Sullivan County has been a bride left at the altar more times than I care to count. Lately, there has been yet another flurry of excitement as suitors line up to ask for our hand.

As any aging maiden worth her salt will say, "You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince." In the meantime, hope and pray - and prepare your trousseau.

And so we have.

The Sullivan County Visitors Association, under the direction of Roberta Lockwood, has positioned the county perfectly for marketing and tourism promotion.

Roberta came to Sullivan County via Albany, where she worked for Governor Pataki as New York State's Deputy Director of Marketing and Advertising. She worked on New York's "I Love NY" campaign and was Executive Director of the nine-county Central Leatherstocking Tourism Region.

Starting with nine members and a budget of under $600,000 (derived from membership, state tourism dollars and county allocations, including room tax collected from visitors to our hotels and resorts), the Visitors Association now has a membership of 111.

What Roberta and her staff have accomplished over the past year and a half is identifying existing businesses, analyzing our strengths and weaknesses and capturing new markets while recognizing the potential for future market changes.

Her first step was to open up corporate and incentive markets while expanding our current markets. In plainer English: she looked into who is visiting our area now, who might want to visit, and what we currently have to offer.

Then, award-winning ads were placed in national and international magazines, trade journals and at major trade shows. A Sullivan County Travel Guide was updated and distributed to visitors through members, along with "Catskills Confidential" and an "Antique Guide" which directs area guests to other attractions during their stay.

Roberta wants to capture new market dollars. Shopping locally is good, but it circulates money through the county that was here to begin with. Her concept is a "chain link" approach.

"First," she maintains, "we bring tourism to New York, then we bring it to Sullivan County. Once travelers are here, we suggest shopping activity and dining alternatives from our membership".

Paul Carlucci, vice president of the Villa Roma and chair of the Visitors Association, states: "For the first time in about 10 years, the Visitors Association has a real focus and has started to accomplish things. Our membership is up tremendously. In her first month on board, Roberta connected us to the New York State Destination website, which was a small thing that had a huge effect." Mr. Carlucci has seen increased leads and more diversified groups coming to his hotel through the Visitors Association.

Bill Sipos, owner of Mr. Willy's Restaurant, is past chair of the association. Mr. Sipos, once cynical about the effectiveness of the association, confirms that "without anything happening here, she [Roberta] has increased our tourism position. If anything does happen [gambling/performing arts center], it will be icing on the cake as far as us being a destination.

"In the old days," he continues, "we were in competition with each other. Now we're in competition with the world." If Sullivan County has a matchmatcher, it's certainly Roberta Lockwood. She has married a public/private partnership that has been swept off its feet.

Note: For further information or membership, contact the Sullivan County Visitors Association at 794-3000, ext. 5010.