State starts new tourism pitch
|
Gov. Phil Bredesen announced the television, radio and print campaign Wednesday during a luncheon for tourism industry professionals.
Parton, who built Dollywood theme park near her mountain hometown of Sevierville, invites tourists to make Tennessee their stage for family fun, thrills, relaxation, celebration, discovery and romance.
“Just remember Tennessee is great for more than music. The stage is set for you honey, come play on it,” she says during an ad previewed to members of the Tennessee Tourism Roundtable.
“I’m doing this because I love Tennessee — I’m a Tennessee girl,” Parton said in a video introducing the campaign. “I mean, there’s nothing we can’t do in Tennessee. The stage is set for everything.”
Performer, songwriter and Memphis native Hayes filmed the second ad Monday at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music.
Tourism Commissioner Susan Whitaker said the Department of Tourist Development is in talks with other homegrown stars about donating their time to the campaign.
“We wanted to take what we’re famous for, our great music and literal stage venues, and expand that concept to include all of what Tennessee has to offer,” she said. “With so much to do there’s always a spotlight on Tennessee.”
The state tourism industry, which includes music, scenic and shopping attractions, generated nearly $10.3 billion in revenue last year and employs 173,000. Tennessee ranks 12th nationally in annual visitors — some 38 million — and Whitaker hopes to boost the state into the top 10 with the $2.3 million campaign.
Bredesen called tourism one of the state’s “primary economic engines” and said he believes the new campaign will help stoke it. “I like it a lot. It dramatically exceeded my expectations,” the governor said.
The slogan replaces the pitch “Tennessee sounds good to me,” developed by the previous governor’s administration, and which never resonated with Bredesen.
He said this slogan “has much more of a connection to Tennessee, and I really like the positioning.
“‘Sounds good to me,’ you sort of understand what it says pretty quickly. There’s not a lot of room for variation, where the stages idea, ‘setting the stage’ seems to me to be so much richer in associations, something you can develop and form variations on and elaborations of over time.”
Karl Thomas from Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies was among several industry officials who approved of the new slogan.
“Any change is good,” he said. “I was really tired of ‘Tennessee sounds good to me.’ It doesn’t say anything. You need something that gets you emotional about the state.”
———
On the ‘Net:
Tennessee travel planning site: http:www.tnvacation.com