The Southwest Idaho Travel Association (SWITA) is one of the largest travel associations funded by the Idaho Travel and Convention Grant Program. Stretching east from the Idaho-Oregon border to Glenns Ferry and north from the Idaho-Nevada border to New Meadows, SWITA represents 74 Idaho communities.
SWITA is a regional tourism destination marketing organization whose mission is to promote growth in travel and tourism in Southwest Idaho to grow lodging tax revenue.
The organization works closely with the Idaho Tourism team to ensure they are supporting the state’s larger marketing efforts.
According to Melissa Cleland, a representative for SWITA, the Idaho Regional Travel and Convention Grant allows the organization to partner with communities, attractions and destinations in their region to promote overnight stays and market recreation in the state.
“The grant allows SWITA to market the region with trackable tactics while supporting communities, partners and members with the goal of increasing overnight stays,” Cleland said.
Through the assistance of grant funding, in early 2022, SWITA launched a new advertising campaign aimed at capturing the essence of what makes Southwest Idaho unique.
“Most visitors live in a fenced-off world,” Cleland said. “In a world of ‘stay off the grass’ signs and pavement as far as the eye can see, where the most exciting part of the trip is hunting for souvenirs. Southwest Idaho is different. Here, visitors buy experiences, not stuff. They spend their hard-earned money and time on their version of adventure, not trinkets. Even in our largest metro area, there is access to nature and the sense of freedom and place it provides. We are still wild.”
The Still Wild campaign has proven successful, with 115,399 clicks and 8,170,951 impressions since its launch at the time of publishing.
Learn more about the Idaho Travel and Convention Grant Program here.
Read more stories of success in our annual report here.