West Virginia is thinking of launching on a tourism advertising campaign using John Denver’s hit number “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”Published on : Thursday, April 12, 2018
West Virginia is thinking of launching on a tourism advertising campaign using John Denver’s hit number “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
Governor Jim Justice unveiled a video yesterday as the centrepiece for the campaign that frames the iconic song and the mountainous state’s natural beauty.
Justice said that a key theme to the campaign is “even though you haven’t maybe been a West Virginian, once you come here, you will long to come back.”
Tourism Commissioner Chelsea Ruby said that research shows that 86 per cent of people who come to West Virginia come back for more. But last year, only 14 per cent were first-time visitors. The state tourism office previously obtained the rights to use “Take Me Home, Country Roads” in marketing. The song has been an unofficial West Virginia anthem almost since its 1971 release and was named official state song in 2014.
The campaign plans to spend around $3 million this spring and summer. Targeted out-of-state markets include Baltimore; Charlotte, North Carolina; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Harrisburg, Lancaster and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Richmond and Roanoke, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Justice said that their mission is to make the state a tourism Mecca that he hoped would create thousands of new jobs.
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