The Cincinnati USA Regional Tourism Network (RTN) and ArtsWave have unveiled details of an unprecedented partnership to co-create a Cultural Tourism Campaign. This collaboration launches a multi-year strategic investment in marketing cultural tourism to increase Cincinnati USA visitor and resident awareness, visitation and engagement.

“What makes this new initiative with ArtsWave so exciting and unique is the opportunity to reach a new audience, with a new message, in a new season,” said Linda Antus, president and CEO of the Regional Tourism Network. “We are building upon the momentum of the region’s economic growth and cultural vitality as well as the collaborative spirit the RTN was founded on more than ten years ago by the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky CVBs.”



This is the first regional leisure tourism marketing campaign to promote the shoulder tourism season of September through December. Expanding upon the RTN’s traditional marketing footprint of 200 miles during peak summer season, this campaign will reach visitors from 100-500 miles outside of Cincinnati USA. The campaign calls visitors to action at the RTN’s award-winning website, CincinnatiUSA.com, with custom landing pages and puts the region’s arts and cultural entertainment offerings at their fingertips with guides to performing arts, tours, culinary, visual arts, festivals and events, and landmarks and landscapes.

In addition to driving leisure tourism to Cincinnati USA and putting the region’s arts, culture, heritage and culinary experiences on the map, the campaign also includes a local component. The local campaign will leverage CincyArtsGuide.com and engage our region’s residents as well as visitors through special events, new interactive technologies and data-informed collaborative marketing. 

“Vibrant arts experiences are an integral part of our region,” said Alecia Kintner, president and CEO of ArtsWave. “This unique collaboration will boost awareness of the arts and position Cincinnati as a cultural tourism destination, and engage more people in the arts that make Greater Cincinnati amazing, creating ‘hometown ambassadors’ to help spread the message.”

Research shows that more than two-thirds of American adult travelers say they included a culture, arts, heritage or historic activity or event while on a trip of 50 miles or more. Arts and cultural entertainment visitors are proven to spend more on entertainment while traveling, more likely to be culturally diverse, stay in the area longer, visit in larger parties and have higher intent to return making them an ideal target.

For ArtsWave, the collaboration represents a strategic investment and additional fundraising responsibility that furthers a key goal of its strategic plan, the Blueprint for Collective Action for the Arts.  

Together, the RTN and ArtsWave have formed a strong partnership that will leverage the unique roles, assets and strengths of both organizations, resulting in a win-win for visitors, residents, as well as the economic vitality of the regional community.