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Utah Launches New Tourism Campaign

The Utah Office of Tourism launched a brand new regional ad campaign today to help promote the state’s five national parks.

The $3.1 million dollar campaign will include TV commercials in major western markets like Los Angeles, Denver, and San Francisco as well outdoor and digital advertisements. Governor Gary Herbert was on hand for the launch. He says tourism has and will continue to help Utah’s economy.

“I expect that as we continue on we are going to draw more and more visitors, have increased tourism activities, and, again, have that be an integral part of our growing economic expansion,” he says.

The campaign comes at a time when federal spending cuts threaten to reduce services at national parks across the country. Vicki Varela, the new managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, says the cuts only add to the urgency to increase attendance.

“Our parks are wide open for business and the more people go the better our parks are going to be because 80% of the fees from the park stay right at the local park,” she says.

Attendance numbers have steadily risen at Utah’s five national parks even through the recent recession. Last year 6.5 million people visited the parks.

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