The LaPorte County Convention & Visitors Bureau has passed responsibility for ad sales in its 2010 LaPorte County Visitors Guide to The LaPorte County Herald-Argus, citing the paper’s larger staff, advertising expertise, and graphic services.

Along with the change in visitor guide sales comes a change in the CVB’s partnership structure. From this point forward, all businesses and other entities in LaPorte County will be considered “community partners.” As anyone wishing to appear in the visitors guide must buy advertising space through the Herald-Argus, the CVB will no longer be a member-based organization and will no longer charge businesses a fee to be a partner.

The Visitors Bureau will continue to have complete editorial, layout, and circulation control of the publication, which will continue to serve as the official guide to LaPorte County. The Guide will continue the same high-visibility distribution via county businesses, national trade shows, mailing lists and through our exclusive agreements with the toll road and state visitor centers.

The CVB says the move will result in lower prices on most advertisements, and eliminate the added expense of ad design, which will be included free through The Herald-Argus graphics department. Also, the vast majority of county businesses already have a relationship and billing account with the newspaper, reducing paperwork and billing issues. Meanwhile, the move allows the CVB to focus on its core mission of promoting LaPorte County.