“Say Yes to Connecticut” is the theme of a new $1.2 million marketing campaign launched by the state Office of Tourism.
The tagline was developed out of the office”™s proprietary research, which Gov. Ned Lamont said reflects a growing sense of optimism among Northeast consumers regarding the ongoing Covid-19 vaccine rollout and pent-up demand for travel, especially regional travel.
“Connecticut has an incredible mix of tourism offerings ”“ from arts and cultural venues and restaurants, to lodging properties and outdoor recreation areas ”“ all of which help generate business sales, tax revenues, and statewide jobs benefitting our communities,” Lamont said in a statement.
“The new campaign is a great reminder of that diversity and the growing optimism among travelers that we believe will put people back to work and translate into an industrywide recovery for tourism beginning this summer,” he added.
Running through Sept. 6, the campaign will feature hundreds of businesses and activities across the state that make up Connecticut”™s tourism industry sector, including hotels, inns and B&Bs, restaurants, attractions, museums, historical sites, arts and cultural venues, farms, wineries and breweries, state parks and beaches, nature centers, outdoor recreation, shopping destinations, events, and more.
Mask-wearing indoors will continue to be required.
“Many Northeast consumers are ready to get out and safely travel this summer, so we”™re focused on making sure that Connecticut is top of mind,” said Christine Castonguay, interim director of the Office of Tourism. “Not only does Connecticut have a huge variety of tourism experiences to ”˜say yes”™ to, but our location and size make them easily accessible so people can spend less time getting to their long-awaited daytrips and vacations, and more time enjoying them.”
The multimedia campaign utilizes an array of integrated marketing tactics, including:
- A new television campaign that will run in-state, as well as on streaming television in proximity states.
- Robust social media campaigns across Facebook and Instagram.
- New content on www.CTvisit.com, the state”™s official tourism website.
- Paid search marketing.
- Earned media, including public relations and email marketing.
The campaign is funded through the state’s existing tourism marketing budget. For comparison, last year the state launched a similarly sized marketing campaign that received national recognition and garnered over 41.4 million TV/video views, 87 million social media impressions and generated over 795,000 clicks to CTvisit.com.
Post-campaign research revealed that those who saw the campaign showed a 90% increase in interest in visiting Connecticut in the next two years and a 122% increase in intent to visit in the next 12 months. According to GPS tracking, 10% of those who saw the digital videos or visited the website actually visited Connecticut tourism businesses within the campaign season.
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