It's "SayWA."

We ran it by tourist Marcy Heim. "You mean like say what? Come to Seattle? Say What? Like that?" she asked.

No, not say WHAT.

It's pronounced "wah" as in, say Washington. "Oh, say Waaaah," she said. "We get it."

Do you?

The new campaign pitches "wah" as the sound you'll make when you see our state's majestic mountains, rugged coastline and glorious sunsets.

"Waaah. In Washingtonian, this means wow," the campaign says. Local visitor bureaus, chambers, marketing firms and businesses signed off on the slogan, seeing it as a simple, catchy phrase that provokes thought.

Maybe too much thought.

The state's new tourism slogan may be more clever than its critics suggest.

After all, "saywa" does mean "landmark" in Aymara, a language spoken by 2.2 million people in South America. And those Andean villagers around Lake Titicaca are suckers for backpacking - wait 'til they get a gander at REI!

True, they aren't the state's target demographic - 35- to 55-year-old Westerners with disposable income - but the Washington State Tourism Office might hope the slogan resonates there, because a lot of English speakers are panning it.

"It's just not that catchy," said Sarah Owens of Seattle as she led a couple of Irish tourists through Pike Place Market, one of the state's premier attractions. "Who makes these decisions? Washington's spectacular. It doesn't need a slogan."

The slogan, 18 months in development, is designed to promote Washington's numerous tourist attractions, from hiking in the Olympic Mountains to visiting wine country to wind-surfing in the Columbia River Gorge. A replacement for "Experience Washington," it was chosen with a lot of market research and the input of a 32-member "brand development task force," which included Chamber of Commerce directors, tourism officials and business representatives from around the state. Beginning this spring, a $442,000 campaign will put "SayWA" advertisments into travel magazines and television programs.

"SayWA is a distillation of the sense of wonder that comes with discovery," the tourism office's Web site suggests. "It describes the moment when an experience becomes emotional. Where the traveler is no longer an observer, but a participant. The SayWA moment."

One mock advertisement shows tourists taking pictures of the Columbia Gorge. "SayWA: This is the sound of jaws dropping."

More than one observer noted that dropping jaws are generally silent unless making way for a tongue depressor. Others said "WA" reminds them most of a baby crying, or a toddler asking for water. Even the slang basis for it - "Say what?" - is a response to something nonsensical or stupid. Not really something to build an industry on.

"Thirty-five years ago I smoked dope and probably could have come up with something like that," said Darrell Bryan, general manager of Victoria Clipper, the largest tour operator in the Northwest. "To me, it's better to have no slogan than to come up with something like that. There's too much scratching the head about 'What does that mean?"'

Certainly, the classic tourism slogans - "I (heart) NY," "What happens here, stays here" - aren't so opaque.

"Virginia is for lovers," Bryan said. "I don't know if it's true, but it's catchy."

The state's tourism office insists that the slogan is designed to help Washington escape traditional tourism advertising.

"Any good campaign is going to cause people to stop and wonder about it," said spokeswoman Michelle Zahrly. "We know, as with any marketing campaign, that not all the people are going to like it, but if it's based on research for the target audience, and we did a lot of research ... it will reach those people we're hoping to attract here."

Several vendors at Pike Place Market, whose livelihoods depend heavily on tourist dollars, weighed the new slogan with bemusement. Kenny Telesco, 44, a purveyor of watercolors, and fellow vendor Heather Tullius practiced saying "WA" first with fist pumps, then with a French accent ("Zay Hwah!") and finally with "jazz hands," which they found most satisfying. They gathered passersby for a group photo, to try out "WA!" instead of "Cheese!"

"'WA' is the sound you make when you're not having fun," Tullius said.

"WA! WA! I think it's working," Telesco said, fingers flickering beside his face.

Jokes notwithstanding, Bryan said the slogan's weakness represents a serious problem for the industry: a lack of state support. The state's tourism budget is $3.6 million, which leaves only about $600,000 a year for direct promotion after staff salaries are deducted. By contrast, he said, British Columbia's annual tourism budget is about $35 million and the U.S. state average $12.8 million.

A few months ago Bryan wrote a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire, suggesting she implode the tourism office and create an industry tourism association with real funding. She hasn't responded, he said.

"A number of us are very upset about this slogan," Bryan said. "By having too little money you come up with poor ideas."

When the ad campaign goes nationwide at the end of the month, potential visitors will see the sites in Washington that are supposed to make your jaw drop, mixed with the slogan, "SayWA."

"When we flew in last night we could see all of the city, how beautiful it was," said tourist Heim.

He watched it all the way down and said, 'Whoa, look at this!' "

Well, almost.

For More Information:

www.experiencewa.com.