“Travel Safely, Adventure Greatly” Is The Message Carson Valley and South Lake Tahoe Convey For Visitors

Mask up, physically distance, and enjoy the area like a local

Stateline, Nev. (Oct. 27, 2020) – Carson Valley and South Lake Tahoe collaboratively are welcoming visitors to the region with a travel safely, adventure greatly message. Under the cooperative marketing umbrella of the #SierraSafely campaign, the goal of the program is focused on tourism recovery for Douglas County while restoring confidence among visitors and locals in the region.

The destination marketing organizations, Carson Valley Visitors Authority and the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority, are talking to the visitor directly with an integrated marketing campaign that includes the SierraSafely.com website, a digitally-driven paid media program, traditional advertising, and a comprehensive public relations program, directed towards local and road-trip travelers.

“As we all know, tourism has been one of the hardest-hit sectors of our economy, and while Lake Tahoe has seen visitors as restrictions have lifted, our businesses and activities that rely on tourism are impacted,” said Carol Chaplin, president and CEO for the Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority. “Douglas County recognized this and allocated a budget under the federal Coronavirus Relief Fund (CARES Act) to support a campaign designed to restore travel confidence and talk about what businesses in our destination are doing to keep locals and visitors’ health and safety top of mind. This provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with area partners to reinforce safety messaging to a larger audience that wouldn’t have been possible without this funding.”

While weaving in the safety message features prominently, a secondary message of personal responsibility is also evident with an emphasis on responsible travel.

According to Jan Vandermade, executive director for the Carson Valley Visitors Authority, “We need to communicate differently today than we did seven months ago and the safety and welfare of our visitors’ needs remain top of mind. The campaign, while providing needed safety messaging, plays off our natural beauty with the ability to be physically distant as part of our DNA. We’re equally encouraging visitors to enjoy our area while taking personal responsibility. This combined message and collaboration between two naturally beautiful parts of our county is already resonating with our visitors.”

The health and safety message focuses on businesses being open and the outdoors calling along with reminders to maintain proper distance,  frequent hand washing, wearing a mask in public spaces and getting in a local state of mind respectful of guidelines and requests.

From an environmental and sustainability-focused standpoint, #SierraSafely encourages visitors to take only photos and leave only footprints, use reusable water bottles to help reduce waste and to property dispose of trash – pack it in, pack it out.

The campaign continues through the end of 2020.