Butler County: Everyone Is Welcome!

Maybe you’ve noticed the billboards throughout Butler County. They’re everywhere. The message is simple: #EveryoneIsWelcome

You may have noticed that same message on Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau’s social media posts recently. Why is it there? Because it’s good business, but mainly because it’s the truth and the right message to send.

Our job at The Bureau is to promote and enhance Butler County’s reputation as a destination for visitors – not only from the region and throughout the United States, but internationally as well – to come to and enjoy the many great things we have to offer.

You may ask “are there really a lot of people from other countries that want to visit Butler County?” The answer to that question is: “Yes” The attractions here are endless, crossing a spectrum of interests. From outdoor activities at Moraine State Park, to a world-class collection of Asian art at the Maridon Museum, from a great craft brew scene to an incredible Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival, Butler County hosts visitors from all backgrounds, all walks of life, from all over the world.

The most recent tourism economic impact study showed that tourism adds more than $600 million to the local economy. That’s money that comes from visitors near and far and from every walk of life you can imagine.

This past week The Bureau recently added this statement to our “Welcome” page on our website: “Butler County Tourism & Convention Bureau welcomes all visitors and values, recognizes, and accepts everyone for who they truly are. We work to engage all people representing a wide spectrum of perspectives and strive to demonstrate respect for the abilities, beliefs, backgrounds, and cultures of those around us. Our goal is for everyone to feel an unconditional sense of belonging.”

We want to be clear that everyone, regardless of their race, color, creed, sexual orientation, their favorite sports teams, etc. is welcome here. They’re welcome because we’re proud of what we have here. We’re proud of what we do and we’re proud of Butler County. We want to learn more about our visitors. It makes us better people – a better destination.

These are the basic reasons for the message. There are about 600 million more.

But we believe these fundamental reasons are good enough to welcome new friends – near and far, young and old, black or white. Yesterday, the entire country celebrated Martin Luther King Day. We couldn’t think of a more appropriate time – other than, maybe, Independence Day – to share this message.

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