Indiana aiming at social media with tourism deals
INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's tourism agency, armed with a dwindling budget, is offering summer travel deals -- but only to those who follow the agency through e-mail and on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, who oversees the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, began "Visit Indiana Week" on Friday at White River State Park by announcing discounts on local attractions for social media followers. The agency will announce new discounts online every day through next Friday.
The promotion comes after lawmakers last year slashed the state's contribution to the agency from $4.8 million to $2.4 million. This year about $2 million will be spent on tourism, with the rest saved in an emergency fund.
Tourism contributes about $10 billion a year to the state economy and employs more than 260,000 people. With less money for radio and television advertising, the agency has turned to the Internet for a cost-effective way to draw summer tourists.
"Obviously, the challenge is that we're working with a smaller pool of money," tourism spokesman Curt Brantingham said. "So we've really reached into the social media market as a way to communicate with people who are looking for travel deals."
Skillman announced the first discount Friday -- a 60 percent cut on passes to several Indianapolis attractions. The discounted passes are $24 for adults and $18 for children, and are available to the first 64 respondents. The pass covers gate admission at the Indianapolis Zoo, Victory Field, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indiana State Museum, IMAX Theater and the NCAA Hall of Champions.
The office has more than 2,000 fans on Facebook, more than 4,200 Twitter followers, and 50,000 subscribers to its monthly e-mail newsletter. State tourism officials said that while the promotion is financially motivated, the switch to social media for marketing was inevitable regardless of budget concerns.
"The market is changing anyway," Brantingham said. "I think you would have to go this route no matter what."