Preston Officials Hope Passport Will Drive Tourism to Local Businesses

Contributed by The Day.

By: Daniel Drainville

A haunted inn and a farm raising top-of-the-line Wagyu beef are among the places the town hopes to encourage tourists to come visit with its new 2025 "Passport to Preston".

The $25 passport will offer customers discounts at local businesses.

"So it really pays for itself after like three to five uses," First Selectwoman Sandra Allyn-Gauthier said.

The passport will be available from the town's parks and recreation department starting April 1, on www.prestonrecreation.com.

The town, in partnership with Sloop Printing in Voluntown and Quinn and Hary Marketing in New London, designed and printed the passport over the past six weeks, said Jill S. Keith, the town's representative to the Eastern Regional Tourism District (ERTD) Board.

"Your passport awaits!" states an advertisement for the passport, which features pages for 14 local businesses, with their location, contact information and discount offers. It also lists upcoming community events.

Keith purchased the first passport on Monday, followed by Pat Monahan, who also helped with the project.

In February, ERTD awarded the town a $6,000 grant through the state tourism department for the project, which also includes a map with locations of the businesses. It will be available next month, Keith said.

The Board of Finance has also appropriated $10,000 toward the project. 

Parks and Recreation Director Mark Simmons said the passport is geared toward non-residents and the pages include places for people to record their visit date and have them stamped by the businesses.

The tri-fold map, which is aimed at residents, will include municipal and parent-teacher events along with the businesses. 

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