Utah tourism board OKs newspaper ads

Utah's tourism board will spend up to $450,000 on a multipage Sunday newspaper advertising insert in a target market, but the idea was not universally supported among board members.

By a 7-4 vote, the Utah Board of Tourism Development on Friday approved spending the money for the "shell" pages of the insert and allotting other funds to help Utah's local and regional nonprofit tourism organizations buy advertising in inside pages.

As discussed Friday, a Madden Preprint Media slick-paper, full-color insert would be placed in travel sections in newspapers in Los Angeles or another target market next spring as a way to promote Utah to potential summertime tourists.

The board approved up to $200,000 from its Tourism Performance Marketing Fund for the insert, plus up to $250,000 to help the nonprofits' portion of the publication. The state funds will be used to match the nonprofits' monies, and private industry also will be able to buy ads in the insert.

Board Chairman Kim McClelland said the insert, which possibly would reach a million households, is a way for the state "to do some of the heavy lifting" for the co-op partners.

Michael Deaver, deputy director of the Utah Office of Tourism, said several states have undertaken insert projects. "The good states all do this," he said. Deaver said he figures people will retain the insert and that will "back up what they see on TV" advertisements for Utah.

But the $250,000 for nonprofits matching will come from a Cooperative Marketing Fund. Previously, cities, counties and nonprofits had applied for co-op funds in various rounds to help them promote tourist activities and venues, and at least one board member wanted to retain that approach.

"It's changing the way our co-op process has worked. ... I think, on a whole, this co-op application process has worked very well for most of the communities in the state," said board member Shelleice Stokes.

Vice Chairman Colin Fryer said he favored having leftover co-op funds allocated to applicants turned down in previous funding rounds. People promoting Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, "the tour operators that make their living from those kinds of businesses there, were pretty much left out," he said. "And I'm sorry there wasn't a better way to fix the fairness."

He also took issue with the timing. While several supporters of the insert plan said decisions need to be made soon to get everything in line for a springtime publication and distribution, Fryer said he saw the proposal for the first time on Friday. He called for more study.

"It may very well be a wonderful thing, but for it to all of a sudden take a huge part of our budget without more oversight, I'm not sure it's the right thing to do," he said.