Oklahoma Tourism & Recreation Department Launches #OKHereWeGO Campaign to Encourage Oklahomans to Travel Local

May 18, 2020
Filed Under: Life

The past months have been stressful and uncertain ones for many Oklahomans as the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life. Spring break and summer vacations plans were scuttled, with residents instead focusing on social distancing to keep themselves and each other safe.

“We have seen our Oklahoma restaurants, shops, hotels and tourism attractions weather some truly rough times in these past few months,” said Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, who is also Oklahoma’s Secretary of Tourism & Branding. “I’ve been so impressed by the toughness and ingenuity they’ve shown — not that I would expect any less. We want to support them in any way we can, and we felt this campaign would be a terrific way to help remind Oklahomans that they can help these great businesses survive and thrive in the coming months.”

Billboards are going up around the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas featuring the #OKHereWeGO hashtag, and television spots highlighting Oklahoma museums, restaurants, shops and other popular tourism businesses will soon begin airing in the Oklahoma City, Lawton, Sherman/Ada and Tulsa markets.

Beginning Monday, #OKHereWeGO stickers will be available for consumers to order alongside Oklahoma travel brochures on TravelOK.com/Brochures.

The department will be handing out free buttons for employees at Oklahoma businesses and tourism industry organizations to wear, along with free stickers for them to distribute to customers.

OTRD is also providing businesses and industry partners with a digital toolkit filled with sample social media posts, Facebook frames and more that will help present a unified message to Oklahomans.

The department has partnered with Oklahoma-based media company Griffin Communications on the campaign, and the station will also be hosting a contest with prize packages for Oklahoma vacations.

Tourism is Oklahoma’s third-largest industry. It generated $9.6 billion in direct visitor spending, $708 million in local and state tax revenue and providing jobs for 103,600 Oklahomans in 2018.