who espoused the Southern cause in the Civil War" with a monument and stated so in a letter to the Ellicott City Times . "The Times has received the letter published below from Gov. Warfield, who has started the very proper movement to honor the brave young men of the county who left their homes and fortunes in the early sixties to...

The Wicomico County Tourism Office is planning to build a Convention and Visitors' Bureau and Tourism Office at Leonard's Hill Pond in Salisbury next year, to offer information about vacation spots everywhere in Maryland.Each year, more than 12 million cars arrive in Salisbury and travel down U.S. 13, past Leonard's Mill Pond, so the location is perfect, says Lewis Carman, tourism director."Salisbury is a great day trip from Ocean City," Mr. Carman says. "We are the geographic center of this region, so within 30 or 40 minutes we can offer a variety of trips -- to Ocean City, Smith Island, the Salisbury Zoo or the Ward Foundation," he says.

The Carroll County Office of Public Safety Support Services and Carroll County Health Department will hold a workshop for residents with special needs and their caregivers on how to prepare for emergencies from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Westminster Senior Center, 125 Stoner Ave. Kristin Cox, secretary of the Maryland Department of Disabilities, will open the workshop. The event is geared toward individuals who face challenges, such as evacuating a wheelchair user or obtaining prescription medicine during a blizzard.

In the next two years, Howard County business leaders say they want to see a major growth spurt in Howard County's infant tourism industry -- and are counting on the Ellicott City-based tourism office to lead the way.That office, recently relocated to the basement of the Post Office building on Main Street, is supposed to help Howard pull in a heftier chunk of the state's $5.9 billion tourism industry.For it to succeed, however, the county will have to make a bigger investment in promoting the tourism industry, which amounts to an estimated $119 million benefit to the local economy, said Karen Justice, executive director of the Tourism Council.

In the next two years, Howard County business leaders say they want to see a major growth spurt in the county's infant tourism industry -- and are counting on the Ellicott City-based tourism office to lead the way.That office, recently relocated to the basement of the Post Office building on Main Street, is supposed to help Howard pull in a heftier chunk of the state's $5.9 billion tourism industry.For it to succeed, however, the county will have to make a bigger investment in promoting the tourism industry, which amounts to an estimated $119 million benefit to the local economy, said Karen Justice, executive director of the Tourism Council.

Carroll County offers visitors and residents of all ages a variety of historical sites and contemporary activities they can attend year-round. From the Carroll County Farm Museum and Union Mills Homestead to the Carroll County Arts Council and Piney Run Park, there is something for everyone. Activities abound, from church dinners, art exhibits and family film shows to firemen's carnivals, strawberry festivals and Christmas house tours and craft shows. It is the job of Barbara Beverungen and Heather Johnson - manager and marketing assistant, respectively, at the Carroll County Tourism Office - to promote the attractions and events.

Carroll County thrives on its historical and tourist industry, which offers a variety of activities for all ages and interests, from the Carroll County Farm Museum's events, town festivals and the Danele Shipley Arena, to the Carroll Arts Center, firemen's carnivals and farmers' markets. Barbara Beverungen is manager of the Carroll County Office of Tourism and is responsible for promoting the county's tourist sites and activities, which the office publishes in an annual calendar. The tourism office operates a visitors center at 210 E. Main St., Westminster, at the Historical Society of Carroll County.

A move from Towson Town Center into rent-free space in downtown Towson next month promises to make the county's tourism office more visible, but officials are eyeing another relocation to an even more prominent location eventually - the Hampton National Historic Site. The agency's storefront visitor center on the mall's ground floor costs $1,000 a month to lease and rarely drew more than 75 people a month. A tourism advisory council, appointed earlier this year, strongly recommended a more visible location.

The scent of printer's ink fills the minuscule lobby of Howard County Tourism Inc., where an overflowing rack of information guides greets visitors to the basement office in the old Ellicott City Post Office on Main Street. The hot-off-the-press, "Howard County Wildlife Driving Tour" guide is making its presence known among the brochures with a pungent aroma only the staff could love. "When the guides arrived, a staff member called me and said, `They're here, and they smell great!'" recounts Executive Director Rachelina Bonacci with a contagious laugh.

The woman in charge of marketing Baltimore as a tourist destination is taking the reins of the Maryland Office of Tourism, the state said yesterday. Margot Amelia, who will step into the executive director role Monday, spent three years at the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association. Before that, while at a local advertising agency, she coordinated the marketing for a hotel chain.

Carroll County thrives on its historical attractions and tourism. Barbara Beverungen is manager of the Carroll County Office of Tourism and is responsible for promoting the county's tourist sites and activities, which the office publishes in an annual calendar of events. The tourism office operates a visitors center at 210 E. Main St., Westminster, at the Historical Society of Carroll County. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, except for major holidays.

The Carroll County Office of Public Safety Support Services and Carroll County Health Department will hold a workshop for residents with special needs and their caregivers on how to prepare for emergencies from 8 a.m. to noon Wednesday at Westminster Senior Center, 125 Stoner Ave. Kristin Cox, secretary of the Maryland Department of Disabilities, will open the workshop. The event is geared toward individuals who face challenges, such as evacuating a wheelchair user or obtaining prescription medicine during a blizzard.

Carroll County thrives on its historical and tourist industry, which offers a variety of activities for all ages and interests, from the Carroll County Farm Museum's events, town festivals and the Danele Shipley Arena, to the Carroll Arts Center, firemen's carnivals and farmers' markets. Barbara Beverungen is manager of the Carroll County Office of Tourism and is responsible for promoting the county's tourist sites and activities, which the office publishes in an annual calendar. The tourism office operates a visitors center at 210 E. Main St., Westminster, at the Historical Society of Carroll County.

Carroll County thrives on its historical attractions and tourism. Barbara Beverungen is manager of the Carroll County Office of Tourism and is responsible for promoting the county's tourist sites and activities, which the office publishes in an annual calendar of events. The tourism office operates a visitors center at 210 E. Main St., Westminster, at the Historical Society of Carroll County. The center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays, except for major holidays.

Increases in funds are needed now for Carroll County's economic development and tourism efforts, according to Jack Lyburn, Carroll's director of economic development, which promotes the county to prospective businesses. Lyburn is seeking a $50,000 increase in his marketing and tourism budgets from the Carroll County Board of Commissioners. "Our numbers are fine, but we need more money to go out" and try to attract visitors and new companies to Carroll, Lyburn said at a meeting of the county's economic development commission yesterday.

Howard County Tourism Inc.'s visitor information center has been on the back of the post office building in historic Ellicott City for almost a decade. But it took new paint, shutters, flags and signs to get many county residents to notice it for the first time. "Since [the redecoration] happened, a number of people have said ` ... I never knew you were here,'" said Ed Lilley, visitor center manager. In fact, the office saw a 50 percent increase in customers from 2003 to 2004, said Executive Director Rachelina Bonacci.

Carroll County offers visitors and residents of all ages a variety of historical sites and contemporary activities they can attend year-round. From the Carroll County Farm Museum and Union Mills Homestead to the Carroll County Arts Council and Piney Run Park, there is something for everyone. Activities abound, from church dinners, art exhibits and family film shows to firemen's carnivals, strawberry festivals and Christmas house tours and craft shows. It is the job of Barbara Beverungen and Heather Johnson - manager and marketing assistant, respectively, at the Carroll County Tourism Office - to promote the attractions and events.