CLEVELAND — Destination Cleveland has launched its Rediscover CLE campaign.
“It’s meant to get Clevelanders to reengage with their community in the safest manner possible and when they’re ready,” said David Gilbert the CEO of Destination Cleveland. “It’s going to, not only, reenforce that love of our community and its people, but also help those businesses in the travel and tourism industry recover faster.”
The first phase of Rediscover CLE launched with a list of businesses in Northeast Ohio that are Clean Committed.
According to Destination Cleveland, businesses that are in the Clean Committed program “requests a voluntary commitment to a standard set of cleanliness practices to help minimize the spread of COVID-19. The practices were developed in partnership with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Cleveland Clinic, The MetroHealth System and University Hospitals.”
Escape in 60, an escape room company in downtown Cleveland, is just one business involved in the program. Co-owner, Jennifer Ensign, said, before COVID, she used to get a lot of business from downtown corporations completing team building activities at Escape in 60.
“We’ve struggled with the loss of corporate business, but we have found that the private players are enjoying getting out. You can get out in your car and you can go locally and you can find somewhere you’ve never gone before,” she said.
Gilbert said getting people to rediscover what they love about Cleveland while practicing safety guidelines is the goal.
“It really is about getting those juices flowing again, most of us have been cooped up, other than when we have to go to the store and do things. We haven’t been engaging in our community and when people feel ready, when they feel most safe, we want to give them every tool that they need to get out there and do that,” he said.
The second phase is a 20 page, online, resident portal which includes information locals can use if they want to explore the outdoors, find restaurants, or go to a museum.
“It’s about safely getting out, safely engaging in the community, safely patronizing those businesses that have lost so much because they have been reliant on our locals and outsiders,” said Gilbert.
The 3rd phase of Rediscover CLE will be inviting people from out of town back in, but Gilbert said we are not there yet.
To take a look at the resource guide, click here.
