The Poconos Visitors Bureau has launched the Poconos Ambassador program, a free initiative aimed at educating locals about the region to enhance the experience of the millions of tourists who visit each year. The program offers free online classes to residents, enabling them to become de facto tour guides for the area.
The Poconos region, which spans 2,400 square miles and includes six ski areas, 150 lakes, and nine state parks, attracts between 27 to 30 million visitors annually. These visitors contribute over $4.3 billion to the local economy each year, according to the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau (PMVB).
The Ambassador program is designed to help locals and those working in the hospitality industry better understand and promote the region. "There are so many things that you can do and experience. We want to make sure when a guest asks anyone or one of our 30,000 employees who work here in the Poconos anything about the Poconos, they can have a good idea of what the guest is asking or can at least direct them to a strong information source," explained Chris Barrett, President and CEO of the PMVB, in an interview with WNEP.
The 30-minute online course can be taken at any time and is open to anyone interested in learning more about the Poconos. The PMVB hopes that the program will help to enhance the visitor experience and continue to drive tourism in the region.