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The town of Oakland was among the destinations recently listed on TripAdvisor’s “15 Best Honeymoon Destinations in the U.S.”

When newlyweds wrote about their honeymoons on the site, the reviews were categorized to identify the highest-rated rentals.

“Our data science team has a proprietary algorithm that crawls every single rental review on our site, assigning certain themes to destinations based off how closely their reviews represent that theme,” explained Ashlee Centrella of TripAdvisor. “These 15 destinations have some of the strongest honeymoon/romance-related reviews across the whole USA.”

Travelers listed Oakland as a refreshing alternative to a tropical destination. Other top areas included in the article are locations in California, Florida, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands.

“If you don’t picture yourself escaping to a tropical paradise dotted with palm trees, you’re not alone,” the article states. “Reviewers highlight Oakland, a small town near Deep Creek Lake, as a refreshing alternative. In this designated Main Street Community, you’ll find antique stores instead of beachy souvenir shops and an old-fashioned soda fountain in place of seafood joints. But that’s not to say the vibe is anything less than laid-back. You’ll spend your days relaxing on the beach at Deep Creek Lake, kayaking from cove to cove, and hiking the best trails in the region. Nearby attractions include Wisp Resort, home to the Mountain Coaster (an alpine slide/roller coaster hybrid), and Adventure Sports Center International, which offers boating and whitewater sports on an Olympic-standard course.”

Michelle Ross, Oakland’s Main Street manager, noted that while she sometimes gets emails about these types of designations, she was pleased to receive this one from TripAdvisor.

“I was a little more excited about this one, because from what I’ve read, it was based on TripAdvisor reviews,” she explained. “So that means there were a lot of people on their site saying, ‘Hey, Oakland’s a great place to have a honeymoon.’”

Ross noted that she wouldn’t have necessarily thought of Oakland as a honeymoon destination.

“But once you start thinking about some of the things that they mentioned in their article – about going to the old soda fountain and all the hiking trails and all of the canoeing and all of the things that are available here — it’s a romantic place,” she said. “Sometimes you get such tunnel vision, and when other people are looking in your little box, it looks much different.”

According to Ross, the town of Oakland tries to promote this type of information as much as possible for visitors and residents alike.

“For people who live here, it gives them pride in where they live,” she said. “We do a lot for visitors, but we try to do a lot for residents too, because we want people who are here to be happy and stay here.”

The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce also received notification of the designation.

“We are delighted to be included in this list by TripAdvisor,” said Nicole Christian, president and CEO of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce. “We know we are a hot spot for honeymoons and destination weddings, so it is great to see a major travel company like TripAdvisor recognizing this as well. We hope visitors are able to join us in person to see all that Oakland, Deep Creek Lake and Garrett County have to offer.”

Sarah Duck, director of tourism and marketing for the chamber, noted that in surveys conducted of county visitors, small-town charm, beauty and serenity are all listed as reasons Garrett County appeals to them. She feels that this, coupled with all of the activities in the area, makes Garrett County the perfect fit for a honeymoon.

“Through the work of our heritage area and group’s director, the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce has been advertising the area as a wedding and honeymoon destination in wedding-specific publications, which has helped increase our exposure to the wedding and honeymoon market,” she said.

Centrella noted that the list is being promoted on TripAdvisor’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, as well as through FlipKey’s social media accounts.

The full article can be viewed at: www.tripadvisor.com/VacationRentalsBlog/2017/07/14/best-honeymoon-destinations-in-the-us/.

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