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The Local First Arizona Foundation last month announced its new Rural Marketing Cooperative program, created in collaboration with the Arizona Office of Tourism.

The program is designed to help drive tourists to rural and tribal parts of the state by following a 鈥渞obust鈥� media advertising plan that includes online, print, outdoor and Arizona Office of Tourism (AOT) publications.

Every year, AOT releases a list of large, reputable advertisers and offers half-rate pricing to rural and tribal marketing organizations, chambers and tourism associations by using matching funds from the AOT budget.

鈥淭his year, under the Arizona Rural Development Council, the AOT is co-oping branding, which is a first,鈥� said Liza Noland, director of rural programs for the Arizona Rural Development Council (AZRDC), the rural-focused arm of the聽 (LFAF).

Starting with 2019-2020 program, the AZRDC is offering three different packages for rural groups: branding, which can be either for the community or an individual chamber or tourism organization; development of community profiles, an 鈥渁ll-encompassing snapshot鈥� of a community, which employers often use to attract new workers; and marketing consulting, including help developing a marketing plan.

鈥淭hat is kind of new, because it鈥檚 not just advertising; it鈥檚 actually on that branding and development side,鈥� Noland said. 鈥淏efore, they were co-oping your spend. Now, if you select some of our pieces, they鈥檙e actually co-oping the planning, which just helps people utilize it better.鈥�

Before, the challenges were three-fold, she said. The program was under-utilized, it was overly-complex 鈥� which contributed to it being under-utilized 鈥� and rural organizations and communities did not have the budget to afford effective advertising.

鈥淣ow, I think rural communities are starting to really realize their uniqueness,鈥� Noland said. 鈥淪o many of them, especially across the state, have something so cool鈥� either just unbelievable outdoor recreation, or they’ve become a very聽, or they鈥檙e a mining community, or they鈥檙e a saguaro community 鈥� they have all sorts of things.鈥�

People in rural communities have begun to recognize that Arizonans 鈥渨ant to visit rural,鈥� and they want to take the opportunity, Noland said.

鈥淓verybody鈥檚 moving to get people to come visit,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow, we just need to tell them what to expect.鈥�

础蝉听 of marketing their diverse assets and offerings, consumer demand for rural tourism continues to grow, and the Rural Marketing Co-Op is intended to help rural stakeholders 鈥渢ake the lead role,鈥� she said.

Hiring an ad agency to do a brand package, even for a small community, could cost anywhere from $20,000 to upward of $70,000, Noland said.

The AZRDC is offering the same service for $10,000, but the Rural Marketing Co-Op match from AOT brings the cost down to $5,000.

鈥淲e鈥檝e heard from three [communities] already that are excited, and then we鈥檒l see鈥� what else we hear,鈥� Noland said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been received positively so far.鈥�

The AZRDC鈥檚 goal is to keep Arizonans in-state when they travel, bringing much-needed money to Arizona鈥檚 rural cities and towns rather than spending it out-of-state. The Rural Marketing Co-Op is intended to get the message out so people know the destinations available to them.

鈥淭here are billions of dollars spent every year by Arizonans traveling to Southern California for weekend getaways, and our goal is to divert 10 percent of that money back to rural Arizona,鈥� Noland said. 鈥淚t would completely change the face of rural Arizona if we did that.鈥�

The AZRDC encourages any rural destination marketing organizations (DMOs), tribes and tourism-marketing groups who are interested to聽.