Second Community Tourism Workshop

The "Make it Manchester" logo was developed by local graphic artist Brenda Queen.

The Manchester Downtown Development Authority (DDA) will host a second community workshop related to ongoing projects which boost tourism in the Manchester area. This workshop will be held on Tuesday, May 5, beginning at 11:00 am in the Village Room, Manchester Village Offices. Everyone is invited to attend.

The workshop will be led by Don Anderson of the Destination Consultancy Group, who facilitated a similar 2014 workshop which was well-attended by Manchester residents, merchants, planners and tourism advocates. From this workshop, the DDA developed projects for the “Community Tourism Action Plan,” or CTAP, funded by a $10,000 grant from the Ypsilanti Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and a $2,000 match from the Village DDA. These projects included a new Manchester marketing logo, a new tourism website, a direction and information waysign to be installed in 2015, the Black Sheep Festival, and tour brochures highlighting our local barn quilts and birding attractions.

The DDA has received a second $10,000 grant for 2015, which will cover a second waysign, expanded tourism website options, agri-tourism programs, and River Raisin canoeing and kayaking promotion. The workshop will evaluate the ongoing projects, the CTAP program success and areas of improvement, and other methods that Manchester can adopt to improve and grow the tourism experience in the Manchester area.

Please join the DDA on Tuesday, May 5 at 11:00 am in the Village Room, and come help make Manchester a place for visitors to play, shop, learn and enjoy!

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by Ray Berg