SUNY Canton Helps Launch New North Country Tourism Program

CANTON, NY (06/13/2016)(readMedia)-- The Upstate New York region's hidden gems of tourism and recreation activities are discoverable this summer during a new online workshop program at SUNY Canton.

The college is partnering with the 1,000 Islands and Adirondack Regional Tourism Development councils, the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority and I Love New York to create a free tourism sales support program specifically designed for hospitality and customer service employees.

Enrollment in the new Frontline Sales Support workshop will begin immediately through SUNY Canton's Career Ready Education and Success Training (CREST) Center for Workforce Development. The first session is slated to begin Monday, June 20. The development of the program is funded in part through a grant awarded to the Ogdensburg Bridge and Port Authority by Empire State Development's Division of Tourism and I Love New York (through the Regional Economic Development Council) with the goal of increasing of regional tourism and repeat visitation.

Workshop sessions are self-paced and participants can successfully complete the program in just a few hours or spread out the activities over the course of a week, to help accommodate busy work schedules.

The initial goal of this program is to certify 200 front-line tourism staff across the region to better engage with visitors to the North Country. Conservatively, it is estimated that these staff members could be involved in more than a million visitor interactions in the region annually.

"The workshops help hospitality and tourism employees promote our region's attractions and encourage extended and repeated visits," noted Christina Lesyk, the SUNY Canton faculty member responsible for coordinating the non-credit bearing program. "Additionally, many tourism workers depend upon tips and commissions to supplement basic wages, and this program will deliver a set of skills that can lead to increased sales and better gratuities."

Lesyk is a certified hospitality educator and a certified guest services professional who currently teaches hospitality management courses at the college.

Depending on demand, there will be numerous workshops available throughout the summer. A complete session schedule is available at www.canton.edu/CREST. For more information and registration, please contact: SUNY Canton CREST Center, crest@canton.edu or (315) 386-7229.

About SUNY Canton

SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as ten exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete as members of the NCAA Division III.

-www.canton.edu-