Tourism representatives from 13 counties met in Wilmington on Wednesday to discuss ways to attract more people to Southwest Ohio and promote its rich heritage.

        Members of the the newly formed Southwest Ohio Heritage Initiative discussed strategy at the Murphy Theater. They plan to make the meeting an annual event.

        The group, independent and nonprofit, promotes the region to motor-coach tours and the leisure traveler. Member counties include Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, Warren, Montgomery, Brown and Preble.

        “The Heritage Initiative hopes to not only generate a positive economic impact on the area via tourism but also to embrace the vital history and legacies that are unique to Southwest Ohio,” said Margaret Drexel, the group's interim president.

        “Visitors to historic sites take longer trips, spend more money, stay longer and are more likely to stay in a hotel, motel or bed-and-breakfast.”

        Ms. Drexel, director of marketing for the Warren County Convention and Visitors Bureau, helped organize the group, which was recently incorporated as one of seven designated heritage area groups in Ohio.

        Invited to Wednesday's meeting were representatives from regional attractions, historic sites and businesses. Guest speakers included Vicky Branson, director of the Ohio Historical Society; Colleen Day, manager of market research and heritage tourism for the Ohio Department of Travel and Tourism; and Diana Thompson, executive director of the Miami County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

        Ms. Drexel defines heritage tourism as “traveling to experience the places and activities that authentically represent the stories and people of the past.” In short, local history and culture will attract visitors, said Kevin Harper, village manager of Waynesville and a creator of the Accommodation Line Scenic Byway.

        The Accommodation Line was a stagecoach company that operated stages from Cincinnati to Springfield in the 1820s and '30s. The byway generally follows the stage route.

        Ohio's Scenic Byway program was started in 1996 by the Department of Transportation.

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