Southern Indiana Business Report
ENGLISH — Efforts to draw more visitors to Crawford County are getting a boost thanks to $22,500 available through the cooperative advertising program offered by Discover Southern Indiana. Officials from Crawford County Tourism and Crawford County Economic Development joined representatives from Radius Indiana and Discover Southern Indiana at the Crawford County Welcome Center in English Aug. 18 to discuss the new program.
Discover Southern Indiana is a regional tourism brand unveiled in 2019 by Radius Indiana, the eight-county economic development organization representing Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange and Washington counties. Since its inception, Discover Southern Indiana has launched multiple advertising campaigns, outdoor ads and the region’s first Ice Cream Trail, which takes visitors on a 15-stop, region-wide tour of locally owned ice cream shops. Its new cooperative advertising program allows counties to receive matching funds of up to 150% to promote local attractions along with Discover Southern Indiana.
“Crawford County becomes the sixth county to join our cooperative advertising program during its first year, providing Crawford County with its full amount of local marketing funds and flexibility, while bringing them the advantages of the regional marketing and our Crowd Rift platform for digital media,” Jeff Quyle, Radius Indiana president and CEO, noted during the event.
He explained that working together to showcase the region’s attractions helps strengthen the tourism industry that is important to the entire region, and he said the co-op advertising campaign will expand the region’s visibility and reach to a new audience of visitors in other cities and states.
“Crawford County will be a valuable addition to our regional program because of its many outstanding tourism attractions, its proximity to the Louisville market and our ability to make future campaigns that address that market. Crawford also bring proximity to the Ohio River and to Harrison County’s tourism attractions,” Quyle said.
Michael Thissen, executive director of the Crawford County Economic Development Partnership, said his organization is pleased to collaborate on any effort committed to prosperity in Crawford County. “Our long-term partnership with the [Crawford County] Tourism Commission has paved the way for boosting our profile for visitors and potential investors. I am excited for the next steps and am grateful to our regional partner in Radius Indiana for this unique opportunity,” he said.
Mark Stevens, Crawford County Tourism Board president and county councilman, also expressed his excitement for the new initiative.
A portion of the advertising contribution will support Discover Southern Indiana’s regional tourism efforts through the purchase of ads in publications, digital and social media marketing, paid written stories, and sponsorship of regional promotion in travel agent conferences. “Based on the growth of our regional program this year, Radius expects to substantially increase our tourism marketing investment in 2022, with substantial new marketing funds, more campaigns to build our brand awareness around the Midwest, and increased assistance to local partners like Crawford County,” Quyle said.