BuckeyeLine

Get Answers to Your MAP Questions Tuesday, May 20

Joe Vargo will be hosting a live chat to answer questions about the Marketing Assistance Programs application process from 10-11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 20. If you’re not sure whether a certain marketing activity would be covered by MAP, this is a great opportunity to find out. To participate, visit http://travelbuzz.discoverohio.com/eve  and click on Go, then select Travel Buzz Chat Rooms, and choose MAP Application Q&A from the menu. If you aren’t registered for a Travel Buzz account, please click here to sign up for an account.

Join the Tourism Division at a Town Hall Meeting

The Division is hosting several town hall meetings to brief industry members on the new advertising campaign and Division partnership opportunities. Below are the dates for the Division’s upcoming town hall meetings. Hope to see you at one of these events!

State Tourism Director Amir Eylon Launches ‘Ohio Travel Matters’ Web Blog

Be sure to check out Amir’s new blog, Ohio Travel Matters. Amir will share information, findings and ideas on marketing Ohio tourism specifically, and the tourism industry in general. To keep your fingers on the pulse of Ohio’s tourism industry, visit his blog at http://travelmatters.discoverohio.com today!

Participate in the Division’s Free E-Newsletters

After a very successful launch in 2007, the Ohio Tourism Division is ramping up its second year of enhanced consumer e-newsletters with its partner eBrains. The program comprises a series of 12 emails sent to each of six interest areas, featuring attractions, events, packages, coupons, itineraries and more to more than 300,000 subscribers. The interest areas are: Family Fun, Sports and Recreation, History and Heritage, Arts and Culture and new this year: Culinary Ohio and Multicultural Ohio.

A Special Message From State Tourism Director Amir Eylon

On behalf of the entire Ohio Tourism Division team, I would like to personally thank the more than 70 partners representing Ohio’s Travel Industry for their participation with us during yesterday’s Ohio Tourism Celebration! Judging by turnout and initial reports, I think we can all agree that this was one of our most successful launches of spring/summer travel in Ohio. The Governor, Lieutenant Governor and I were just thrilled to see all the excitement and energy created by our Tourism Industry!

In addition to the launch of our new marketing campaigns, we were able to really focus on the variety of experiences Ohio has to offer its visitors. Our new look and messages are posted on www.DiscoverOhio.com, so please spread the word about Ohio this summer! If you missed the event, you can still watch the Ohio Tourism Press Conference by clicking here.

Once again, this celebration was about the important work all of you do in growing Ohio’s tourism economy. I believe we were able to make many Ohioans aware of the terrific product in their own backyards this summer. None of this could happen without all of you. I would also like to recognize the hard work of our Tourism Division team and our supporting agencies, who have spent countless hours in preparation of these campaigns and related programs on behalf of this industry.

This is National Tourism Week and Ohio Tourism Month (as proclaimed by the Governor and Lt. Governor yesterday), which means that besides telling the world about Ohio’s Tourism Industry, we should also reflect on what this industry means to us as individuals. For me, it is a passion, a friend and an amazing way of life!

Thank you for being a part of this great industry!

Warmest Regards,

Amir

(Photo Caption: From Left to Right--Marc McQuaid, Ohio Travel Association; Phil Craig, Ohio Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus; Alicia Reece, Assistant State Tourism Director; Governor Ted Strickland; Jack Hanna, Director Emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium; Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher; Geoff Hetrick, Ohio Restaurant Association; Matt MacLaren, Ohio Hotel and Lodging Association; and Amir Eylon, State Tourism Director)

May is Ohio Tourism Month! Are you sharing your tourism story?

The countdown is on for the official launch of Ohio’s innovative new tourism advertising campaign and Ohio Tourism Celebration on May 13 at the Ohio Statehouse! Please join Governor Strickland, Lt. Governor Fisher, Legislators, Ohio tourism association leaders, the Ohio Tourism Division and more than 70 groups of your tourism industry peers for the press conference at 11:00 a.m. followed by the Ohio Tourism Celebration from 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

If you are celebrating tourism in your community on the 13th, you can still see the press conference live on the Web. Tune in at 11:00 a.m. on the Ohio Channel.

If you could use some help telling your local tourism industry story, check out the Ohio Tourism Month Online Toolkit. Here you can find samples of press releases, a resolution/proclamation, a letter to local officials and more.

We encourage everyone to take this opportunity to celebrate what tourism brings to Ohio’s economy and quality of life on both the state and local levels. Please feel free to forward this message on to your tourism partners. Let’s join together and tell Ohio’s tourism story. Hope to see you at the Statehouse on May 13!

The Beginning of Peak Travel Season

It’s here! It’s here! As the spring blossoms give way to leafy green trees and the smell of fresh cut grass is in the air, it must be time for leisure travel to pick up in Ohio!  For many Tourism Industry partners across the state, the May-October period is the biggest source of revenue generation for the year. Every May, many of us hold our breath in excited anticipation of what the season will bring in terms of visitation.

Celebrate Ohio Tourism Month!

If you have submitted information to participate in the May 13 Ohio Tourism Celebration at the Statehouse, you should be hearing from our event coordinator, Jay Dascenzo, or a member of his staff. Dascenzo Creative has taken on the task of coordinating booths, arrival times and set up, etc. so watch for instructions coming to you soon. If you haven’t received confirmation of your participation on May 13, please feel free to contact Jay or Shawn Redman at: jay@dascenzocreative.com. Watch for a Special BuckeyeLine with more details on Ohio Tourism Month and May 13. We hope to see you at the Statehouse!

Division, Central Ohio Tourism Partners Garner PR Awards

The Ohio Tourism Division in conjunction with Fahlgren Mortine and Great Lakes Publishing won two PRism Awards and one Award of Excellence (runner up) from the Central Ohio Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America on April 30. Congratulations also are in order for: City of Dublin’s Dublin Irish Festival, Columbus Clippers, Dublin Convention and Visitors Bu reau, Experience Columbus, Franklin Park Conservatory, and the Greater Columbus Sports Commission. It is tremendous for our industry to see tourism partners excelling in their marketing efforts!

African American Travel Conference Highlights

Several Ohio delegates participated in the African American Travel Conference in Cleveland April 8-10 to meet with tour planners from Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin and Texas. Leads are available for download in the group tour section of Travel Buzz. The conference was a great success and we appreciate everyone who participated!

(Photo Caption: The Ohio Tourism Division's Celeste Krolak, Alicia Reece and Amir Eylon joined Industry members and participated in the African American Travel Conference this past month in Cleveland)