Tri-County Tip-Off Challenge running in June timesunion.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timesunion.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tri-County Tip-Off Challenge launches in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady
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Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady counties are competing during the month of June 2021 to see in which county s restaurant diners tip the most. (John Carl D Annibale/Times Union)John Carl D Annibale/Albany Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
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Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady counties are competing during the month of June 2021 to see in which county s restaurant diners tip the most. (Steve Barnes/Times Union)Steve Barnes/Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
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Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady counties have launched a promotion to see which county s restaurant customers tip the most during June.
Called the Tri-County Tip-Off Challenge, it encourages restaurant patrons to submit dining receipts showing tip amounts via dedicated pages on the websites of the tourism agencies co-sponsoring the campaign: Discover Albany, Discover Saratoga and Discover Schenectady.
Trade shows, group events show signs of revival
As vaccinations spread, travel is growing
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Duncan Stewart, left, executive director of the Albany Convention Center Authority, Michele Vennard, center, chair of the board of the authority, and Doug McClaine, general manager of the Albany Capital Center, take part in a tour of the center last summer during the height of the pandemic. The arrangement of chairs in this conference room was intended to keep meeting participants socially distant from one another. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Albany Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
2of5Buy PhotoA view of the Albany Capital Center on Monday, April 12, 2021, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)Paul Buckowski/Albany Times UnionShow MoreShow Less
Albany County legislature considers tourism improvement district
Money would go toward convention business promotion
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ALBANY – The Albany County Legislature is considering creating a tourism improvement district as part of its efforts to help hotels recover from the pandemic s impact.
The idea is to allow some hotels within the county to add a 2 percent assessment fee to visitors’ bills, with that money being set aside for promotional uses and drawing larger conventions to the county’s convention center.
Discover Albany, the county’s tourism promotional agency, has promoted the idea for several years.
Jill Delaney, the group’s president, said it is underfunded compared to some of its competitors in other upstate cities.
Wolf Road, region s Main Street, struggles in pandemic economy
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A near-empty parking lot is seen at the New York State Department of Transportation offices on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, on Wolf Road in Colonie, N.Y. Office lots are mostly empty as staff work from home during the coronavirus lockdown. (Will Waldron/Times Union)Will Waldron/Albany Times Union
COLONIE It is the Capital Region s Main Street, drawing travelers and shoppers from far and wide.
But the pandemic, which crippled the hospitality, restaurant and brick-and-mortar retail sectors, has hit Wolf Road hard.
Pier One stands empty after its parent firm went bankrupt in the weeks before the first major outbreak of coronavirus. The Turf Inn, once a destination not only for travelers but for locals out for a night of clubbing, is dark and empty.