Correspondent photo / John Patrick Gatta Marie Scalia, chief marketing officer at Destination Cleveland, left, discusses what was done to market the city to local and state residents as well as international businesses and organizations with Beth Kotwis Carmichael, Trumbull County Tourism CEO, during the bureau’s annual meeting Tuesday.

NILES — Looking to the past while excitedly planning for the future, the Trumbull County Tourism annual meeting informed and honored local community and business leaders Tuesday afternoon at Vernon’s Cafe.

“It’s an opportunity for our industry to gather and talk, and for us to share our successes,” said Beth Kotwis Carmichael, CEO of Trumbull County Tourism. “Sometimes, people aren’t paying attention, and this is our opportunity to share those successes with our group.”

Kotwis Carmichael provided that information with updates on tourism’s impact in the county.

“Our marketing influences 76,000 visits to Trumbull County and contributes over $80 million in direct visitor spending, resulting in $286 for every $1 invested in marketing here,” she said. “This underscores the responsible stewardship of the spending of our lodging tax. Over the years, our work has earned multiple national and state awards, while expanding our reach through content creation and marketing campaigns.

“This year, we didn’t just market and promote. We led, we built and we connected. We’re elevating the role travel plays as a driver of economic and community impact. We advocate for policies, funding and recognition that strategic investment in Trumbull County fuels growth and connection to our places and our people.

She added, “Our strategy has always been to grow our visitor economy into additional investment into the county, turning curiosity into connection, connection into visitor spending and that spending supports jobs and, ultimately, new investors and residents.”

Board President Stacey Hoover, co-owner of Cockeye BBQ & Creamery, provided information on the organization’s strategy for next year.

“The plan that was approved had five key pillars. That set the base for how we wanted to move the organization forward,” she said.

The pillars include enhancing board impact, equipping our regional workforce, enabling growth through destination development, elevating community engagement and empowering strategic marketing.

“These pillars make sure that we are not just promoting Trumbull County, we are helping to shape its future,” Hoover said.

In a sign that the message is getting through, and that residents understand the connection between tourism and economic impact, Hoover pointed out there was a larger attendance on Tuesday than previous meetings.

She brought up several committees and encouraged those in the room to get involved with them. The Workforce Development Committee aims to bring the next generation of workers in areas such as hospitality via partnerships with Trumbull County Educational Service Center and Kent State University’s hospitality management program. The Destination Development Committee advocates “around one of our crown jewels, which is Mosquito Lake” and making travelers aware of it.

Hoover admitted that the Community Engagement Committee she chairs is “near and dear to my heart.”

She explained, “Here’s why this one is important to me. This talks a lot about community pride, ownership, the decision to stay, live, play, and work here. When you are 22, and you’re forced to make a decision, ‘Am I leaving or am I staying?’ we want you to stay. So, the conversation that we’re starting in 2026 is what can we do as a tourism board to make the ‘live, play, love’ part of that conversation easier, so you’ll make that choice.”

When she brought up the Board Development and Impact Committee, Hoover introduced the newest members — Lauren Lindvig (360 Marketing, “Valley Spotlight”) and Renee Sherry (area manager of Ultium Cells).

Kotwis Carmichael had a “fireside chat” with Marie Scalia, chief marketing officer at Destination Cleveland, on how the city changed its perception on a local, state and international level. She offered attendees a vision of how to attract more tourism, gain positive word of mouth about Trumbull County and influence others to stay or relocate in the area.

“Her insight will help us think differently about how destination strategy is economic strategy,” Kotwis Carmichael said.

Scalia pointed out that branding became the most important element for her group and gave as an example “CLE” used in hashtag such as #ThisIsCLE and #VisitMeInCLE.

Recognizing that there was a communication problem, she said, “We were talking more about the quality of life, talking about what jobs are available, talking about the consumer side of it versus the business side of it, and hoping to change perceptions. That’s how we started to think about it, and we’ve done a lot of work with our residents as well to get them to recommend Cleveland as a place to live and work.”

It was pointed out that in order to achieve Cleveland’s success, there must be a commitment to a multi-year approach.

The main portion of the meeting concluded with Truly Trumbull Impact Award honorees — the Braceville African American Heritage Museum and Ed Novak, who was recognized for his contributions to the First Flight Lunar Module site.