“Two Mountains, One Valley, Endless Adventure”
Photo by Lydia Berglar – The Alliance for Dade created eye-catching itineraries, postcards, and stickers and will soon be releasing a comprehensive visitor’s guide to promote tourism and small businesses.
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
As part of promoting tourism and small business in Dade County, the Alliance for Dade came up with two taglines to use in marketing materials: “Adventure Into Dade” and “Two Mountains, One Valley, Endless Adventure.”
Sandy White (president and CEO) and Tricia Cloud (welcome center manager) both enjoy creative thinking and design, and they’ve been hard at work creating stickers, postcards, itineraries, and a soon-to-be-completed visitor’s guide that use these taglines.
Photo by Lydia Berglar – Postcards and stickers are small items that guests and residents alike can easily take with them, helping to spread the name and brand of Dade County.
The Alliance also used some of their funding (which comes from the hotel/motel excise tax) to pay for promo snippets on Local 3 News. Channel 3 filmed six videos at five different locations on July 17.
Each snippet is between five to seven minutes long. They will air throughout the next five months, with the first one running in August. This one features Cloudland Canyon State Park and Jerry Wallace, the park’s head naturalist. The park is gearing up for caving tours in September.
Next, a snippet about the Lookout Mountain Flight Park (featuring the general manager, Jen Richards) will air in September.
Third, the American Legion Military Museum and Post will be featured at the end of October as the museum hopes to reopen by Veteran’s Day this November. General Bob Woods (commander of the legion’s color guard) was interviewed for this snippet.
Fourth is Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm. This one will run in early October. While the farm has seen great success this summer, they anticipate that cooler fall weather will make a more enjoyable atmosphere for guests.
Fifth, the Alliance’s welcome center on the town square will be featured in November. Cloud and White discussed Christmas events such as the parade, Dade Expo, Light Up Trenton, and the Rising Fawn Studio Tour to air just before the holiday season.
Last but certainly not least, an interview with local historian Donna Street will air between Christmas and New Years. Street described it as “a fireside chat about the history of Dade County.”
White explained, “We thought this would be a good way to reach the Chattanooga and regional market. I’ve talked with other North Georgia chambers that have done similar things with Channel 3, and they felt like it was very beneficial for them and got them a lot of exposure.”
While individual businesses can pay $750 for a spot, the Alliance received a deal (roughly $430 per snippet) by doing six at once. If all goes well, the Alliance may repeat the process next year, featuring other businesses.
White said, “Everybody did a great job being interviewed. I think the people from Channel 3 were impressed by what we have to offer here.”
Along with these paid promo spots, the Alliance rolled out new print materials and continues to design more. Cloud designed postcards and stickers as small items that guests and residents alike can easily take with them, helping to spread the name and brand of Dade County.
Photo by Lydia Berglar – Adding to three current themes (shopping, Cloudland Canyon, and Weekend Road Trip), the Alliance plans to add itineraries about historical sites and art in the county.
Cloud also designed eye-catching itineraries. Digital versions will be added to the Alliance’s website, and the hard copies have QR codes that direct to the website–an important connection in today’s digital age.
White explained, “In the tourism business, you used to do itineraries before the internet and websites. A few communities still use them on their websites. We’ve sent these to a tour company that’s part of our travel association. Itineraries are a good tool for tour operators. It’s also helpful for locals if they have visitors or family coming in and want to see what there is to do.”
Cloud added, “People coming to the wedding venues have taken a lot of these to give to their family and guests.”
There are three current itinerary themes: Shopping, Cloudland Canyon, and Weekend Road Trip. Cloud and White also plan to create an itinerary for historical sites and one about art in the county.
Currently in the final phases of edits, the visitor’s guide is a comprehensive brochure, featuring venues, farms, shopping, restaurants, places to stay, outdoor adventures, and more. Dade County used to have a shorter trifold piece, but White is unaware of the county ever having a true visitor’s guide.
Each investor with the Alliance has a color ad in the brochure, while non-investors have a basic listing. White explained, “Everybody we can think of business-wise that is related to tourism is listed, but we give preferential treatment to the investors.”
The theme, look, and feel of the visitor’s guide will carry into the Alliance’s future print materials and website design. White said, “We’re going for the Route 66, take-a-road-trip kind of feel. Most of the buildings around here were built in the 1950, 60s, 70s, and 80s, other than the courthouse which was built in 1926, so we might as well embrace those eras.”