Mahoning visitors bureau buys ad in WSJ magazine, Times Square

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Convention and Visitors Bureau has bought for $8,000 a four-color, full-page, back-cover advertisement in a travel magazine that’s inserted into 400,000 copies of the Wall Street Journal.

The ad, which promotes tourism in Mahoning County, was a last-minute insertion into the April issue of Horizon Travel magazine when another advertiser canceled, said Linda Macala, county CVB director.

Macala said magazine officials told her the ad, which was paid for by the county’s hotel bed-tax revenues, normally would cost more than $50,000.

Bearing the slogan “Plan your weekend road trip to Youngstown, Mahoning County,” the ad features photos of Lanterman’s Mill, wineries, a golf course and other outdoor recreation, and the “Lincoln The Rail Splitter” painting at the Butler Institute of American Art.

Included with the ad at no extra charge was a six-second video appearing 240 times during the first seven days of this month on the “Good Morning America” jumbo screen in Times Square, Macala added.

The video shows Lanterman’s Mill, the county CVB logo and Web address “youngstownlive.com,’’ the Butler’s Lincoln painting by Norman Rockwell and kayaks on Mill Creek Park’s Lake Newport and ends by saying “You Belong Here.”

“It’s so exciting to be spreading the word of all we have to offer here in Mahoning County at the crossroads of the world — Times Square in New York City,” Macala concluded.