Trains. Kayaks. The new Marriott Hotel. Working together. All got a lot of attention when officials and businesspeople gathered at the Bay Pointe Club in Onset last Friday to discuss ways to increase local tourism.

“We have a gorgeous town here, but no one knows about it,” lamented Selectman Peter Teitelbaum, who said one of his goals is to make Wareham “the kayak capital of the Northeast.”

State Rep. Susan Williams Gifford, along with many others, hailed this summer’s Boston-to-Hyannis CapeFLYER train service as a first step toward commuter rail connecting Wareham to Boston. Although the closest stop this year will be Buzzards Bay, Gifford predicted that, “if all goes well,” there will be a stop in Wareham next year, and she and others can then be “pushing the case for commuter rail.”

The panel discussion was part of a larger “Expo on Tourism,” organized by Wareham’s Community and Economic Development Authority and the Cape Cod Canal Region Chamber of Commerce.  As the tourism discussion proceeded inside the golf club’s Pavilion building, 10 vendors lined the veranda promoting everything from lantern tours to whale watching to Onset fireworks.

State Sen. Marc Pacheco remembered how, as a boy living in Taunton, “one of the places that our Mom and Dad could afford to take us was Onset.” He said he still remembers “the hustle and bustle” and praised efforts already underway to revitalize Onset Village.

But one theme of his remarks – and those of most other speakers – was the need for Wareham officials and businesses and organizations to work together and with their counterparts in nearby towns to develop a comprehensive plan for tourism efforts. "You can't go to the Legislature or the federal government just with your hand out," he said.

“You are not alone,” assured Paul Cripps, executive director of the Plymouth County Development Council. Cripps repeatedly stressed that the state will match local tourism expenditures 50-50 when properly presented.

Among Cripps' other words of advice: “Win at home” – focus on drawing visitors from elsewhere in Massachusetts. “Rally round the (Marriott) flag” – Wareham is “very lucky” to have a new hotel planned for Rosebrook Place. “Baby boomers” – they have money and like to travel.

Salvador Pina, director of Wareham’s Community and Economic Development Authority, elaborated on Cripps’ advice to market locally. “If you put a dot on Wareham,” he said, 150,000 people live within a 15-minute drive.

Linda Burke, vice president for marketing and communication at A.D. Makepeace Co., the world’s largest cranberry grower and developer of Rosebrook Place, talked about how Makepeace established the Cranberry Harvest Celebration 10 years ago “to welcome our neighbors onto our property.” Today, the two-day annual event attracts as many as 30,000 people from all over the world.

While bullish on recent developments in town, Burke noted “we definitely have some gaps.” An avid kayaker, she listed facilities for kayakers as one of the gaps.

Along with the serious talk of economic development, there were moments of levity. Bruce Hutchinson, the retired high school principal who runs the Route 195 visitor center, suggested that the center’s motto should be: “Bring us your lost, your hungry, and those who need to pee.”

Among his favorite questions, apparently from the lost when reading about Onset’s Cape Verdean Festival: “What bridge do I take to Cape Verde?”

More seriously, Hutchinson noted that visitors last year hailed from 48 states and 40 countries. “One million dollars was channeled from our center to your region,” he said.