Business & Tech
'Taste North Fork' Great Success, Spiked Business 30 Percent, Organizers Say
North Fork businesses were packed over the three-day event.
After the dust settled, organizers said the first-ever Taste North Fork, a three-day Veterans Day event meant to spur off-season tourism by providing free bus transportation, was a win-win.
"The 'Taste North Fork' promotion was a great success across the North Fork," said Janine Nebons, co-founder of East End Tourism Alliance with Bryan DeLuca.
"Traffic and sales reports have been outstanding, with most all reporting gains of 25-30 percent, or more increases in sates and traffic," she said. "We are very pleased to report that over 1000 visitors utilized the shuttles; visitors came from not only the New York City metro market, we had quite a few come from Connecticut."
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Looking forward, Nebons said the plan is to convene with organizing committee and businesses to strategize for a repeat event next year.
"Our primary goal was to extend the tourism season, and based on preliminary feedback, we accomplished that goal," Nebons said.
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Added Joan Bischoff of the North Fork Promotion Council. "The North Fork small business community came together as never before; proud to be a North Forker."
Bischoff added that meetings will be held to "see real data and talk about what went well and what can become better. We hear from a lot of people this is worth doing again, so we are planning on that. It is kind of the North Fork festival that pulls everything and everybody together," he said.
On Sunday, as visitors boarded the Jitney in Greenport, Lynch, vice president of the Hampton Jitney, agreed the event was a winner..
Over 20 wineries and scores of businesses participated in the event, which runs through Veterans Day on Monday.
"The turnout has been great," Lynch said, adding that he had almost-full buses on Saturday and a crowd of visitors arriving by train in Mattituck, despite chilly temps. Sunday, he said, was a beautiful day, with even more visitors arriving.
"The wineries have been very busy," Lynch said, adding that crowds picked up even more significantly during the later hours of the day to taste the local wines at participating wineries. Visitors were getting on and off the buses at all of the stops, he said, including Tanger in Riverhead.
Angela Radziszewski and Robert Caruso traveled from West Hartford, CT on the Cross Sound Ferry to Orient Point, where they caught a Jitney to Greenport.
"The ferry was just right for us," she said, adding that walking the village on foot helped them to enjoy all businesses had to offer even more fully, and she enjoyed not driving and leaving the car behind.
Others who turned out in Greenport Sunday for the tastings, music and other attractions were locals who came for the fun and festivities.
"Everyone has been very nice," said Kent Hovercamp of Aquebogue.
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