What do you get when you bring together three tourism leaders, a few scrappy budget hacks and a whole lot of passion?
A panel packed with real talk, creative strategy, and rural tourism marketing inspiration.
At this year’s VA-1 Governor’s Tourism Summit, Letterpress CEO Alexandra Veatch moderated “Maximizing a Small Budget: Leveraging Funds and Partnerships for Impact,” a session we were proud to sponsor. She was joined by Amanda Livingston (Visit Smyth County), LaTonya Hamilton (Halifax County Tourism) and Charles Bennett (City of Hopewell).
This powerhouse trio shared real-world lessons from rural communities where dollars are tight — but the ideas are anything but small. Here are four takeaways every rural marketer, tourism pro and community leader should hear.
How to Maximize A Small Tourism Budget
1. Be Ruthless With Your Time (and Budget)
Amanda Livingston shared a powerful mindset shift: Focus only on what works.
“You have to look at every single thing you do and decide: Do I have the time to do this well? Do I have the money to do it well? Is it getting me a return on investment?”
She made the intentional call to stop sending newsletters — knowing her email list was small and engagement low — and redirected that energy to projects with higher impact. For many rural DMOs, that might also mean skipping platforms like TikTok or X and leaning into consistency where it counts.
“Ruthless is not cruel,” Amanda said. “Ruthless is just very, very fact-based and clear-eyed about what is working.”
Bottom line? Prioritize with purpose.
2. Content Matters — But It Has to Stretch
Good content doesn’t always require a new shoot. Sometimes it starts with what’s already in your library.
To launch the Virginia’s High Point campaign, Amanda Livingston partnered with Letterpress to conduct a photo and video audit.
“We recycled the imagery we already had and the video we already had,” she said, “and then they built us this beautiful DIY campaign.”
The deliverables were shared in Canva, allowing Amanda to easily make updates — a game-changer for a one-person tourism office.
Charles Bennett echoed the value of repurposing. His team also partnered with Letterpress to produce an evergreen video campaign designed for long-term use.
“Stretch your budget and don’t put any dates,” he said. “Don’t put any names of any restaurants… make sure all the shots are evergreen so you can reuse that stuff again.”
The takeaway? Create once, use often and plan with longevity in mind.
3. Build Your Email List the Right Way
LaTonya Hamilton shared how Halifax County Tourism grew its email list using sweepstakes and digital campaigns tied to custom travel itineraries.
“We had almost 1,300 entrants and almost 1,000 unique email addresses,” she said.
Today, their list has grown to nearly 4,000 qualified contacts — and the strategy is fully repeatable. Even better? The campaign content was evergreen, built around an itinerary that can be reused year after year.
Smart strategy. Sustainable content. Results that grow.
4. Partnerships Multiply Impact
From shared event buses to regional beverage trails, each panelist emphasized one thing: you don’t have to go it alone.
LaTonya Hamilton’s successful sweepstakes campaign was powered by local partners:
“Restaurants donated gift certificates,” she said. “Our brewery gave a free tasting and some merch. It was all partners. I just called them up and said, let’s make this happen!”
Amanda Livingston took a similar approach — partnering with neighboring Wytheville to promote lodging options that Smyth County didn’t have on its own.
“Partnering with your ‘competitors’ can be a huge win-win,” she said.
Whether it’s businesses donating prizes or DMOs teaming up to attract day-trippers, these examples show how smart partnerships provide the kind of pure leverage needed when dollars are tight.
Proof That It Works
These ideas aren’t just theoretical — they’re driving real results:
- Visit Smyth County’s Google Ads campaign boosted website sessions by 40% and increased active users by 49%.
- The City of Hopewell has seen a 12% increase in tourism over the past two years.
- Halifax County’s giveaways generated thousands of new leads.
Small budgets, smart strategies and strong partnerships are making it happen.
Want More Budget-Savvy Ideas?
Letterpress was proud to sponsor this conversation and to help showcase what rural communities already know: Impact doesn’t come from having more. It comes from doing more with what you’ve got — and doing it together.
Missed the session?
Watch the full VA-1 panel discussion below to hear firsthand how these tourism leaders stretch budgets, build partnerships and make real impact in their communities.
Want the highlights instead?
We pulled even more practical tips from the panel into a downloadable one-sheet. Or if you're ready to build a campaign that fits your budget and fuels your goals, let's talk.