“Summer is Here” Earns Travel Industry’s Coveted Destiny Award
(Virginia Beach, Va., Sept. 9, 2014) A marketing campaign created by the Virginia Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) to jump-start the city’s leisure business received a prestigious Destiny Award at the U. S. Travel Association’s (USTA) annual national meeting in Louisville, Ky. Destiny Awards are given to destination marketing organizations at the local and regional levels by the U.S. Travel Destinations Council in 12 categories, and are recognized as the nation’s highest travel marketing recognition. USTA is the national, non-profit organization representing all components of the travel industry that generates $2.1 trillion in economic output and supports 14.9 million jobs. The CVB’s “Summer is Here” program was honored as the best “Short-Term Marketing Campaign” of 2013. The campaign was a special summer tourism marketing promotion created to jump-start the city’s leisure transient business following six months of challenging weather and the initial negative impacts of federal sequestration. The campaign’s elements included a unique combination of highly targeted rich emails, online media, gasoline station takeovers, a website landing page, and digital outdoor billboards, all developed in concert with CVB’s marketing agency, BCF of Virginia Beach. "We are very proud to be recognized once again by U.S. Travel for our marketing efforts," said James B. Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach CVB. "The 'Summer Is Here' program was a quick yet effective response to a situation confirmed by our ongoing research systems and in close consultation with industry partners which helped secure an overall positive year for us in 2013." Tourism is a leading industry in Virginia Beach that supports more than 12,000 local jobs.
