Getting ‘Real’
By Romi Carrell Wittman
Photo: Allison Cooper, Director of Marketing, MTCVB
Photo by: BalfourWalker.com

In August, Allison Cooper will celebrate her second anniversary as Director of Marketing at the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau. Given the tremendous success of The Real Southwest marketing campaign that Cooper’s been spearheading, those two years seem to have gone by in perpetual motion.

She’s animated as she speaks about the campaign, and it’s obvious that she loves what she does for a living. “Tucson has so much to offer. Our mission is to make sure people know about it.”

And that’s where The Real Southwest comes into play. “We’re creating a brand for the region,” she explained. “And the concept of ‘real’ is what resonates with people. Real is emphasized throughout our seven destination drivers – the most unique attributes that attract travelers to choose Tucson and Southern Arizona over competing destinations.”