The Commission on Tourism convenes for the first time in years on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city's Tourism Commission met for the first time in years with some new members.

Its purpose is to stimulate tourism and promote and market the city for vacations, visitors, recreation, and convenient business.  

On Tuesday, members sat at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts for introductions and foundational ideas to get the reconvened panel moving.  Perception was identified as the number one challenge for Pittsfield.

"The people that come from outside see a ton of potential. They already think that Pittsfield is a beautiful place. They already come in with a lot of positivity," said Mike Dell'Aquila, co-founder of Hot Plate Brewing Co.

"The negativity that I hear behind the bar is almost always from locals. It's not usually from people visiting."

The city unveiled Love Pittsfield, a marketing campaign, slogan, and website, in 2021 to combat the negativity with love. The Office of Cultural Development has been around for over 20 years and is housed within the Lichtenstein Center, a rotating art gallery and artist studios that Kitty Lichtenstein donated in the 1980s.

"We want the locals to know all there is to do for Pittsfield and the tourists because it's a ripple effect," Director of Cultural Development Jennifer Glockner explained.

"If the locals love Pittsfield, they'll spread the love to the tourists. If the tourists love Pittsfield, hopefully, they'll somehow be talking about it. It's intertwined and necessary for all to love Pittsfield."

Last year, the department was recommended for a $75,000 Our Town award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to support a cultural plan for Pittsfield. This is in partnership with the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

The plan will focus on actionable recommendations and policy proposals that aim to enhance arts access for all Pittsfield residents and ensure the sector plays a vital role in addressing the city's physical, social, and economic challenges while improving quality of life.

"In that cultural plan, we're coming up with goals and the perception of Pittsfield is a big one in the cultural plan, changing the perception of Pittsfield for inner county and outer county because there are so many people from Lenox and Great Barrington and Stockbridge that will not come to Pittsfield," Glockner explained.

"We've heard from several entities that it's totally perception. You read about something on social media that happened in Pittsfield and you get this idea in your head and you won't come to Pittsfield. So that's a big part of the cultural plan, one of many goals, but it's come up often in the meetings."

Dell'Aquila said that parking is the biggest thorn in his businesses' side — not due to a lack of parking but a lack of awareness of parking options.  He sees this as a twofold issue, as locals want to park right outside of his brewery, and out-of-towners don't know where to park.

"Another challenge that I do think leads to the negative perception is that we don't have a walking culture downtown right now," he added.

"It's a chicken and egg thing and I'm not going to get into why that exists but it does exist and that is what leads to the perception of a lack of safety."

Dell'Aquila pointed out that the downtown restaurants will be packed but when you step onto North Street, there isn't a body in sight. He suggested park-and-walk signage to change this culture and eliminate the perception of downtown being unsafe.

Downtown Pittsfield Inc. Managing Director Rebecca Brien reported that her staff did a walking tour with a consultant through MassDevelopment to identify key spots that need elements such as lighting and wayfinding.

Marketing to millennials and drawing in foot traffic from South County were also discussed.

As for future agenda items, the commission discussed bringing in 1Berkshire for a discussion because there were questions about the membership organization's state funding and impressions that business owners get from advertising with them. The panel would also like to discuss how the two can work together toward a shared mission of promoting Pittsfield.

They also considered inviting Finance Director Matthew Kerwood to explain how local taxes such as hotel/motel, meals, and parking are spent.

Cultural Development assistant Jesse Tobin McCauley and commission members hotelier Mauer Desai and Country Club of Pittsfield CEO Melissa Aitken, as well as Berkshire Museum Executive Director Kimberley Bush Tomio, were also present.

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