In 2005, the Legislature appropriated about $10 million to market the state, an increase of about 1,000 percent from previous years. This is the first time Utah has had the budget to effectively tell the state's story and develop a brand, said Leigh von der Esch, director of the Utah Office of Tourism.

Most survey respondents associated Salt Lake City's mountainous skyline, its state Capitol and the distinctive spires of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' downtown temple with Colorado, just as they did with a summertime photo of a ski tram.

The Golden Spike National Historic Site, where the last spike of the first transcontinental railroad was driven on May 10, 1869, was more closely associated with New Mexico than Utah. The spike and two trains, coming from the East and the West, are featured in one of three designs being considered for Utah's commemorative quarter.

Delicate Arch was associated with Arizona by 39 percent of people surveyed, compared with 27 percent who correctly placed it in Utah. That misidentification is particularly frustrating to tourism officials because the arch is depicted on thousands of Utah license plates.

Arizona was a popular choice for the location of other Utah landmarks, especially those found in Utah's red rock country, including Bryce Amphitheater in Bryce National Park and Chimney Rock in Capitol Reef National Park.

The survey showed that of the six states Utah most often competes with for tourists — California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and New Mexico — Utah ranks last in terms of familiarity and in likelihood to be visited within the next two years.

Utah's problem isn't that it has a bad image, but it has no image nationally, said Mike Deaver, deputy director of the Utah Office of Tourism. About 87 percent of the state's visitors come from the West.

"Where they know us, they love us," Deaver said.