NH tourism director
Lori Harnois

Division of Travel and Tourism Director Lori Harnois says ‘the silver lining’ of the pandemic has been the partnerships her agency and businesses in the state’s hospitality sector have made. (Courtesy photo)

Lori Harnois, director of New Hampshire’s Division of Travel and Tourism Development, took over the position in January 2020, two months before the Covid-19 pandemic severely hit the state’s hospitality sector, which the agency is charged with promoting.

Arguably, no industry nationwide has been hit harder during the pandemic, and with the meals and rooms tax generating $331.5 million for the state in 2018, up from $235.5 million in 2011, the pandemic has been like a long unplanned pit stop during a NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Harnois most recently was executive director of Portsmouth-based Discover New England and before that worked at the DTTD. She oversees 90 employees and a budget of $7.6 million — a small budget compared to other states’ support — and New Hampshire is the only state without a convention and visitors bureau.

Q. How difficult has it been to balance the needs of New Hampshire businesses with Covid restrictions?

A. I’d say the biggest challenge was to help businesses be heard so that we could see what we could do from a state level, from being on the task force to reopen the economy, to how we could explain the needs so that businesses felt they could adjust to safely welcome visitors.

Being a mouthpiece for them in that setting, helping them find PPE, helping them find any type of funding or assistance in securing the PPE that was out there.

Q. What has kept you positive during these trying times for New Hampshire tourism?

A. New Hampshire’s done a great job of keeping the economy going and trying to balance safety with business activity. I’ve seen how much businesses throughout the state have pivoted their operations, seen how they’re resilient, and in many cases come together even more. The silver lining through this thing is the partnerships we’ve made.

I’m really proud of the “Support Local:

Go the Extra Mile Campaign,” as it was an opportunity to help the tourism industry make it through the winter months … The goal of the campaign was to encourage people to support local businesses by inspiring residents and visitors to shop, dine and stay in New Hampshire.

Q. The 2018 summer tourism campaigned allocated 3.3% of its dollars to social media. How much has that grown?

A. There’s been a constant growth in our followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Our summer campaign is working on TikTok for the younger demographic. We were really surprised with our winter campaign with the response we got from snowmobilers with a specific ad. Social media plays a much larger role in our overall marketing/advertising strategy. For the summer 2019 campaign, 23% was allocated for social media.

Q. Is international travel a potential growth area for the state?

A. I think so, once the international borders open back up. International travelers typically stay 10 to 14 days and are not weather-dependent. They’re savvy travelers who want to learn about the culture of an area.

If you fly into Boston, there’s great access to New Hampshire’s variety of seacoast, lakes and mountains, to its typical New England towns and villages. I think there’s a growing trend within the culinary side of international tourism for breweries — and New Hampshire has a lot of great breweries — for our seafood, for maple syrup, for all the things New England is known for. It’s going to be interesting to see how travel changes after the pandemic.

Q. Is it a missed opportunity for the state not to have a convention and visitors bureau, given the status of our first-inthe-nation primary?

A. We have tried to work with other organizations to try to create a convention and visitors bureau but, absolutely, that is an area we could do better at marketing to. I think there is a great opportunity whether it’s the primary or a sports convention or other meetings. Again, New Hampshire provides a great backdrop. And, again, it will be interesting to see how we come out of the pandemic. The Omni Mt. Washington Resort is more remote than downtown Boston, but the state could be out there marketing it to conventions and meetings. We partner with the Greater Boston CVB, who helps to distribute leads to those in the industry.