Survey results indicate that Utah's tourism advertising campaign this summer was effective in getting people in three markets to seek more information about the state and increasing the likelihood of those outsiders to visit.

Statistics from the survey, conducted by Strategic Marketing & Research Inc. and presented Friday to the Utah Board of Travel Development, show that 15.2 percent of people in Denver, Los Angeles and Las Vegas who recalled seeing the tourism TV and print advertisements said they were likely to visit Utah. That compares with 9.8 percent among people who did not recall those ads.

The survey also indicates the ads were effective in getting people to request information about the state after seeing the ads — "a really good impact," according to the company's vice president, Denise Miller.

"People who saw the ads were about twice as likely to visit the state Web site, about twice as likely to call the (toll-free) 800 number, a little bit more likely to request information in other ways, and overall were about twice as likely to request some information about Utah," Miller said.

"So the good news is, being out there in the market, putting our message out, did get people more interested, get them to at least go to the Web site, gather some information and think about a trip to Utah."

If a state is successful in doing that, she said, the private industry then must "actually close the sale and offer something that will get them to come."

Utah spent nearly $1.7 million on TV ads and $556,116 on print ads in the three markets, and a total of 2.5 million households recalled seeing the ads, representing 32.8 percent of overall households in those markets.

In Los Angeles, 30.3 percent of households recalled seeing the ads, but that market has 1.7 million households. Denver had a 40.2 percent awareness rate among 600,000 households. Las Vegas had a 35 percent rate among 200,000 households.

Miller said the survey shows that as the ad campaign continued, awareness grew for both the TV and print ads. "You don't always see that happen," she said.

The cost to reach an "aware" household was 80 cents for TV and 70 cents for print, which she called "overall good parity."

But Miller said the ads did not significantly change viewers' attitudes about Utah. Survey results to a variety of questions showed little change between those who recalled seeing the ads and those who did not.

"That will take longer, and so that will probably take advertising over two or three years before you see significant changes," she said.

People who saw the ads also compared them with those from other states advertising in the same markets. Utah fared well regarding beautiful scenery, dramatic landscapes and lots of national parks but fared poorly in some other aspects.