Park City winter advertising hits new markets

Park City Chamber/Bureau and Salt Lake International Airport join forces Amanda Tust Of the Record staff

Utah Rep. Ross Romero speaks at Park City's annual Tourism Symposium on Wednesday at The Canyons. The Park City Chamber/Bureau plans to spend over $400,000 launching Park City commercial advertising in Chicago, Ill. and San Diego, Calif. this January. At the annual Tourism Symposium on Wednesday, Bill Malone, executive director of the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, announced that the funding for the television commercials will be a joint endeavor between the Park City Chamber/Bureau, the Salt Lake International Airport and a grant from the Utah Office of Tourism. Malone said the television commercials will run in 30-second segments and will promote Park City's close proximity to Salt Lake City International Airport, the Park City ski resorts, and possibly Main Street and aprs ski dining. Cathy Miller, director of sales and marketing for the Park City Chamber/Bureau, said the Salt Lake International Airport will contribute $100,000, the Park City Chamber/Bureau will contribute $200,000 and the Utah Office of Tourism's Cooperative Marketing program will add $112,500. Miller said approximately $300,000 of the funding pool will be spent on Chicago advertising and $100,000 will be spent in San Diego. She said there will be footage from each of the resorts and Mountain Sports Media or Park City Television may contribute. Malone said an additional $245,000 in funds from the Summit County restaurant tax and transient room tax will fund January commercials in Los Angeles, Calif. "We tried to select markets that were both strong for us for a customer base, but also provided a variety of lift into Salt Lake," he said, adding that there are daily Salt Lake City flights on multiple airlines from each of the chosen cities. Malone said the Park City Chamber/Bureau plans to also participate in ski shows, to visit travel agencies and to connect with media in the Southern California and Chicago markets. At the Tourism Symposium, Utah Rep. Ross Romero, a member of the state's Tourism Task Force, said winter tourism brought $5 billion into the state last year and is expected to increase by 5 percent for 2005. He said the average winter tourist spends approximately $1,600 per person. "In our research, no other industry brought in higher dollars than the ski-related tourist," he said. Tim Campbell, executive director for the Salt Lake City International Airport, said the fact that Park City ski resorts are less than an hour drive puts the Salt Lake City airport at an advantage over several other western airports. He said the airport plans to extend flights and destinations within areas designated as East and West Coast ski markets. "The ski areas are one of the reasons that we have the service that we do," he said. Tracie Cayford, deputy director of the Utah Office of Tourism, said the Park City Chamber/Bureau and Salt Lake International's $112,500 grant from Utah's Cooperative Marketing program was the largest approval in the states first phase of co-op funding. She said there is usually a cap of $100,000 per organization, but the Utah Board of Tourism Development deemed the Chamber/Bureau and airport marketing project worthy of additional funds. "The board members were impressed that this application was going after new markets," Cayford said, "therefore, increasing the tourism spending within the state." Cayford said the Utah Board of Tourism Development approved $790,000 in tourism funds between 20 state nonprofit organizations on Nov. 4. She said this is the first round of grants from Utah's Cooperative Marketing program, which will disperse $2 million this year to nonprofit entities throughout the state. The co-op program awarded Park City Jazz Foundation $25,500, The Kimball Arts Center $19,688 and Ski Utah $94,271. Cayford said the board requires that each nonprofit match the amount of funds granted from the co-op program, and the advertising must target an out-of-state audience.