Business & Event Listing Policy

Visit Canton Mission Statement: To Attract and Engage Visitors, Serve and Educate Regional Tourism Partners, and to Generate Economic Development through Travel and Tourism Development.

VisitCanton.com Profile Listings & Event Calendar Guidelines:

Our goal is to provide information for visitors on fun and exciting things to do while traveling to Stark County. Visit Canton reserves the right to determine eligibility for inclusion on VisitCanton.com with consideration given to the appeal of the event to attract day trips and overnight visitors.

Visit Canton believes in ethical standards and values diversity, equity, and inclusion. To ensure that visitors to Stark County are welcomed and treated with respect and equality, Visit Canton reserves the right to suspend business or event listings from our website if these values are not upheld.

Approval/rejection of all submissions is at the discretion of Visit Canton, which reserves the right to edit or refuse any listing at any time. Please remember that these are only guidelines. Please contact us directly with any questions or concerns, and we would be happy to provide additional guidance.

What can I submit to the VisitCanton.com event calendar?

  • Prominent events open to the general public and actively marketed to audiences outside of the greater Stark County area
  • Events showcasing a community’s unique character, history or heritage
  • Performances, live music, theatre productions, and music festivals
  • Exhibit openings and open houses of historic homes
  • Holiday events that include activities of interest to visitors
  • Ethnic festivals providing activities of interest to visitors
  • Multi-day community festivals & county fairs that offer entertainment and activities that would interest a visitor
  • Major and minor league sporting events, 5Ks, and Marathons (individual games or the season)

What does NOT qualify for the VisitCanton.com event calendar?

  • Events that are NOT being held in Stark County
  • Events that are your normal business model. These include and are not limited to daily repeating exhibits, daily or weekly deals, happy hour specials, seasonal deals, themed sales at a business that do not have an entertainment factor, speaker series, or celebration to kick off the sale, or open times of a business. All of the items mentioned can be and are encouraged to be listed in each partner profile's description.
  • Events closed to any segment of the general public for any reason
  • Fundraisers – these include basket raffles, reverse raffles, benefits, galas, golf outings or events that categorize themselves as a fundraiser in the main description without an entertainment element such as a full concert, taste of event, wine or beer tastings, etc.
  • Student-Only events such as school or college events, home-school only, or student-only events
  • Pageants such as beauty pageants, competition pageants
  • Coloring contests, photo contests, pie-eating contests etc.
  • Church or worship services
  • Family or class reunions; church bazaars, picnics and special events
  • Retail sales, craft shows and yard sales that are not associated with a special tourism event
  • Multi-week classes, workshops, or summer camps
  • Running or biking clubs that meet weekly or monthly
  • Club meetings such as book clubs, social club meetings, neighborhood gatherings, ice cream socials, etc.
  • Private or members‐only events
  • Content promoting hostility or violence
  • Sexually explicit events at adult entertainment venues
  • Civic and community meetings, conferences and activities (Please reach out about the Industry Partner Calendar for these event listings)
  • Virtual Events

What businesses qualify as "Partners?"

In-County Partners: Stark County tourism partners, such as attractions, museums, restaurants, and lodging facilities, will receive a login and will be responsible for managing and updating their individual profile listing in adherence with the stated policies below. Any listing on VisitCanton.com may be revised or updated at the discretion of Visit Canton.

Regional Partners: Out-Of-County, non-lodging properties, may purchase advertising in the Visit Canton Travel Guide and/or VisitCanton.com sponsored content with the approval of Visit Canton. Participation in either paid marketing opportunity will qualify the business as Regional Partner for the duration of their advertisement. Regional Partners will be eligible to participate in other Visit Canton promotions and opportunities which include a website profile, event listings, promotional pass opportunities, educational and networking events, etc. All opportunities will be approved at the discretion of Visit Canton. Regional Partners are not eligible for Visit Canton Grant Funding.

How do I get featured in editorial content, blogs, or social media?

Visit Canton develops content for social media channels and VisitCanton.com for the purpose of telling the destination story to visitors, pitch to media, or showcase our destination for a social promotion. In most instances, Visit Canton will link its editorial content to partner listing pages on VisitCanton.com. These editorial pieces are written at the discretion of a Visit Canton employee or a guest author as distinguished and seen fit by Visit Canton.

More Partner Resources