Rural Marketing Program: Boosting visibility and economic impact across eight regions

Visit California’s Rural Marketing Program continues to amplify the visibility and economic contributions of the state’s eight designated rural tourism regions through strategic marketing, grant funding, comprehensive communications and strong industry partnerships.

For fiscal year 24/25, the eight regional organizations representing the rural marketing program are:

• North Coast Tourism Council
• Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association
• Gold Country Visitors Association
• High Sierra Visitors Council
• Central Valley Tourism Association
• Central Coast Tourism Council
• Discover IE
• Visit California Deserts

Together, these organizations deliver the program’s annual elements, which include the Rural Committee, Tourism Marketing Grants and Regional Marketing Program.

The Rural Committee
The Visit California Rural Committee is a collaborative working group comprised of representatives from each of the eight rural region executive teams. Convening quarterly, the committee provides strategic guidance on key program elements, including Tourism Marketing Grants, the Regional Marketing Program and Rural Region Communications. By aligning rural destination messaging with Visit California’s broader marketing efforts, the committee ensures that rural regions maintain a prominent place in the state’s tourism landscape.

Tourism Marketing Grants
This fiscal year, $474,000 in one-to-one matching funds were awarded to the rural regions through Visit California’s Tourism Marketing Grant program. These funds empower the state’s rural regions to execute high-impact initiatives, such as:

• Featuring rural destinations in “California Visitor’s Guide: The Best of California" and the “California Road Trips” guide
• Producing digital and print maps
• Driving visibility through social media campaigns, press trips and website development

This funding builds on the success of previous years’ projects, which have included impactful initiatives like regional social media contests, press trips and IPW attendance, further showcasing the value of investing in rural tourism marketing.

Regional Marketing Program Showcasing “More Than Just Parks”
With an additional $340,000 allocated for a Regional Marketing Program, the Rural Committee approved the More Than Just Parks content creation and promotion initiative. This program will provide each participating region with:

• 75 to 100 high-resolution photos of key points of interest
• A 1-minute regional highlight film, fully edited and polished
• 25 to 50 B-roll clips for versatile use in campaigns

These assets will come with global rights in perpetuity across all channels including paid, owned and earned media. The content will be distributed through a coordinated launch across More Than Just Parks’ extensive media and owned networks, Visit California channels and regional DMO channels to ensure maximum visibility and engagement.

Marketing Representation RFB for California’s Rural Regions
To comply with program guidelines, Visit California is required to release a request for bid (RFB) every three years to evaluate rural region representation of the Rural Marketing Program and Tourism Marketing Grants. The current RFB cycle (fiscal year 2022/23 to 2024/25) offers an annual budget of up to $60,000 per region, providing a three-year contract opportunity for firms interested in partnering with rural regions.

For the next RFB round, anyone with questions or wishing to seek clarification on process must submit questions via email by January 17, 2025, to: 

• Melissa Nilssen – Manager of Rural Marketing, Visit California: mnilssen@visitcalifornia.com

• Yulianna Cisneros – Brand Marketing Coordinator-Partnerships, Visit California: ycisneros@visitcalifornia.com

This initiative supports Visit California’s overarching mission to position the state as a premier global travel destination while spotlighting the unique experiences offered by its rural regions.