Local entities share in tourism dollars

By Jeff DeMoss

OGDEN --

Six Top of Utah organizations are set to receive more than $250,000 through a program started in 2005 to help communities throughout the state with tourism-related marketing efforts.

In its fifth round of funding, the Utah Board of Tourism Development approved 43 applications totaling $2.25 million through its Cooperative Marketing program, which provides matching funds to cities, counties, nonprofit destination marketing organizations and similar public entities.

Through the program, the state covers up to 50 percent of the cost of a particular project, with a grant limit of $250,000 per project.

The Davis Area Convention and Visitors Bureau received the most funding among Top of Utah organizations this year.

The bureau received three grants totaling nearly $153,000 for projects aimed at bringing more skiers to Top of Utah resorts and more meetings to the Davis Conference Center, among other goals.

"The cooperative marketing program helps us stretch our marketing dollars," said Barbara Riddle, president and chief executive of the Davis CVB, which has received about $200,000 since the Utah Legislature first funded the program in 2005.

The Ogden/Weber Convention and Visitors Bureau received more than $220,000 last year to produce the Ogden Adventure Guide, a near-100-page guide touting the various outdoor recreation opportunities in Ogden and Weber County.

The bureau received $31,000 this year to print another 85,000 copies of the guidebook. Among other destinations, it will be sent to outdoor retailers nationwide that sell products from Amer Sports and Descente North America through a partnership between the bureau and those two companies, President Mike Caldwell said.

Caldwell said the guide has two main objectives: To drive more out-of-state visitors to local hotels in the upcoming ski season, and to build more long-term awareness of recreation opportunities in Ogden and Weber County.

"This gives us money to do things we would never be able to do otherwise. This community has some unique assets that we need to advertise, and this funding gives us a tremendous advantage in that area," he said.

The Cooperative Marketing program has doled out close to $4.7 million since its inception, including more than $710,000 to Top of Utah entities.

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