Connecticut’s marketing campaign positioning the state as the pizza capital of the United States has produced the largest single-year shift in its brand perception ever recorded, according to data released Tuesday by the Office of Statewide Marketing and Tourism.
Nearly 80% of Americans who encountered the advertising blitz said their overall view of Connecticut became more positive, while the state saw dramatic increases in being perceived as fun, welcoming and progressive compared with 2018 baseline data.
The campaign, which launched in late 2024, has generated measurable changes in how people view Connecticut, the state’s marketing and tourism arm said. Among those who heard recent “media buzz” about the state, positive associations increased 96% for “fun,” 90% for “welcoming” and 91% for “progressive” compared with 2018.
“This campaign showed what happens when Connecticut bets on itself and its ideas,” Gov. Ned Lamont said. “Pizza was the hook, but the goal was always bigger.”
The marketing effort has had a quantifiable impact on behavior, state officials said. The state recorded a 22% year-over-year increase in visits to its tourism website, CTvisit.com; a 50% increase in pizza-related searches on the site; and a 68% lift in nationwide Google searches for “Connecticut pizza.”
Long-distance visitors traveling 500 to 3,000 miles who stopped at Connecticut Pizza Trail restaurants increased 37%, and those travelers stayed an average of half a day longer than other visitors.
The campaign generated at least $11 in measurable tourism revenue for every dollar spent, according to the state’s analysis — far higher than the typical $3-to-$1 return on investment for tourism campaigns.
A national consumer study conducted this fall by the state tourism office surveyed 1,538 respondents across the United States. The research found that 26% of Americans reported seeing buzz about Connecticut in the past year, with 88% of that group encountering it on social media and 57% seeing it on news or broadcast television.
When asked what they’d heard about Connecticut recently, respondents cited pizza unprompted, with some calling it “the pizza capital of the world” and saying the state has “the best pizza,” according to the study.
Among those who saw the state’s pizza campaign material, 40% now identify Connecticut as a top pizza destination, trailing only New York at 42% and surpassing Chicago at 18%. Overall, one-in-five Americans now associate Connecticut with pizza, placing the state ahead of Detroit and New Jersey.
The shift marks a dramatic change from 2021 research, which found many Northeast respondents said Connecticut wasn’t really “known for” anything, with other top descriptors being small, boring, expensive and cold. In the 2025 national sample, food became the second-most-mentioned theme when people were asked what Connecticut is known for, with specific mentions of pizza and seafood.
Anthony Anthony, chief marketing officer for the state, said the campaign gave Connecticut “a way into a national conversation we weren’t in before.”
“We didn’t just grab headlines; we changed minds — and sparked a national conversation about the state that hadn’t existed before,” he said.
The perception shift has begun attracting international attention. Skyscanner’s Travel Trends 2026 report named New Haven one of the top 10 trending travel destinations in the world for U.S. travelers, with search interest up 39%. The Elm City appeared alongside international locations including Mykonos, Jaipur and Sardinia.
