Visitors Center makes new efforts to draw day trip tourists, diners

The Columbus Area Visitors Center is launching new initiatives to try to draw people to Columbus and Bartholomew County in the wake of the pandemic.

Karen Niverson, executive director of the tourism agency, says that the center is investing in an advertising blitz to try to draw day travelers to spend the night in the community.

Niverson said that across the tourism industry, communities are struggling after the shutdowns caused by COVID-19. In Bartholomew County, for example, hotel occupancy was as low as 17 percent one week in April, down from a normal 83 percent occupancy rate.

Niverson said the promotion will include billboards and digital ads within about a 100 mile radius. In a normal year, the center would be trying to draw tourists from as far away as Chicago and Detroit, she said.

Niverson said there is also going to be a campaign to get people to come out to dine, especially in downtown Columbus. That will take the form of a social media and radio advertising campaign to tout a return to dining-in at local restaurants.

You can hear more of our interview with Karen Niverson here.