What would encourage vacationers to roll the dice on the Berkshires?
This is a question that area tourism officials and community leaders need to make in the coming months as MGM Springfield prepares for its grand opening and starts to market the new gambling resort — and Western Massachusetts — to the estimated 9 million adults living within a 90-minute drive of the city.
“It’s like handing us a whole new marketing budget, so we’re really excited about that,” said local tourism promoter 1Berkshire’s Executive Vice President Lauri Klefos. “We’re hoping that what we can do especially with [MGM] is build some of our off-season business. Let’s see if we can package with them to say, `While you’re in the area, come over to the Lee Premium Outlets’ or something like that, `come to the Norman Rockwell,’ `enjoy the culture.'”
As MGM Springfield plans to open the $960 million resort-style hotel and casino a month ahead of schedule — Aug. 24 — the much anticipated and talked about partnerships between MGM and Western Massachusetts should be coming together over the next four months. Read more about the new MGM and what is going to offer Western Massachusetts >>