Catonsville has officially been named Baltimore County's first Arts & Entertainment District, making it the 29th designated A&E district in Maryland. The new A&E district will include Catonsville’s business district along Frederick Road and the Lurman Woodland Theatre. Managed by the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency of the Maryland Department of Commerce, the A&E districts offer tax-related incentives to help attract artists, arts organizations, and other creative enterprises to these areas and are aimed at developing and promoting community involvement, tourism, and revitalization. "Our administration is proud to support the revitalization of historic and artistic communities across our state, and 'Music City, Maryland' is a shining success story for Baltimore County,” said Governor Larry Hogan.

“The A&E Districts program bridges a critical connection between the arts and economic development,” said Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz. “With a critical mass of arts events, organizations, and businesses as well as independent artists, our network of districts across Maryland are helping to fuel Maryland’s economy and are central to our strong communities.”

The Maryland Department of Commerce Office of Tourism and the National Park Service are partnering to provide free training for Chesapeake Bay guides, watermen and women, and water-based tour providers. Enhance your tours or create new ones. Engage with experts about Chesapeake Bay nature, heritage, ecology, and stewardship, improve your presentation skills, and discover how to make your tours interactive and engaging for your customers. Upon completion of the training and preparation of a water-based tour with Chesapeake Bay thematic messages, participants will receive official recognition and promotion of their tour business or organization as a Chesapeake Bay Storyteller. A $400 stipend per participant will be provided to help defray costs of attendance, travel and meals. Each session is limited to 20 participants. Once the first 20 spots are filled, other registrants will be put on a wait list, so register now. For class dates, registration, and more information, follow this link.

The Fiscal Year 2019 Tourism Development Board Annual Report has been published. A downloadable electronic version is available here. Printed copies may be requested from OTD through julia.bouie@maryland.gov.

Destination Maryland 2020, OTD’s official guide to Maryland travel is nearly here and will be in market on January 2. If you would like bulk copies for distribution of this inspiring glossy magazine, please contact Brandon Chan, Supervisor at Mason Dixon Welcome Center and Fulfilment Operations, via email at brandon.chan@maryland.gov.

The last few months have been a time of growth at OTD as three new members joined the team. Research Analyst Rianna Wan came on board in August after more than ten years with Language Logic. Wan has degrees from Beijing Shi Yan College in China and Daito Bunka University in Japan and studied English at the University of Wisconsin. In September, Daesha Stark joined OTD as the Communications/Marketing Administrative Specialist. Stark is a 2020 graduate of the University of Maryland Global Campus and had worked previously with Assurant Solutions as Data Coordinator. Julia Bouie joined the OTD team in November. Bouie serves as Executive Assistant to Liz Fitzsimmons, Managing Director, TFA, and as Tourism Development Board Liaison. Bouie studied at Towson University and has been a state employee for three years, transferring to OTD from another agency. We warmly welcome all three of our new staff members and look forward to working side by side with them as we promote Maryland’s unique tourism assets.

Pictured (left to right): New OTD staffers Daesha Stark, Julia Bouie and Rianna Wan.

Matt Scales, Public Relations Specialist, OTD, secured a three-part “Leaf Peepin” series on Baltimore’s WJZ-TV 13 and joined forces with Connie Spindler, Communications Specialist, OTD, to promote Maryland hiking opportunities and fall foliage on camera. The multi-part series promotes Maryland as an outdoor destination with a trail system second-to-none. To see the videos, follow this link to WJZ’s “Falling for Maryland” page.

The Office of Tourism is asking for small and minority businesses to answer a survey about the need for technical and promotional assistance as it relates to tourism businesses. Based on responses, the office will assess the need for these services and how to best coordinate delivery of those services. Please take the survey.

How can OTD help spread the word about your attraction or event? "Maryland Mondays" is the perfect way to help us help you. Each Monday, OTD launches a new “Maryland Mondays” ticket give-away program across all of our social media channels, consumer newsletter, and weekly “Maryland Minute” radio spots. Combined, these channels reach thousands of potential customers each week. To find out how to get involved by providing tickets to your attraction for an upcoming "Maryland Mondays," email OTD’s Leslie Troy.

For the latest on events and everything going all around Maryland, view the latest edition of Visit Maryland Now! here.

Each week, the Maryland Minute provides highlights and insights on this weekend’s events around the state. Maryland Minute is featured on Entercom radio stations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., WERQ on Baltimore’s WBAL-AM 1090.