Salt Lake City, UT – Salt Lake City proclaims itself as the only place in the nation that gives winter enthusiasts the unique advantage of having four world-class winter resorts featuring 500 inches of “the Greatest Snow on Earth” just minutes away from a region filled with hundreds of hotels, restaurants, bars and countless entertainment options. That is why Visit Salt Lake, along with Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, representatives from the four Cottonwood resorts and other local officials, have unveiled a new campaign – repositioning Salt Lake as Ski City USA with the tagline, “Once you’ve stayed in Ski City, you’ll never stay in a ski town.”

The new program encourages people to discover where Ski City USA is and explore the benefits of planning a trip to Salt Lake, including skiing at the city’s four resorts: Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude. The national advertising effort includes a complementary mix of a print and digital campaign driving people to an interactive website, www.SkiCityUSA.com.

“Ski City USA is a fantastic alternative to the traditional ski or snowboard experience where visitors are restricted by the limited offerings of a small resort town,” says McAdams. “Whether you live in Salt Lake or thousands of miles away, you can become a virtual resident of Ski City USA through social portals – joining a community united in being ‘locals’ of Ski City USA.”

The website highlights cities in the Salt Lake area as unique neighborhoods within Ski City USA, and gives each an opportunity to become brand stewards. As a result, site visitors can explore dining, nightlife, accommodations, resorts and activities available in all of the unique Salt Lake neighborhoods, which will help them plan their perfect vacation to Ski City USA.

“Municipalities will play a prominent role in the success of this new campaign because we are all distinct and unique neighborhoods – Sandy, Holladay, Salt Lake, Draper and all the others that add character to Ski City USA,” said Sandy City Mayor Tom Dolan.

“Research shows that nearly half of the country identifies the Salt Lake City skyline as Denver,” said Vicki Varela, managing director, Utah Office of Tourism. “We are here today to let the country know that this magnificent skyline is ours, and Salt Lake is Ski City USA.”

The new campaign looks to capitalize on the state’s continued record-breaking tourism numbers, which according to the Utah Office of Tourism, reached $7.4 billion dollars in traveler spending in 2012.

The rebranding campaign, however, is not without controversy. Steamboat Springs, Colo., has filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court for the District of Colorado against Visit Salt Lake and the four member ski resorts seeking to protect its “Ski Town U.S.A.” trademark, which has been in use since 1959. The phrase “Ski Town U.S.A.” has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office by both Steamboat Ski Resort and the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.

“Steamboat Ski Resort has used Ski Town U.S.A. for decades and has invested significant time, energy and money to establish and maintain this brand strength,” says Rob Perlman, senior VP of sales and marketing for Steamboat. “We think Visit Salt Lake and the four participating resorts are violating our intellectual property rights and need to go back to the drawing board on their advertising campaign.”