South Bend and Mishawaka make play for Indy tourists

US 31 has made the drive from Indianapolis to South Bend much easier. Now tourism officials are hoping to get more Indy travelers to make a visit.

"Visit South Bend Mishawaka" are engaging in a digital marketing blitz to attract those drivers.

A large part of the campaign is using Google Ad words and other analytics to give users ads catered to them based on their searches. Things like the south bend cubs, the history museum and local restaurants and breweries will be highlighted. 

Tourism officials say having a digital only campaign doesn't just save money, but it also gives them more flexibility in courting visitors.

"Ever since we saw the project that they were working on US 31 we wanted to utilize that and target individuals that are traveling through the area," said Lindsey Paholski of Visit South Bend Mishawaka.

The campaigns success will be measured through hotel stays, attraction sales, zip code data, traffic on Visit South Bend's Mishawaka's website, and whether mobile devices tracked in Indy wind up here.

Visit South Bend Mishawaka says they don't have a cost yet, but believe digital is the cheapest option. The campaign runs through August.