New Vrindaban Working with our Local Community – A Win-Win Situation
by Lilasuka dasi
ISKCON New Vrindaban, home of the Palace of Gold, has been actively participating in the Marshall County Tourism Board since April 2012. There are a wide variety of tourist attractions in the Marshall County area of West Virginia, including the former WV Penitentiary, Grand Vue Park, the Grave Creek Mound, Fostoria Glass Museum, the Marx Toy Museum, and of course the Palace of Gold, which was listed this year on CNN Travel as one of the eight religious wonders to see in the U.S.A.
In Front of the temple at New Vrindaban
Different tourist entities came together and formed the Marshall County Tourism Board for the purpose of helping each other attract more visitors to the Moundsville area. The representatives of the attractions on this committee co-operate and brainstorm ways to improve tourism. Based on a proposal of the Marshall County Tourism Board, there has recently been a hotel tax introduced to collect funds for further promoting the local destinations. Workshops have also been organized to train the staffs of each attraction to inform visitors about all the other Marshall County attractions.
The staff members of the attractions work together. As a matter of fact, staff people have free entrance to each other’s attractions, so that they can get more familiar with all of the destinations. The different attractions have contributed to a fund that promotes advertising on T.V., in certain travel magazines, and other kinds of ads. The Marshall County Tourism Board is especially working with the Palace of Gold for their Bus Tour marketing.
The current representative for the Palace of Gold tourist attraction is Bhakta Josef Lauber. Working together with our local community is always a win-win situation.
