Blackstone Valley Tourism Council: Travel, heritage, visitors, visitor center, lodging, dining, tours, Blackstone River National Heritage Corridor, National Parks, Industrial Revolution, historic sites, economic development in Rhode Island

Tourism Council

Blackstone Valley Tourism Council Accomplishments
Highlights from Past 20 Years

2005

Sixth annual Blackstone Valley Polar Express another great success! SOLD OUT
First two weekends in November.

Footsteps In History - Initiated a successful new event over Columbus Day Weekend, Footsteps in History Preserve America Weekend.

Twentieth Anniversary Celebration Events and Twentieth Annual Meeting. At the Annual Meeting, Chris Van Allsburg, author of The Polar Express, and his wife Lisa presented with the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award; William Blackstone Society Award presented to Valley Breeze Publisher, Tom Ward and the Providence Journal Blackstone Valley Bureau honored for their 10-part series "Summer on the Blackstone."

New Elderhostel Bike Program - Developed several new 3-day and 5-day programs for Elderhostel.

Blackstone Canoe Trail - canoes painted by local artists are displayed along the Blackstone River Heritage Corridor.

Golf Blackstone - First Blackstone Valley Heritage Golf Tournament held in June.

RiverSing - New event celebrating the Blackstone River in Song part of the Rivers Day Celebration.

EventBlackstone.com - Produced a usable web calendar highlighting events throughout the Blackstone Valley.

2004

Fifth annual Blackstone Valley Polar Express a great success! SOLD OUT
trips for two weekends in November. Sanctioned and Licensed by Warner Bros.
producers of the Movie “The Polar Express.”

Hosted Travel Experiences 2005 group travel trade show with co-sponsors Conway-Grayline Tours and Group Tour Magazine. Over 60 group travel destinations in US and Canada showcased to over 300 New England based group tour organizers and tour planners. This is the longest running group travel show in New England.

Blackstone Bike Tours. Introduced new bike tours based upon European casual bicycling touring. Program offers four designated tours for visitors and includes lodging and food accommodations while visiting points of interest.

Nineteenth Annual Meeting, highlighting the people throughout the Blackstone River Valley involved in historic and cultural tourism development. William Blackstone Society Award presented to Glocester businesswoman Rose Lavoie, involved in local historical preservation.

Hosted 2004 Chinese Dragon Boat & Taiwan Day Festival featuring Asian ethnic cultural activities and signature race event along the Pawtucket River. Event serves as a signature statewide event, as part of the annual Pawtucket Arts Festival.

DeTours. Continued joint marketing and promotional efforts with the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor and the Blackstone Valley, MA chamber of Commerce in releasing new “DeTours” themed self-guided interpretive tours for visitors.

“Smiles Per Gallon” BVTC Joined with RI Tourism Division and State Tourism Districts in “Smiles Per Gallon” summertime visitor promotion package. Efforts designed to promote state’s attractions and have visitors stay close to home to cut gasoline costs. Included downloaded coupons to save $1-$5 discounts on attractions and services.

Central Falls Landing Project – On June 19, 2004 BVTC joined with the City of Central Falls in opening the Central Falls Landing. Continued planning to include a restaurant and river science center.

Trade Mission. BVTC President Bob Billington, US Rep. Patrick Kennedy and group of Blackstone Valley business executives attend trade mission to Taiwan and China to support Asian visitation to Blackstone Valley and development of ongoing cultural connections associated with Pawtucket Chinese Dragon Boat Festival, a new arts & entertainment event established in the last few years in Pawtucket on the riverfront.

Tour RI. On May 1, 2004 BVTC joined with Governor & Mrs. Carcieri, RI Tourism Division and State Regional Tourism Bureaus to present “Tour RI: There’s No Place Like Home”. This one day motor coach cavalcade allowed one thousand RI residents the opportunity to discover and explore the many visitor attractions located in the state and promoted to tourists and destination marketers.

Great American Cleanup. BVTC announces involvement with 2004 Keep America Beautiful’s “Great American Cleanup” with projects along the Blackstone River.

Tenth Anniversary of the Blackstone Valley-Amber Valley Compact. BVTC announces that a delegation from Amber Valley, England will visit Blackstone Valley and Rhode Island for one week in late April and early May to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Blackstone Valley-Amber Valley Compact, with the two regions continuing their “twinning” efforts in economic and tourism development. Agenda includes meetings with top public and business leaders and visits to historic and cultural destinations.

2004 Blackstone Valley Regional Tourism Award. Governor Carcieri and BVTC present the 2004 Governor’s Blackstone Valley Regional Tourism Award to the Pawtucket Red Sox Baseball Club, noted as one of the state’s premier sports and family attractions.

British-American Cultural Connections. BVTC hosts international press from Great Britain promoting British-American cultural connections within Blackstone River Valley and significance of heritage-ecology-ethnic diversity and recreation to tourism development.

Ongoing

National Heritage Corridor - BVTC has an ongoing Cooperative Agreement for tourism development with the John H. Chafee Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor, an agency of the National Park Service.

Visitor Center - BVTC manages and staffs the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center, across the street from Slater Mill Historic Site in downtown Pawtucket. In its first ten months of operation the center served over 90,000 visitors. Our partners in the highly successful center are the National Heritage Corridor, Slater Mill, the City of Pawtucket and Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

Statewide Tourism Promotion - We participate with officials from all the state's tourism regions and the Providence Journal in developing a Strategic Tourism Development plan.
Group Tour Development - We work on a regular basis with tour packages, corporate tour leaders, educational and senior citizen tour planners and motor coach operators to bring new visitors to the Blackstone Valley.

Economic Development Partnerships - BVTC is an active participant in economic development affairs with municipalities, the region's Chamber of Commerce and its Development Foundations.

River Classroom - We collaborated with the Narragansett Bay Commission in providing floating educational opportunities aboard the Blackstone Valley Explorer

Watershed Council - We formed and continue to support the Blackstone River Watershed Council, whose mission is to support awareness, preservation and protection of the region's rivers and waterways.

Rivers Day - In 2004 we organized the sixth celebration of Rhode Island Rivers Day to promote awareness and preservation of the state's waterways. Open space projects were launched in Central Falls, Lincoln and Cumberland.

Scenic Railway Tours - Includes Spring and Fall Heritage Train tours and Polar Express© tours.

Blackstone Valley Shuttle – Own and operate ten-passenger accessible shuttle tours service around the valley.

Blackstone Valley Bikeway - We partnered with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management to promote use of the first stages of the Blackstone Valley Bikeway.
Blackstone Valley Explorer & Spirit of the Blackstone Valley - These popular river crafts have provided interpretive, cultural, environmental and recreational water tours to over 150,000 people since 1993.

Blackstone Valley Navigation & Transportation System - We won and implemented several federal grants to help make the river more accessible to the public.
Canal Boat Samuel Slater - Offering overnight accommodations and daytime cruises, the Samuel Slater is the first canal boat to operate on the Blackstone River since 1848.

Travel Experiences - In partnership with Conway Tours, we have hosted the annual Travel Experiences, the largest group travel and tourism trade show in New England, since 1988.
The work of the BVTC and its partner organizations has received wide recognition for quality and the benefits it has provided to the region.

Awards

National Park Foundation Environmental Conservation Award 2000

Rhode Island Coastal Cleanup Institutional Award 1999

Blackstone Valley Explorer is Yankee Magazine Editor's Pick 1999

Audubon Society of Rhode Island Organization of the Year 1998

Save the Bay Environmental Achievement Award 1997

American Society of Landscape Architects Honor Award 1997

Awarded grant by National Trust for Historic Preservation 1996

New England Foundation for the Arts Cultural Programs Honor 1996

Society of American Travel Writers Phoenix Award 1995

Blackstone Valley Visitor Center, On the banks of the Blackstone, 175 Main Street, Pawtucket, Rhode Island 02860
1-800-454-BVTC (2882) Local: 401-724-2200 Fax: 401-724-1342 info@tourblackstone.com