What word will bring tourists?

Thursday, 18 May 2006

By TOM JACKSON
tomjackson@sanduskyregister.com

Tourists love to come to the Sandusky area to have fun.

But when tourists come here, are they visiting "Go Coast Ohio"? Or are they coming to "Ohio's Island Coast"?

With a decision looming on how to spend millions of dollars of bed tax money over the next 10 years, officials at the Sandusky/Erie County Visitor Convention Bureau are testing two slogans, said Joan Van Offeren, executive director.

Many Americans know regions referred to as "The Outer Banks" or "the U.P." and local businesses dependent upon tourism want that kind of strong identity, too, Van Offeren said.

Erie County collects a 2 percent bed tax on hotel rooms. The first percent funds the visitor bureau, but officials are nearing a decision on a 10-year plan on how to spend the second percent, worth about $800,000.

About $1.7 million of that money, depending on a final agreement between Erie County's commissioners and visitor bureau, will go to the next construction project to improve U.S. 250. The rest will be spent on advertising based on the slogan chosen by the bureau.

The planned marketing campaign is important because the three indoor waterparks opened since 2001 made Erie County a year-round destination, rather than just a place for summer trips, Van Offeren said.

And the decision will affect orders for signs, letterheads, billboards, ads and other products.

"It's a major investment," she said. "It has to be something that's short and memorable."

"Go Coast Ohio" is the front-running slogan so far, and the main one the visitor bureau is using this summer. The slogan -- placed on this year's visitor guide -- will be used for the www.GoCoastOhio.com Web site, and on 11 new billboards going up by Memorial Day in Erie and Ottawa Counties.

"Ohio's Island Coast," however, is being used for newspaper inserts and direct mail ads which target families in Dayton and Pittsburg, Van Offeren said.

The businesses on the visitor bureau board will be busy dealing with tourists this summer, but this fall, the board will try to decide on a slogan, Van Offeren said.

Convention officials and commissioners haven't decided how much bed tax money to spend on improving U.S. 250.

The visitor bureau initially proposed spending $1.4 million of bed tax money on the project. After discussions with the commissioners, the figure was raised to $1.7 million, about 21 percent of the second percent of the bed tax. Commissioner Sparky Weilnau then suggested allocating 25 percent of the bed tax for capital improvements.

Van Offeren and Weilnau both said Wednesday the visitor bureau wants to stick with the $1.7 million figure. The visitor bureau has been meeting with individual county commissioners to try to reach an agreement.

FunCoast.com is your online guide to summer fun for Cedar Point, the LakeErie Islands and Sandusky area. Our site offers up-to-date information on area attractions, restaurants, hotels, gasoline prices, ferry schedules, swimming, birding and fishing, along with a complete listing of events happening in the Sandusky/Cedar Point area. To use our Webcam and zoom in on Cedar Point's rollercoasters, go to http://funcam.funcoast.com

Copyright 2006 the Sandusky Register. All rights reserved.

All materials contained on this site are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of the Sandusky Register or FunCoast.com. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.