In an effort to boost the profile of the local ski industry, the Utah Office of Tourism has launched its winter TV and interactive marketing campaign, said deputy director Tracie Cayford. The TV spots have begun airing on several national cable channels — HGTV, A&E, History, Bravo, MSNBC, Bravo, Metro Networks, National Geographic and TLC — and will run until Nov. 26.

Ads slated for Los Angeles began Monday and will run for two weeks on five local stations. The TV campaign, costing more than $1.5 million, is expected to generate about 167 million "impressions," meaning the number of people exposed to the ads.

The $1.66 million TV and Web campaign included $107,500 in online ads that are expected to yield 10.7 million impressions and will run from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 and Jan 5 through Jan. 26 on TripAdvisor.com, iExplore.com, Go Travel Media, Burst Networks and Gorp.com.

The TV/interactive campaign is part of nearly $3.8 million in spending to market Utah that includes the state tourism Web site, ski partner Web sites, sponsorship of a new Warren Miller ski film, magazine ads and a 90-second video shown on all Delta flights.

Promoting Utah skiing began in August and will continue through February, according to Lee von der Esch, state tourism director.

Ski Utah is also sponsoring the 2008 Fat Flake Festival today at the Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake, a free event with live music and activities aimed at skiers and snowboarders.

Cayford said most of the state's efforts primarily focus on attracting visitors from neighboring Western states such as Idaho, California, Wyoming and Colorado.

"We think that people tend to stay closer to home," she said. "Over 80 percent of our visitors come by car."

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Contributing: Brice Wallace

E-mail: jlee@desnews.com