Saturday, May 23, 2009

Wyoming tourism bureau targets Chicago

Wyoming’s tourism bureau is blanketing the Chicago area with advertisements on billboards, in newspapers and on TV.
The ads are doing their job, because they’ve got me thinking about vacationing there. Billboards with scenes of Devil’s Tower and Western beauty have fueled my imagination. I’m thinking it would be a great place for a family vacation or maybe a “mancation” for me and my old college roommate.
Tourism is Wyoming’s second largest industry, surpassed only by the oil, gas and minerals industry, according to Wyoming Business Report. The top three tourist destinations in Wyoming are, in descending order: Yellowstone National Park, Jackson Hole, and Grand Teton National Park, according to the Wyoming Business Council.
Wyoming is spending $921,000 on TV ads in Chicago running March through May. That’s 38% of the state’s spring TV advertising budget and the most for any single market, says the Wyoming Business Council.
The state also spent $200,000 on 15 billboards in Chicago for April and May.
Why Chicago? Maybe it’s the whole “City Slickers” thing of city dwellers longing for the great outdoors.

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