nebraska tourism ads 2022

Nebraska’s New Tourism Slogan Is Hilariously Honest

Yes, it’s really: “honestly, it’s not for everyone.”.

• Copy Link copied

Nebraska’s new tourism campaign relies on self-deprecating humor to attract visitors.

Courtesy of Visit Nebraska

Just a few months after Vilnius, Lithuania, unveiled its cheeky new tourism slogan— “Vilnius: The G-Spot of Europe” —Nebraska has followed up with an even funnier tagline to draw tourism (and attention) to the state.

Instead of promoting itself as “Nebraska Nice” anymore, the Midwestern state announced its new slogan is “Honestly, It’s Not For Everyone” at the Nebraska Tourism Conference on Wednesday, October 17.

“It was important . . . to be true to who we are and honest about what we are not,” Deb Loseke, Nebraska Tourism Commission Chair, said in a statement . While the slogan is brutally honest, the resulting ad campaign attempts to use that self-deprecating humor to change the perception that Nebraska is a boring place where there’s nothing to do.

Toadstool Geologic Park is featured in one of Visit Nebraska’s new ads.

In one of the new ads, two people are seen hiking across the unusual rock formations in Toadstool Geologic Park in the northwestern part of the state along with the phrase “Famous for our flat, boring landscape.” Another ad (seen at the top of this article) features three groups of people “tanking” down a river. “In Nebraska, we believe that only boring people get bored,” it reads. “So we invent our own fun. Like when we realized that a livestock tank would float, and thought, ‘It’s a boat.’”

So far, it looks like the campaign is working. Within one day of the announcement, the Nebraska Tourism Commission says they’ve received an “overwhelming” number of requests for T-shirts with the slogan on it. They say the resulting media coverage has reached more than 384 million people already. But will people actually go to check it out in person? Maybe not everyone, but tanking certainly looks like a lot of fun.

>> Next: The World’s Fastest Growing Tourist Destinations Aren’t Where You Think

Christopher Amundson

YOUR GUIDE TO STATEWIDE ADVENTURES

What are you looking for?

Top Attractions & Things to do

Outdoor & Adventure

Historic Sites

Food & Drink

Arts & Culture

Ranches & rodeos, state & national parks.

Tropical Nebraska

Low cost of living, high humidity, nice swing, bro., yeah... i know., funny shirt night, the white house™, nebraska travel association, here to promote, protect, and enhance the economic interest of the tourism industry within the state of nebraska through collective teamwork, education, public awareness, lobbying, and strategic marketing efforts..

Welcome to the Nebraska Travel Association (NETA) Web site. This site has been developed to help promote and strengthen the tourism industry in the State of Nebraska through the unification of those individuals, organizations, businesses, and communities whose very livelihoods depend upon the tourism industry.

Facts About Nebraska Tourism

Jobs attributable to travel spending in Nebraska totalled 45,600 in 2010.

Each dollar spent by tourists in Nebraska is respent in the state to produce an additional $1.70 in business and income, creating an overall economic impact of $2.70.

Tourism is Nebraska’s third-largest earner of revenue from outside the state after agriculture and manufacturing.

The average nonresident traveling party visiting Nebraska by highway during the summer consists of 2.4 persons who stay 2.2 nights in the state and spend $452. Over a third of the nonresident traveling parties go to attractions or events, and for each attraction or event visited, they average a half-day longer in Nebraska, spending an additional $104.

Travelers spent almost $4.0 billion in Nebraska during 2010 on trips away from home with overnight stays in paid accommodations and on day trips to places 100 miles or more away. Annual spending in Nebraska on these trips has increased by over $2.3 billion since 1990.

Over 60 percent of the nonresidents visiting Nebraska during the summer stay at hotels or motels. The state has over 28,000 hotel, motel, and bed and breakfast rooms, which had an average annual occupancy rate of 54 percent in 2010 and offered the nation’s 8th lowest average room costs.

Nebraskans and visitors to Nebraska together made 19.3 million trips in the state in 2010 to destinations 100 miles or more away from home. For trips by visitors, the leading states of origin were, in order, Kansas, Iowa, Colorado, Missouri, South Dakota, Illinois, and Minnesota.

• Cities & Destinations
• Nebraska Tourism Commission

Nebraska Tourism Commission TV Spot, 'Shocking Fact'

Get free access to the data below for 10 ads, there's a better way to measure tv & streaming ad roi.

• Real-Time Ad Measurement Across Linear and CTV
• TV Ad Attribution & Benchmarking
• Marketing Stack Integrations and Multi-Touch Attribution
• Real-Time Video Ad Creative Assessment

The Nebraska Tourism Commission encourages customers to visit the state. It surprises viewers by informing them that the state is not just filled with corn fields but rather cities, zoos, and gardens. While some people can't shake the agrarian image of Nebraska, those who think differently may find the state to be a hidden gem.

Have questions about this ad or our catalog? Check out our FAQ Page .

• Submissions should come only from actors, their parent/legal guardian or casting agency.
• Submit ONCE per commercial, and allow 48 to 72 hours for your request to be processed.
• Once verified, the information you provide will be displayed on our site.

Bonus Stops

For the 15th anniversary of the Nebraska Passport, there will 15 bonus stops, made up of fan favorites.

To celebrate the 15 th year of the Nebraska Passport, there are 15 bonus stops running as a mini-Passport alongside the summer program! This list is made up of fan-favorite stops from throughout the program's history.

Every stop will have a unique, collectible sticker for each participant who stops by.

Just like the normal Passport! There will be a place to get stamps in the booklet and on the prize entry sheet. The bonus stops will act much like normal Passport stops. You will have from May 1-September 30th to get stamps.

If a destination is closed, selfies can be submitted online or printed off and sent to the Nebraska Tourism office.

No digital stamps will be available. 

The stamp totals are separate. For example, if you go to 20 of the original 70 Passport stops and five bonus stops, you don’t qualify for the Nebraska Tourism calendar prize (25-stop prize). 

• You must send in both prize entry sheets to be eligible for both sets of prizes.
• Bonus stop prize entry sheet will be included in Passport booklet
• No digital stamps, selfies will be accepted

If you do not get the physical Nebraska Passport, all 15 bonus stops will have the bonus stop prize entry sheets at their location. 

If you took selfies in place of getting a booklet or digital stamp, you can submit here!

National travel and tourism week in Nebraska

by Nicole Steward

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Since 1983, National Travel and Tourism Week has been a celebration recognizing the significance of travel, its impact on economic growth, and its role in improving the quality of life for communities.

Brad Mellema, Executive Director of Grand Island Tourism says that during the pandemic there was a loss of 70% of industry business, but since then, he says the city has seen a remarkable turnaround.

“Not only have we made that back, we've made it back with record numbers really the last 12 to 14 months, most months revenues are record after record after record," said Mellema.

The executive director of Nebraska Tourism agrees, saying there is a marked improvement - with 12.6 million visitors that stayed overnight last year in Nebraska.

“The travel industry in 2023 was a $4.5 billion industry, which was very big or it's up about 5. 7% over a year ago, and 2022. State and local taxes went over 300 million for the first time, it's 320 million," said John Ricks.

As tourism evolves with consumer behavior, Mellema says there has been a unified approach to marketing – incorporating partners such as the Chamber of Commerce in a more organized manner than previously.

Subsequently, web traffic has improved, showing sizable increases, and Mellema says their marketing efforts have shown promise - “We're one of the top three or four communities in Nebraska, where tourism does impact us. When you look at the population of our town versus the number of hotels and the revenues that we derive from that. We compete with our very largest cities on even level or even higher level, sometimes as a percentage tied to our community.”

What is the largest contributor attracting visitors?

“The big events are what really separates us and a lot of ways from maybe other similar-sized cities,” adds Mellema.

However, tourism is more than increased revenue and traffic believes Mellema – people want a unique experience that tells the story of his community, stating simply – that the very best of Nebraska is right in his town.

Ricks adds that during the pandemic the state outperformed many parts of the country in tourism because people were looking for affordable, less populated areas where they felt safe traveling - something Nebraska offers, but an area still needing improvement is employment, where Ricks shares the category is still struggling to recover and has not grown as rapidly as other categories since the pandemic.

Ricks believes, 68% of people who relocate are visitors first - meaning today's visitors are tomorrow's Nebraskans.

Nebraska's pitch to tourists: 'Honestly, it's not for everyone'

Nebraska is trying to ramp up tourism with a self-deprecating ad campaign.

Nebraska knows the state is "not for everyone" and it's proud of that in a new ad campaign.

"We're just simply not on people's shopping list for a vacation," said John Ricks, executive director of the Nebraska Tourism Commission, on ABC News' "Start Here" podcast.

New Nebraska Tourism advertisements boast of the state's "flat, boring landscape" and "dusty" Great Plains as part of a self-deprecating marketing campaign to tackle its "brand apathy" problem.

"You can't change perceptions just by providing information, so we had to be disruptive in some way," Ricks said of the sarcastic ads.

One print ad points out "there's nothing to do here" as a group floats down a river in a livestock tank, or what Nebraskans refer to as "tanking."

Nebraska is trying to lure tourists who are interested in an "unpretentious and uncomplicated" vacation, and as the campaign's tagline notes: "Honestly, it's not for everyone."

"We're not looking for everybody," Ricks said on "Start Here." "This place isn't for everybody, as any state isn't for anybody."

The #HonestlyNE campaign will launch in out-of-state markets beginning in spring 2019.

This story is featured on Friday's edition of ABC News' "Start Here" podcast.

"Start Here" is the flagship daily news podcast from ABC News -- a straightforward look at the day's top stories in 20 minutes. Listen for free every weekday on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , iHeartRadio , Spotify , Stitcher , TuneIn , or the ABC News app . On Amazon Echo, ask Alexa to "Play 'Start Here'" or add the "Start Here" skill to your Flash Briefing. Follow @StartHereABC on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram for exclusive content, show updates and more!

Trending Reader Picks

Man allegedly tried to drown kids at beach: Police

• Jun 22, 5:22 PM

4th victim dies after Arkansas mass shooting

• Jun 22, 10:48 PM

3 men drown while swimming in Gulf Coast: Police

• Jun 22, 12:35 PM

Donald Sutherland dead at 88

• Jun 20, 7:40 PM

Girl killed by badminton racket

• Jun 10, 7:51 PM

ABC News Live

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

• Government & Politics
• Environment & Agriculture
• Labor & Growth
• Social Services
• Election 2024

DCCC reserves $1 million in early advertising spots to boost Vargas

By: aaron sanderford - june 23, 2024 2:00 pm.

U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., at left, and State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha are running for the 2nd District seat in the Omaha-area. (Courtesy of Photos/House of Representatives and Unicameral Information Office)

OMAHA — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this week announced reserving $1 million in television advertising time in Nebraska’s 2nd District U.S. House race.

The group said it had reserved none by this point in the 2022 election cycle, in the first race between Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon and Democratic State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha.

Bacon beat Vargas that time by about three percentage points in a campaign that was flooded with nearly $11 million in outside spending and more than $7 million in spending by the campaigns.

Already in this year’s rematch, Bacon has raised $3.5 million and Vargas has raised $2.4 million. Both have spent at least $800,000. Each has more than $1.6 million in cash on hand.

$28 million in national ads

The local slice of $28 million in initial DCCC ad reservations indicates the Nebraska race remains a national target despite the district’s slight Republican lean.

The group reserved TV ads for swing-district House candidates in 15 broadcast markets, including Omaha, and digital ads in 21 states, including Nebraska.

It also announced 2nd District digital ad reservations, but did not detail the amount.

Nationally, the group said it set aside $16 million of that $28 million total for TV ads and $12 million for digital to reach voters in some of the most important battleground districts.

DCCC Executive Director Julie Metz said in a statement that the party is trying to target harder-to-reach voters where they are, which is increasingly on their handheld devices.

“The stakes for the House Majority couldn’t be higher,” Merz said. “This approach ensures that we are equipped to effectively elevate the threat of GOP extremism.”

Political observers said they expect major investment again in the 2nd District race in part because any party investments will also help the major party presidential candidates. 

Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have started staffing up campaigns in the 2nd District and are competing for the district’s stray Electoral College vote.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states that award a portion of the state’s electoral votes to the winners of the presidential popular vote in each congressional district. 

Republicans respond

The National Republican Congressional Committee is still in the process of announcing its first major ad reservations of the general election campaign.

But the group’s national press secretary, Will Reiner, said Democrats are playing defense, spending the vast majority of the reservation protecting vulnerable Democratic incumbents.

“Extreme House Democrats are waving the white flag and abandoning their dreams of a House majority,” he said. “That’s the only way to explain their measly reservation on offense.”

The GOP-led Congressional Leadership Fund has already announced a separate $2.8 million ad reservation to help Bacon. That’s up from the $1.3 million it reserved in early 2022.

The Democratic-led House Majority PAC has previously announced a separate $2 million pledge to reserve ad time in support of Vargas, who represents South Omaha in the Legislature.

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

Aaron Sanderford

Political reporter Aaron Sanderford has tackled various news roles in his 25-year career. He reported on politics, crime, courts, local government and business for the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal-Star. He also worked as an assignment editor and editorial writer. He was an investigative reporter at KMTV.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom , the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Related News

Watch CBS News

States creating clever ads in effort to boost summer tourism

• Compilation Reels
• Case Studies
• Socially Responsible Ads

• Technology Products
• Travel & Tourism
• Health & Beauty
• Eastern Europe
• Socially Responsible

Best Travel and Tourism Ads of the Month : Apr 8, 2022

Aeromexico - new winds gut mexico.

You're invited to fly a new experience with Aeromexico.

• Brand: Aeromexico
• Country: United States
• Advertiser: Aeromexico

Qantas - I Still Call Australia Home The Monkeys

Hymn to the big Australia!

The Monkeys Sydney, Australia

• Brand: Qantas
• Country: Australia
• Advertiser: Qantas

WestJet - Steep Yourself In Canada Rethink Communications Inc.

Pop-up store to travel with tea flavours.

Rethink Communications Inc. Toronto, Canada

• Brand: WestJet
• Country: Canada
• Advertiser: WestJet

Easyjet - nextGen easyJet VCCP

Ready. Take-Off for your holidays.

VCCP Global

• Brand: Easyjet
• Country: United Kingdom
• Advertiser: Easyjet

South Western Railway - Spread Your Wings St. Luke’s Communications

Follow Sandy C Gull and Wesley Peck during their commute to London.

St. Luke’s Communications London, United Kingdom

• Brand: South Western Railway
• Advertiser: South Western Railway

Discover Vail - Life Is But A Dream (84s) Cactus Marketing Communications

Dreamlike flight.

Cactus Marketing Communications Denver, United States

• Brand: Discover Vail
• Advertiser: Discover Vail

Latest jobs posted

Me, My Autism & I

• Cast & crew

Speak No Evil

A family is invited to spend a weekend in an idyllic country house, unaware that their dream vacation will soon become a psychological nightmare. A family is invited to spend a weekend in an idyllic country house, unaware that their dream vacation will soon become a psychological nightmare. A family is invited to spend a weekend in an idyllic country house, unaware that their dream vacation will soon become a psychological nightmare.

• James Watkins
• Christian Tafdrup
• Mads Tafdrup
• James McAvoy
• Mackenzie Davis
• Aisling Franciosi
• 1 Critic review

• Louise Dalton

• Agnes Dalton

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 50 minutes
• Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.

KPMG Women's PGA Championship

Latest golf videos, the history of golf at the olympics.

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Your US State Privacy Rights
• Children's Online Privacy Policy
• Interest-Based Ads
• About Nielsen Measurement
• Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
• Disney Ad Sales Site
• Work for ESPN
• Corrections