Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
The Nebraska Tourism Commissioner announced Friday grant awards totaling almost $800,000, including a $25,000 grant to Cheyenne County tourism.
"With the widespread attention of our new campaign, being able to help communities, events and organizations across the state affordably capitalize on Nebraska's growing popularity is really exciting. There were many creative grant proposals this year and I’m looking forward to seeing the impact they have on tourism in Nebraska," said John Ricks, Nebraska Tourism Commission executive director.
The Cheyenne County grant will be used to promote the “Time to Unwind at Exit 59” campaign.
In 2018, the Cheyenne County Visitors Committee was awarded a grant to research tourism in the area. The grant resulted in a contract with Blue SoHo to research the region and compare Sidney and Cheyenne County's tourisms to other communities. The 2019 grant award is the next step with the county Tourism Committee moving forward with what was learned from the study.
“The $25,0000 we received this year is going to assist us in implementing the results of that research, which is a new marketing campaign,” Cheyenne County Tourism Director Kevin Howard said Monday.
The theme of this year's marketing campaign is “Travel with you in mind, Take time to unwind, Take time to dine, Fill up in no time, Kick back — Sleep fine.”
Howard said the challenge is to turn a quick stop off the highway or interstate into an extended stay.
“Once stopped in our communities, we have an opportunity to give them reasons for extending their stay as well as offer the best service possible to create new and loyal customers,” Howard said.
Cheyenne County is tied with the Omaha Equestrian Foundation for the third highest grant awarded. The richest grant was awarded to the Lancaster Event Center at $211,620 to promote the 2020 National High School Finals Rodeo. Second highest was $152,000 awarded to the Omaha Sports Commission for the 2020 US Olympic Team Swimming Trials and digital direct marketing.
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