After Nassau County launched its own tourism promotion campaign, its first “public facing” project will literally launch on Saturday.
A 55-passenger luxury bus bearing the initiative’s “Explore More” logo will depart Midtown Manhattan for Long Beach for a day-long tour of the seaside city, one of a series of bus trips planned through Labor Day (Jan. 15) throughout Nassau County by the campaign, organized by Glen Head-based advertising and marketing firm RRDA LI Inc.
Buses will pick up and drop off visitors at the intersection of 40th Street and Lexington Avenue. Tickets are $25 round trip for adults and free for children 12 and under and can be purchased at www.nassaucountytourism.com.
“It’s a day at the beach, we leave at 8am and are back in town by 6pm. [p.m.]”You just get on and off the bus, you don’t have to worry about parking, and you get a free beach pass,” RRDA owner Jaime Hollander said of the tours in Long Beach, where she runs her company from her home. “You just get on and off the bus, you don’t have to worry about parking, and you get a free beach pass.” Beach Comfort Rental Company in Long Beach is offering discounted chair and umbrella rentals, and Skudin Surf is offering discounted surfing lessons.
What you need to know
Nassau County’s new tourism development agency, the RRDA, will offer weekend bus tours from Manhattan from Saturday through Labor Day. Tickets are $25 round-trip for adults and free for children 12 and under and can be purchased at www.nassaucountytourism.com. Founded in 2019, the RRDA also works with companies such as Wayfair, American Express, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.
The trip to Long Beach will help people become familiar with Nassau County, Hollander said.
“It’s got sand, it’s got surf, it’s got great hotels,” Hollander said. “It’s like another world. It makes you feel like you’re on vacation.” She added that Long Beach is one of many tourist destinations in Nassau, which was the idea behind the campaign’s logo, “Explore More.”
The county “has a lot to offer: beaches, entertainment, shopping, arts, culture, restaurants, historic sites and more. Whether you’re visiting from the city, Bucks County, Connecticut or across the country, we invite you to come and see what we have here.”
Other weekend bus tours are planned for this summer, departing from 40th Street and Lexington. So far, visits to the Manhasset Americana and Museum Row are scheduled for July 13 and July 14, but times and number of buses have yet to be determined.
In December, Nassau County Mayor Bruce Blakeman’s administration notified executives of Hauppauge-based promotions agency Discover Long Island that it had unsuccessfully submitted a bid for a new contract. The three-year, roughly $3 million contract with the RRDA ends 45 years of integrated marketing with Suffolk County. The RDDA’s contract with Nassau County includes a two-year option to renew.
Kristen Reynolds, CEO and president of Discover Long Island, said at the time that the loss of a unified marketing strategy could confuse potential visitors and be perceived as “putting Nassau and Suffolk counties against each other.” Suffolk County will maintain Discover Long Island.
But when asked Thursday for his thoughts on a Nassau County-only campaign, Reynolds said in an email, “We cannot comment further on Nassau County’s decision to withdraw from the Long Island regional brand. However, Discover Long Island will continue to promote tourism on Long Island with the support of Suffolk County and our many Nassau partners…”
RRDA does not charge partners a fee.
Hollander said Nassau’s standalone tourism campaign does not mean it will separate from Suffolk.
“It’s good for Nassau to have one focus, to dig into what’s going on here and do something that’s hyper-local.”
