Ohio Chamber urges larger tourism budget to compete with neighboring states

Matt McLaren, director of travel and tourism policy for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, told the Arts, Athletics and Tourism Committee that increasing TourismOhio’s marketing budget would help Ohio capture more visitors and encourage people to move and work in the state.

McLaren noted TourismOhio’s current level of funding, repeated by the chair as $7.5 million, and compared that to neighbor states: he said the average around Ohio is about $25 million, with Indiana at about $20 million and Michigan at about $35 million on the ‘‘Pure Michigan’’ campaign. He said Pennsylvania recently increased its marketing budget to $18 million and earmarked $6 million for a coop/sports and events fund.

McLaren said marketing helps convert leisure visitors into new residents: he cited Longwoods International research showing two-thirds of recent movers visited their new hometown as leisure travelers before deciding to move. He urged the committee to consider cooperative marketing and grant matching programs to expand partner participation and to sustain momentum from the America250 Ohio Commission beyond next year’s anniversary events.

Committee members asked questions about how additional funds would be used; McLaren said larger budgets allow fixed production costs to be leveraged into greater media buys and cooperative marketing capacity. He offered to follow up with committee members individually.