The leaves are back on the trees, the weekends have been mild and mostly sunny and my neighbors are engaged in their annual ritual of lawn wars, which can mean only one thing: The peak travel season in Ohio is almost upon us!
While the Ohio Tourism Division aggressively markets Ohio as a leisure destination throughout the year, we all look forward to the main thrust of a spring/summer marketing campaign to engage and remind our target audiences that Ohio is “Too Much Fun for Just One Day!” Over the past couple of weeks, the initial print elements of our campaign have been hitting the key markets and, by this weekend, the broadcast, outdoor and online elements will be ramping up into full swing in primary markets both in surrounding states and across Ohio. Our full slate of cooperative advertising opportunities are seeing record levels of participation among Industry partners, and our media buyers were able to negotiate a high level of added value for us to help generate additional frequency and reach for the campaign.
Despite the most recent round of mandatory spending reductions (the governor is required by law to keep a balanced budget) that have obligated us to temporarily stop or change contractor operations and reduce new expenditures and travel, we are still able – at this point – to deliver a robust spring/summer advertising campaign to build upon the 12-to-1 return on investment (ROI) from 2008. While the national economic crisis continues to put enormous pressures on state budgets, I am happy to report that due to the hard work of our Tourism Division team and its partner agencies, as well as the terrific Industry partnerships already in place, the campaign will be supported with the proper online, telemarketing and fulfillment operations to make sure our call to action also puts consumers in touch with the information they need to book their next Ohio getaway. Additionally, I’m happy to report that the Marketing Assistance Program remains fully funded.
While we have postponed some additional promotions and opportunities, such as the Pittsburgh event, we are still able to offer a full slate of partnership opportunities to Industry members (like Barnes & Noble Bookstores during Ohio Tourism Month) and shortly will turn our attention to the next lineup of partnerships to be rolled out this fall. In addition, we are announcing some upcoming dates in late May and June for Town Hall Meetings to roll out a new partnership with OSU Extension and a couple of other opportunities.
To help kick off the spring/summer push, many of our destinations across Ohio are engaging in special events or promotions for Ohio Tourism Month and National Tourism Week. Value is a key element in decision making this year, so please help us by promoting your packages and promotions on www.DiscoverOhio.com. I look forward to attending some of the local and regional tourism celebrations this month in support of our great Tourism Industry. Please send us photos and reports from your local events so we can post them on our Industry Web site.
During the past three weeks, my family and I have engaged in tourism activities statewide (hiking in the Hocking Hills region, checking out a Reds game and visiting local festivals), and I smile when I think back and realize that every place we went was full of people from across the state and neighboring states. Yes, our Industry is still facing deep challenges, but I remain confident that we can hold our own with leisure travel as long as we provide timely and relevant messages to our audiences. Bottom Line: People still need to get away and we CAN get them to choose Ohio!
Now let’s partner together and get out there to tell the world about Ohio this summer!
Safe travels,
Amir
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