Here’s what digital journalists who visited Chattanooga had to say about the city [photos]

Hosting visiting journalists has always been a cost-efficient way of getting the word out about Chattanooga’s virtues as a tourist destination.

When the city was featured on the cover of Parade Magazine in the late 1990s, it was considered a marketing triumph. Chattanooga’s tourism and Chamber of Commerce officials keep thick files of clippings from print publications around the United States touting the city’s renaissance as a travel destination.

“In terms of communicating a message, it [journalism] is considered one of the most powerful and meaningful methods,” says Bob Doak, president and CEO of the Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau.

About 50 journalists a year still make their way to Chattanooga through outreach by the Convention and Visitors Bureau, but these days, fewer have connections to the so-called legacy print media. More and more consumers are getting travel information from social media and the internet. Consequently, the journalists who visit the city these days are often bloggers or writers for websites instead of newspapers or magazines.

“[Traditional media] journalists became too time-impoverished; it became harder and harder to get qualified writers to come to your city to write on mass topics,” Doak says, adding that today’s more diverse digital media environment allows the CVB to target consumers with specific interests in, say, food, adventure sports, music or family attractions.