The Salem Guide, a production of Destination Salem

As more visitors come into Salem, we are delighted to see more and more 2012 Salem City Guides around town.  The guides are produced by Destination Salem as a resource for residents and visitors from near and far.  Guides are available at the Salem Visitor Center at 2 New Liberty Street, and you will find them around town at banks, restaurants, coffee houses, and shops (thanks to the Salem Witch Museum for the amazing distribution services!).  Guides are also available via direct mail - drop us a line at Destination Salem, and we will send any number of guides to you, your friends, or your family. 

The Salem Guide has been the cornerstone of Destination Salem's marketing plan since before I came on board in 1998.  The publication is supported by advertising, and in 2012 we received a grant from the Massachuetts Office of Travel and Tourism, which was administered by the North of Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

Over the years the Salem Guide has evolved from a rack-sized guide (4" wide x 9.5" tall) to the digest size (5.5" x 9.5") we distribute today. Destination Salem is not a membership organization, and the advertising sold in the Salem Guide matches the City of Salem's investment in the organization to suppport our annual marketing efforts.

Most of the guides requested online are sent to potential visitors in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and California.  Most of our international requests come from Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and France.  We also send guides to travel agents, AAA Offices, visitor centers, conferences, trade shows.  This Guide works in conjuntion with Salem.org to be the core of Destination Salem's marketing efforts.

In 2011 we renamed the publication the Salem Guide, instead of the Salem Visitor Guide in hopes of encouraging residents to use the guide.  With a calendar of annual events and more than 150 business listings, it is a handy resource.  I keep one in my car and another one in my kitchen.  It's great for finding a phone number for dinner reservations or ordering take out.  

Production of the guide is directed by the Destination Salem marketing committee, and in 2012 the guide was designed by Leland Creative in Salem. We like to keep our money as local as possible, and the printing was done by Universal Wilde in Westwood. We hire CTM Media Group in Woburn to distribute the guides to hotels, visitor centers, attractions throughout Greater Boston.

We love the annual Salem Guide (we sort of have to).  It helps us to communicate with potential visitors and guests, talk about all of the incredible assets in Salem, and draw visitors to Salem.org, where the contents of the Salem Guide are searchable and more in depth.  We thank the businesses that support the publication with their advertising, and the businesses that support Salem by distributing the guide.