Tuesday, May 04, 1999
Butler Co. touts self in new guide
Brochure may aid tourists, newcomers
BY STEVE KEMME
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — To show that rapidly growing Butler County is a good place to visit as well as live, the county Tourism Council released an expanded, updated visitors' guide Monday.
The slick, magazine-style guide isn't aimed solely at out-of-towners, though. Officials say it also will help familiarize new residents with what the county has to offer.
The 24-page guide presents details on Butler's parks, historic locales, arts and enter tainment, sports and recreation facilities, as well as shops and restaurants.
The guide was unveiled at a press conference at the Butler County Courthouse, timed for the start of National Tourism Week.
“Tourism is an integral part of economic development,” Commissioner Courtney Combs said. “Butler County is the best-kept secret in Ohio. This is a beautiful county, and a lot of people don't realize it.”
County officials hope this new brochure will enlighten people who live inside and outside Butler.
The Butler County Tourism Council sent 15,000 copies of the visitors' guide to the Ohio Department of Development's Division of Travel and Tour ism. Those copies will be distributed to travel information centers throughout the state.
“We feel we're really giving visitors a look at what Butler County has to offer,” said Rhonda Smith, president of the Butler County Tourism Council.
Risa Varasso, assistant director of Ohio's Division of Travel and Tourism, spoke at Mondays's press conference for Butler's new travel guide. She praised the quality and the timing of the brochure.
With Ohio preparing to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its statehood in 2003, there will be a renewed interest in historic places throughout the state, she said.
“Developing your historic resources for visitors is a very wise thing to do,” Ms. Varasso said.
The brochure was financed by advertisers and eight sponsors. The sponsors are the county commissioners, Fairfield, the Greater Hamilton Convention and Visitors Bureau, MetroParks of Butler County, Monroe, the Oxford Visitors & Convention Bureau, Trenton and the Union Township trustees.
Butler County's first visitors' guide, a pocket-size brochure, was published seven years ago.
The new guide will be a valuable source of information for the many new residents who have moved into the county, said Julie Dalzell, Butler's Ohio State University extension agent.
Mike Muska, director of MetroParks of Butler County, said the brochure will help more people learn about the county's parks system.
“A lot of us who live here take everything for granted,” he said. “This will go a long way toward introducing not just visitors, but also residents of the county to what's really here.”
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