Tuscarawas County tourism owners and staff take a look through the eyes of their visitors at The Farm at Walnut Creek

  • By Jennifer Kneuss
  • June 17, 2011
  • 341
Tuscarawas County tourism owners and staff take a look through the eyes of their visitors at The Farm at Walnut Creek
Tuscarawas County tourism owners and staff take a look through the eyes of their visitors at The Farm at Walnut Creek
Tuscarawas County tourism owners and staff take a look through the eyes of their visitors at The Farm at Walnut Creek
Tuscarawas County tourism owners and staff take a look through the eyes of their visitors at The Farm at Walnut Creek
                        
Summary : Many times, those involved in the local tourism industry are so busy helping guests to the area that they do not find time to visit or revisit local attractions themselves. The Farm at Walnut Creek recently invited them to do just that. “What an absolutely wonderful day!” exclaimed a guest at The Farm at Walnut Creek, as she pushed a baby stroller along behind four excited children who dashed from one exhibit to another, their voices excitedly calling to each other to ‘look at the monkeys!’ and ‘check out the cool birds in the aviary!’. The group was part of more than fifty local individuals who were specially invited to The Farm at Walnut Creek to take a look at a local attraction through the eyes of potential tourists. The tourism industry has a huge economic impact on both Tuscarawas and Holmes counties. “The folks at The Farm at Walnut Creek invited people from the county tourism industry, specifically the hotel and the TCCVB staff members, to come over and see the attraction firsthand so we can better promote it.” explained Tiffany Gerber, tourism manager for the Tuscarawas County Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. “We can do this for those coming in to the area to stay overnight, who can experience all of the wonderful things there are to do in Tuscarawas County, and come just across the border to Holmes County and experience The Farm at Walnut Creek. We had many front desk staff, hotel management, bed and breakfast owners and staff, and also their children here today.” Gerber noted the large number of children who accompanied their parents to the attraction. “It’s always a good idea to incorporate the family, so you get that first hand look at how families can explore the attraction. It’s a good day for everyone,” she said. The day kicked off with a bountiful lunch prepared by Amish cook staff, complete with chicken and all the trimmings and topped off with homemade strawberry and chocolate pie as well as hand-cranked ice cream, for a true taste of life on the farm. Following the lunch, guests were taken on wagon rides through the animal park. In addition to seeing traditional farm animals, the tour gave the local visitors a chance to see and feed exotic animals. Llamas, emus, fallow deer, elk, and exotic cattle came right up to the wagons to be fed. All of the guests were particularly enthralled as shaggy beasts opened their mouths wide for a taste of grain, their long tongues stretching upward to catch every morsel. Particularly stunning were the majestic giraffes, who gently bent down to eat from the hands of even the smallest children. “My own personal favorite was feeding the giraffes, and being on the wagons. We held the food up to them, and they leaned right over the fence to eat out of our hands. We were even able to touch them. This was the first time I have ever been able to touch a giraffe,” said Chrissy Blackwell, who typically spends her days at the Tuscarawas County tourism office as the communications manager there. Blackwell admitted she did not succumb to the urge to hand feed the zebras, however, after being warned that they may have a tendency to ‘nibble’ on fingers. The TCCVB staff carried a large circular sign with them, outlined with a red ‘O’ for Ohio, with the words ‘hi’ emblazoned inside. “The Ohio Division of Travel and Tourism has a new initiative, and it is to have people say ‘hi’ from Ohio. They’ve asked people to take the ‘hi’ sign and go out and picture themselves, their families, and their associates at different attractions throughout Ohio, and then to post it to both the Division’s and their own Facebook page, to let people know that you can say ‘hi’ from all these wonderful places in Ohio,” Blackwell said, explaining the purpose of the signage. “This was great to get all of our families together to experience one of our great area attractions, and to have an enjoyable day while we learned how we can promote this attraction even more to our local visitors.”


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