SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Office of Tourism said Wednesday it will let the public decide which commercials will air on national television this winter touting the state's ski industry, which generates $1.1 billion in spending each year.
The office has developed three new 30-second commercials for its winter advertising campaign that are scheduled to begin airing on 13 national cable networks in January, at a cost of $1.1 million.
The state kicked off its winter advertising campaign earlier this month with print and online ads.
The public can vote on the television ads online through December at the state tourism office's website as well as the ski industry group Ski Utah's site as to which two of those three commercials will air.
Just like the past two years, the commercials are humorous spots featuring people dressed up in giant snowflake costumes. In each ad, the proximity of Salt Lake City International Airport to the state's 14 ski resorts is a central theme.
Many of the state's resorts are less than an hour's drive from the airport -- a point ski officials repeatedly make when trying to lure snow lovers here instead of neighboring Colorado.
In one of the new ads, a falling snowflake talks at length with another about how amazed he is that someone can get from the airport to a ski lift in 30 minutes, including a stop at baggage claim.
Ski Utah President Nathan Rafferty said it is unusual to let the public help choose which ads will tout the state, but that it should be a fun way to get local residents involved.
"It's a pretty unique proposition letting go of that control a little bit, but what better kind of control group than the public and them being able to watch the commercials and tell us what they like best," he said.
Rafferty said Utahns feel a great deal of pride about the state's ski resorts and noted that about half of the state's 4.1 million skier days last year -- an increase of 2 percent over the previous season -- came from Utah residents. It was the fourth highest number skier visits in state history.
Many residents jobs are also dependent on the industry. State economists estimate about 110,000 people are employed in tourism-related industries throughout the state.
The most lucrative segment of the tourism economy in the state is the ski industry because tourists engaged in skiing and snowboarding tend to stay longer and spend more money per day than other tourists.
While Rafferty stopped short of predicting a specific increase in the number of skier days he expects resorts to tally this year, he said all indicators are positive that growth will occur.
That includes a good amount of snow early in the season that has allowed some resorts to open earlier than they had planned, an uptick in the economy and high rankings for Utah ski resorts in industry publications.
Comments