Published on : Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Kentucky and Louisville tourism body have joined with other states and tourism groups to promote themselves internationally.
State government of Kentucky doesn’t have the funds of major cities or popular states such as California and Florida.
Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Travel and Tourism, Mike Mangeot, said at a media event at the Louisville Marriott Downtown that Kentucky spent $3 million last year on tourism advertising and marketing domestically
and internationally.
The event was held in conjunction with an educational seminar hosted by the U.S. Travel Association.
Currently, only 3 percent of visitors to Kentucky are from outside of the country. The state is trying to increase that percentage.
Therefore its partnership with other U.S. tourism entities via Brand USA is essential, said Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel
Association.
Brand USA is a public-private partnership that runs a $200 million national tourism campaign focused on drawing international guests to different places in the country.
Federal legislation created the partnership five years ago. In aid of the tourism industry, Dow is helping lobby for the re-authorization of Brand USA, which is set to expire in September 2015.
A re-authorization bill has passed the U.S. House and is headed to the
U.S. Senate.
|
||