A new walkway has been installed at Smith Falls, the state’s highest waterfall near Valentine, Neb. (Justin Haag/Nebraskaland Magazine, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)
LINCOLN – John Ricks, the state tourism director who deployed the edgy and controversial marketing pitch “Nebraska. Honestly, it’s not for everyone,” has resigned.
Ricks, who was paid $133,838-a-year, could not immediately be reached for comment. His resignation was accepted Thursday by the State Tourism Commission, which has since appointed Deputy Director Heather Hogue as interim executive director, as was reported first by the Nebraska Rural Radio Network.
While Ricks got mixed reviews on the tourism pitch, an official with the Nebraska Travel Association said he played a key role in helping increase tourism in the state, citing a 26.4% growth rate in state lodging taxes from 2019-2022 compared to only 2.5% nationally.
Nebraska tourism swag featured the now-dropped tagline, “Nebraska: Honestly, it’s not for everyone.”(Courtesy of Visit Nebraska)
“Ricks is to be commended for putting Nebraska on the tourism map,” said Kerri Rempp, president of the state travel association.
Hired in 2016 by then Gov. Pete Ricketts, Ricks had worked as an associate director in Colorado’s state tourism office before taking the Nebraska job. His hiring was touted as bringing a fresh perspective to a state that had been rated by one group as the “least likely” for tourists to visit.
That led to the new “Nebraska: Honestly, it’s not for everyone” marketing pitch, which included advertising emphasizing off-beat adventures in Nebraska, from floating down a river in a horse tank to hop-scotching across Badlands-like formations in Toadstool Park.
The self-deprecating pitch grabbed national attention, and, in 2022, won a national award for best integrated marketing and messaging. According to the State Tourism Commission, it also raised Nebraska’s tourism profile from last to 45th.
But some state leaders, including Gov. Jim Pillen and then Nebraska Department of Economic Development Director Tony Goins, disliked the motto, which was coined by a marketing firm from Colorado. Goins said it “made a mockery” of the DED’s pitchline for new residents: “The Good Life is Calling.”
By 2024, the “not for everyone” tagline was dropped by the Tourism Commission and state legislators passed a bill seeking to better coordinate marketing pitches between the independent commission, also known as “Visit Nebraska” and state economic development officials.
The Nebraska Travel Association, in a press release this week, urged the State Tourism Commission to “act swiftly” to replace Ricks.
The tourism agency is funded by lodging taxes paid on motel and hotel bills. Its budget this year is $10.1 million to promote an industry that generates $4.5 billion in spending annually and supports over 41,000 jobs throughout Nebraska.
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