On May 1 at 1:00 PM, TourismOhio will open the door to one of the state’s most practical and underutilized opportunities for preservation-minded organizations: the 2026 Joint Marketing Program. Delivered via webinar, the session is more than a program overview. It is, in effect, a roadmap for how Ohio’s historic places can compete for attention in an increasingly crowded tourism landscape.
For local preservationists, the relevance is immediate. This is not simply about advertising. It is about how preservation organizations position themselves within Ohio’s broader visitor economy, and how they leverage state-backed resources to translate historic value into sustained public engagement.
Where Preservation Meets Performance
The Joint Marketing Program is structured around a simple premise: smaller organizations, including many historic sites and local preservation groups, often lack the technical capacity or financial margin to execute sophisticated marketing campaigns. TourismOhio’s model addresses both constraints directly.
Participants gain access to vetted media professionals and content specialists who design and implement campaigns intended to generate measurable visitation. That emphasis on performance is important. This is not branding for its own sake. It is marketing tied to outcomes, including increased foot traffic, extended visitor stays, and broader geographic reach.
For historic sites, particularly those operating with limited staff or volunteer leadership, this effectively outsources a function that is otherwise difficult to build internally.
A Financial Structure That Changes the Equation
The most consequential aspect of the program may be its funding structure. TourismOhio covers 100% of media placement costs and contributes 25% toward advertising and content development, up to $4,000 per partner annually. For many preservation organizations, this shifts marketing from a discretionary expense to a viable investment.
In practical terms, it allows a local historical society, house museum, or preservation nonprofit to participate in digital campaigns, paid search, and professional storytelling initiatives that would otherwise be out of reach.
The program operates on a first-come, first-served basis, which introduces a strategic consideration. Organizations that move early are not simply securing funding. They are positioning themselves at the front of a limited pipeline of statewide visibility.
Storytelling as Infrastructure
Among the program offerings, the partnership with Great Lakes Studios is especially relevant for preservation work. Historic places are inherently narrative-driven. Their challenge is not a lack of story, but the translation of that story into formats that resonate with contemporary audiences.
Through professional photography and narrative development, participating sites can move beyond static interpretation and into dynamic storytelling that performs across digital platforms. At the same time, the collaboration with Communica brings a technical layer that many preservation groups lack. Paid search and Meta advertising are not simply about visibility. They are about targeting. They place historic sites in front of audiences already signaling intent to travel.
This combination, narrative depth paired with precision targeting, is where the program’s real leverage lies.
A Broader Definition of Tourism Partners
Eligibility for the program is intentionally broad. Museums, historic sites, festivals, outdoor destinations, and cultural institutions all qualify. That inclusivity reflects a shift in how tourism is defined. Visitors are not choosing between categories. They are assembling experiences. A preserved downtown, a restored theater, a heritage trail, and a local festival are all part of the same decision-making process.
For preservation organizations, this means competing and collaborating within a larger ecosystem. Participation in the Joint Marketing Program positions historic resources as integral components of Ohio’s tourism narrative, not peripheral ones.
Timing Matters
Campaigns developed through the program will run from July through October 2026, aligning with peak travel season, and then again in May and June of 2027. That timing is deliberate. It captures both summer travel and the early fall period, when heritage tourism traditionally performs well. For preservation groups, this creates an opportunity to align programming, events, and interpretive efforts with a coordinated statewide marketing push.
The Strategic Question
The webinar itself will introduce vendors, outline timelines, and walk through participation steps. But the more important question for Preservation Ohio readers is strategic. How visible is your organization right now to someone planning a trip to Ohio?
The Joint Marketing Program offers one answer. It provides the tools, funding, and professional support to ensure that historic places are not just preserved, but seen, visited, and experienced.
Registration for the May 1 webinar is open. For organizations committed to expanding their reach, the opportunity is not abstract. It is immediate. To register, visit this link.
Photo: Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
