Bragging about Utah – Eager tourism officials armed with $10 million

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.

By Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News

Full Story: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,600134665,00.html