Bragging about Utah

Utah tourism officials are ready to do some bragging.

Armed with $10 million the next fiscal year to promote Utah's charms to out-of-staters, they plan to let people know what they can do in Utah that they might not be able to do — or do as well — elsewhere.

The goal is "to make certain that this state that we're all proud of, is clearly seen globally like we know about it locally," Leigh von der Esch, director of the Utah Office of Tourism, told the Legislature's Tourism Task Force on Tuesday during the group's first meeting.

The office will soon seek proposals from advertising agencies as it prepares its promotional campaign. While details will come later, von der Esch said it's "about bragging rights, (but) not in the arrogant way."

"I don't know how many of you have ever gone on your vacation, and one of the nice things you like to do is come back and brag about what you did, whether or not it was catching a bigger fish, staying at the best hotel, skiing in the greatest powder, taking the greatest mountain bike trip, having the finest cuisine — whatever. And we have more to brag about in this state than anybody else when it comes to promoting and marketing, and we need to do that and show the world what we have," she said.

Previous tourism officials have done well in branding the state's scenic beauty, as have movies like John Wayne Westerns, she said.

"But now it's about what the experience is. And think about it, we go from national parks to the night sky, Antelope Island to ATV trails, golf to genealogy, skiing to slick rock, music to mountain climbing, painting to paleontology, dunes to dinosaurs, and that is just scratching the surface," von der Esch said.

In recent years, the state had a meager $900,000 for tourism branding and marketing, but new legislation has boosted that to $10 million for the upcoming fiscal year. Utah's tourism budget was 42nd among states before but now will be in the top 15 in the country. By comparison, Hawaii's tops out at $69 million a year.

Utah's campaign will create a tourism brand and include public relations efforts, advertising toward consumers and in the tourism trades, plus some international activities.

Brent Gardner, executive director of the Utah Association of Counties, told the task force that the state tourism office needs to consider county activities in its planning. He suggested that the office create uniform procedures and forms for gathering tourism information collected from counties and others.

"Over the years, there's been questions about how much revenue is being spent out of state, how much promotion is being spent out of state, for example, and other kinds of things," he said.