SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 9, 2019—Connect Travel, owners and producers of eTourism Summit, is pleased to announce the winners of the 2nd Annual eTSY Awards. The event took place during the 20th Annual eTourism Summit, the top North American gathering of destination digital marketers in travel and their partner agencies.
Powered by Expedia Group Media Solutions and Streetsense, the eTourism Summit Excellence Awards recognize and celebrate the best of 2018-19 campaigns and programs with awards in a dozen original categories.
New this year is the top award for “Best Campaign of the Past 20 Years,” presented to Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority for “What Happens Here, Stays Here” and an annual “See Tomorrow” award presented to Jake Steinman, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of eTourism Summit.
The call for entries opened in May 2019 and concluded four months later, garnering strong interest from city, state, county, and regional DMOs and attractions throughout the United States and Canada.
Appreciation goes to a panel of expert judges: Josh Collins, Director, Destination Activation + Marketing, Streetsense; Andrew Dysart, VP of Digital Solutions, Tarsus; Andrew Hertz, with Dade Media Inc. and Monya Mandich, Global Vice President, Marketing at Expedia Group who considered three key criteria: strategy and objective; creativity; and impact/measurability.
“The eTourism Summit community is comprised of tech-savvy digital marketers who are always looking for innovative ideas that will deliver measurable results for their destinations,” said Monya Mandich, Global Vice President of Marketing, Expedia Group Media Solutions.
Ralph Thompson, Executive Director of Travel + Tourism at Streetsense said, “Because Streetsense thrives in creating brands people love and places people love to be, it’s an honor to partner with the eTSY Awards showcasing the best from the people and places that make the travel and tourism industry so amazing!”
Many of the awards were evaluated according to size for those with annual marketing budgets under $5 million or over $5 million. “The quality of digital marketing in the travel and tourism industry is impressive. Every category was highly competitive,” said J. William Seccombe, president of Connect Travel. “We applaud everyone submitting for examples of great work and congratulate the winners.
We also salute Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau for two decades of perfect attendance at eTourism Summit.”
Representing the sponsors of the eTourism Summit 2019 eTSY Awards for Excellence were Derek Price, Director of Sales – North America, Expedia Group Media Solutions and Josh Collins, Director – Destination Activation + Marketing, Streetsense.
Best Destination Website — BeginatBothell.com for Begin at Bothell and Streetsense
Best Content Marketing Program (small budget) — Frankenmuth and TwoSix Digital for Frankenmuth Spring Shoulder Campaign
Best Content Marketing Program (large budget) — San Francisco Travel Association for “Why San Francisco is So Delicious”
Best Influencer Marketing Campaign — Oregon’s Mt. Hood Territory for “Travel the Entire Oregon Trail for the 175th Anniversary”
Best Use of Video (small budget) — Economic Development Winnipeg for “Autocomplete – Winnipeg Edition!”
Best Use of Video (large budget), A three-way tie — San Francisco Travel Association for “Freedom to Create” Arts Anthem Video; AND Punta Gorda and Englewood Beach Visitor & Convention Bureau and Aqua Marketing & Communications for “Outsiders Welcome” Video Series; AND The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel and MMGY Global
Innovation Award — Conversant and Visit Savannah for how to use one-to-one transactions to measure the complete economic impact of digital ad spend
Best Campaign of the Past 20 Years — Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority for “What Happens Here, Stays Here”
Perfect Attendance — Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau for never missing eTourism Summit since 2000
See Tomorrow Award — Jake Steinman, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, eTourism Summit for his ideation and vision
ABOUT CONNECT TRAVEL Connect Travel creates efficient and effective environments to expedite the sales process by connecting tourism professionals with the products, services, people and ideas that allow them to thrive in a rapidly evolving and highly competitive global marketplace. For more information, visit connecttravel.com.
ABOUT CONNECT Connect is a leader in the meetings, travel and tourism industry. Specializing in destination marketing, the company produces a full suite of digital programs, online and mobile solutions, meeting business and travel magazines, trade shows and consumer events, travel guides for newspapers and leisure magazines and destination information, which is distributed through broadcast and custom programs. More information about the company’s brands and services is available at connectmeetings.com
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