I received my morning IBJ news in my inbox and glanced through the articles before hitting delete. I keep meaning to unsubscribe but haven’t gotten around to it — I don’t plan to pay for their “premium” content, and most everything included links to the same. One thing grabbed my attention though! It read, “The state tourism department’s new tag line is so folksy that some wonder whether there’s a disconnect between what it says about the state and how the city of Indianapolis is trying to distinguish itself.” (It’s ALL about differentiation, you guys!) I know how media can inflate things… especially the IBJ, in my opinion. So I’m thinking it’s probably some journalist wanting to stir up crap to get subscriptions.
So then, I navigate to Indiana’s official travel planning source, VisitIndiana.com. That’s where I saw the tag line, “Honest to Goodness Indiana.” To me, the website looks like I just walked into Cracker Barrel. No quickly visible Indy 500 or Brickyard info, no Mass Ave front page stuff, nothing about the Pacers or Colts, nothing about the fabulous breweries or museums. Oh my. It’s sure a stark contrast to the official tourism site of Indianapolis, VisitIndy.com.
I know that Indiana isn’t just Indianapolis, but if you’re trying to attract visitors to stay in the state’s hotels to pay your salaries — I would think the “sows, plows and cows” thing might be mentioned but not highlighted. If these offerings were restaurants, Visit Indy makes me think St Elmo’s, while Visit Indiana makes me think of Cracker Barrel.
Honest to goodness, I do believe there really IS a disconnect, fer real. What do you think?
