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County approves $250,000 Utah Office of Tourism cooperative grant application and related media buys
Summary
Grand County commissioners approved a $250,000 Utah Office of Tourism cooperative marketing application with a county match and authorized associated media tactics, including partnerships with TripAdvisor, Priceline and Outside magazine and a content deal with ABC4. Staff said the domestic-focused plan targets shoulder seasons and aims to increase bookings and shoulder‑season revenue.
Grand County commissioners on a June meeting voted to approve a Utah Office of Tourism (UOT) cooperative marketing grant application seeking $250,000 in state funds with a proposed $250,000 county match to fund Discover Moab’s shoulder‑season advertising plan.
Love Communications, the county’s contracted destination marketing firm, presented the campaign proposal and recommended a primarily domestic, national media buy to attract out‑of‑state drive and fly markets and lift shoulder‑season visitation. Mark Steven of Love Communications said the agency and Discover Moab staff had worked closely on the plan and that "the largest return on your invested dollars can come from a national focus." Vanessa Gutierrez, Love’s digital media manager, summarized the campaign’s current performance: "We’ve tracked 1,900, just over 1,900 enriched hotel bookings, 863k in dollars generated of enriched revenue," and said the team uses Adara Impact and other tools to measure return on ad spend.
The plan pairs travel‑endemic partners (TripAdvisor, Priceline), native content placements and a proposed partnership with Outside magazine to produce a branded episode series. Commissioners questioned the balance of creative imagery and whether the campaign would address adventure and motorized recreation markets. Staff emphasized that current ads already show a range of activity types and said the campaign can be tailored to reach families, mountain bikers, motorized users and cultural visitors.
Councillors also voted to participate in UOT’s international opt‑in program (an additional, separate opt‑in that would leverage the state’s international sales channels) and approved a media contract with ABC4 to produce film‑tourism segments tied to the region’s movie‑location history. Love Communications noted ownership options for produced footage and said the county could pay extra to obtain additional b‑roll/IP rights for use by the county’s channels.
Commissioners approved the cooperative application and related opt‑ins and media contract after discussion of tactics, measurement and intellectual‑property options. Staff said the Discover Moab team would return with details on any intellectual‑property purchases and performance reports as the campaign runs.
