By Deb Everts | March 26, 2022 | Published from the Salamanca Press
SALAMANCA — The Seneca Nation is launching a Visitor Economy Management Office.
Kortney Keyes has been chosen to manage this new office and will be working out of the Onöhsagwë:de’ Cultural Center at the Seneca-Iroquois National Museum.
Keyes said she began her new position as manager of the newly created office in February. She said the Visitor Economy Management Office is a new department within the other Seneca Nation programs and departments. The office will be located in the cultural center until the department is developed and established.
“Right now, I’m an employee of one, but I will be creating a team. Once I have a staff, I will need more office space,” she said. “It will probably take several years to get everything developed, up and running but, right now, everything is really behind the scenes.”
The Visitor Economy department itself handles tourism but, according to Keyes, the newly developed office will do more than that. She said they will assess and manage how they can encourage the success of small businesses.
Youth employment and sports development will be included, along with local artists, creators and makers. She said they definitely want to incorporate the Seneca culture into their goals.
“This new office is not specific to just tourism. It’s also what we can bring back to our community as a whole through tourism,” she said. “We kind of want to stray away from the idea that we are just a tourism office because we are much more than that.”
Keyes said part of her job will be event planner for all things involving Seneca tourism in Salamanca. Eventually, she will be working closely with the Nation’s media department heading up a website, and they will eventually have travel guides available to help visitors with additional information.
“That is more long-term. The first thing would definitely be to plan all that and try to get an idea of what we want to include on our website and in our travel guides, then go from there,” she said. “We will do everything in-house through the Seneca Nation.”
There is no set time on when the new department will be set up and have staff, Keyes said. It’s brand new and she’s focusing on the goals that are still in the works with the assistance of a consultant. She’s currently helping with a few different projects to give the other departments some relief when they need an extra hand.
The concept of visitor economy is important to the success of tourism. It adds another element to the traditional notion of tourism as a planned journey with an overnight stay.
According to the University of Derby, visitor economy is a place-centered concept concerned with the whole environment in which visitors, locals and tourists interact. It focuses on the elements that attract visitors and the infrastructure and services that support their visit.
Keyes said she has worked at all three Seneca casino properties in Niagara Falls, Buffalo and Salamanca.
“I’ve had wonderful experiences at all three of our casinos, and that creates a great background for everything I’m doing,” she said. “I don’t necessarily need a degree in marketing or tourism to do what I do here. It’s people-based — working with people and the community — and that’s where I’m strongest.”
Keyes resides in Irving on the Cattaraugus Territory with her partner, Adam Pagan, and their three children. She attended Niagara University where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality, Administration and Management, with a concentration in hotel and restaurant management.
