Scioto County has been in a renaissance for some time, with downtown development, parks development, planning sessions, county-wide work, and more for some time. Many of these improvements include outdoor activities such as skateparks, bike parks, splash pads, kayak launches, dog parks, and more. We’ve also had new businesses and attractions open during this time. With that, comes tourism opportunities and Scioto County Visitor’s Bureau has been working hard on a rebrand, new website, and new techniques to reach more people. The new website launched this past week and people say it is a great addition to the local toolbox to reach new people and attract them to all the area’s progress.

“We launched the website Wednesday, and we did a soft opening a couple weeks ago to work out any small kinks that came up, but we publicly launched this week, and, so far, everything is positive,” Executive Director Nate Welch said. People love the look of it and that it is easy to navigate or search terms.”

Welch complimented the look and design, saying it is easy to navigate and believes it is a great start.

“I think this will be a great beginning point for us to hammer down on bringing people here,” Welch claimed. “People will be able to look on our website, whether they are outside the county or inside, looking for something fun and unique. I think it will bring a lot of people down to visit southern Ohio and Appalachia.”

A major focus point while planning the website was to ensure it was easy to navigate and was friendly to people no matter the device being used.

“My whole hope was to have something that showcased the uniqueness and beauty of Scioto County, along with a mixture of something that most people can utilize,” Welch said. “It can be on the phone, desktop or laptop, or tablet. Anyone can use it and it is user friendly.”

The new website was a priority for the director, who stepped in only recently. It goes together with their marketing and branding campaign they have been fine tuning.

“This goes hand in hand with our new branding campaign to make us more appealing as a place to visit and I think it is working,” Welch said. “We definitely have a good start, but we’re not done yet. We still have a way to go.”

The new site is an improvement, in the eyes of Welch, who says it will fluctuate and change throughout the year. In fact, he highly encourages locals to frequently visit it to stay updated on local happenings and see what their home has to offer no matter the season.

“Our website, before, was tough to navigate and the new platform will constantly be updated and evolving throughout the entire year forever. It will never be the same all the time, as we change features throughout the seasons,” Welch explained. “Right now, there is a guide on Autumn Escapades, but, when it comes down to the wintertime, probably sometime in November, we will switch it over to something for people to start planning their holiday getaways. The same thing in the summer, it will be changing and making it more effective for that time of year. It will help the visitor, it will help the locals, understand what we have and be a breath of fresh air.”

The community calendar on the site is linked back to the Portsmouth Area Chamber of Commerce calendar, which Welch says is a great partnership.

“The Chamber has a great calendar where anyone in the community can log in and update their own events and programming,” Welch explained. “No matter what organization you’re part of, no matter who you are, you can send in your events and we will feature them on our website and the Chamber’s. This will spread the word that there are a lot of things to do in Scioto County.”

Robert Black, of the Boneyfiddle Project, is ecstatic about the new site. Black is also a Visitor’s Bureau board member.

“One of the pet peeves I’ve had with the Visitor’s Bureau over the years has been their website, or lack thereof,” Black said. “It is one of the things I really pushed for and I think Nate and Kelly Babcock nailed it. I think it is perfect. It is the image we want to represent. I think it is clean, professional, and I don’t have anything bad to say about it. We’ve come so far and I look forward to even more transformations.”

Black says he has enjoyed working with Welch and has had some surprising support in little ways that make a big difference.

“I love Nate Welch,” Black said. “You know what he did? He came to me and said, ‘Rob, is there anything I can do, personally, to help you with Final Friday?’ I told him if he could have six 20-pound bags of ice at the venue at 2:30 in the afternoon, you don’t know how much help that would be. We have to drop everything to make that happen. By golly, he was there right at 2:30 with ice ready to go. We have a great guy and I hope we can keep him.”

SOMC’s Wendi Waugh, who is heavily involved in Connex, a local organization dedicated to getting people outdoors and enjoying what Scioto County has to offer on the water, on bicycles, and with hiking trails, says the new website is perfect for what she is organizing and implementing.

“I think the website is exactly what Portsmouth needs. It is marketing to visitors and highlighting our great outdoor assets,” Waugh said. “I love it. I think the whole committee is invested and engaged in flowing with the ever-changing Scioto County landscape.”

Additionally, Waugh echoed Black’s sentiments of positive experiences with Welch and the current Visitor’s Bureau board.

“The Visitor’s Bureau was in the park for TOSRV (Tour of the Scioto River Valley), handing out stickers and brochures and greeting guests. I think Nate is doing a phenomenal job.”

The new website is explorescioto.com

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.