Leonardtown, MD- Part of growing the St. Mary’s County economy is attracting tourists. It is included in the county’s Comprehensive Plan and weddings make up a “large part of tourism in the county.”
In a recent interview with Jason Aul, executive director for Visit St. Mary’s MD, Aul outlined the importance of attracting wedding ceremonies to the scenic, water bordering county. As outlined by the Visit St. Mary’s web site, the diversity of the area that features “country rustic, glorious garden, romantic beach, and period piece” venues; is a draw to the surrounding area.
“Southern Maryland is blessed to be so close to a metropolitan area [D.C.],” explained Aul, who elaborated that bringing in many family members and friends for weddings helps hotels, restaurants and many other tourist-centric businesses. Aul then went on to say that St. Mary’s attracts individuals from “as far north as Pennsylvania, and west as West Virginia.”
According to Aul, the Leonardtown Wharf Park was “fully booked by late April/early May.” The Visit St. Mary’s web site received 230,000 unique hits in 2018, getting eyes on the 17 wedding destinations featured on the site.
Visit St. Mary’s recently brought on a new sales manager who is “helping improve promotional materials.” Aul is hopeful that the updated wedding book will cause a “boom” in venue bookings. He explained that the book and Visit St. Mary’s web site are the primary drivers of potential patrons.
For more information, you can check out the Visit St. Mary’s website.
Contact Jerold at staffwriter@thebaynet.com.