Indiana Tourism Association announces award winners; Visit Madison, Inc. receives double honor

Efforts to draw more visitors to the area the past two years

[Madison, Indiana] March 23, 2022 - Indiana’s annual tourism conference was held March 14-16 in Noblesville, Indiana. The Madison/Jefferson County Tourism organization, Visit Madison, Inc. (VMI), was honored by industry leaders for their efforts to draw more visitors to the area the past two years. The awards honor tourism businesses who are creative, innovative and maximize the dollars invested.

The first of two awards were for ‘Best COVID Marketing Campaign’, the “Great $2020 Stay & Cash Giveaway” campaign was created to support the Madison and Jefferson County, Indiana tourism industry, a reaction to the pandemic; to encourage visitors and offer an incentive to make use of the accommodations, hospitality services and activities the city and county had to offer, plus support local businesses. The campaign had 11 innkeepers participate and visitors that spanned from: Bronx, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Cape Coral, FL; Decatur, AL; Little Rock, AR; Phoenix, AZ; Fort Collins, Colorado; Ragley, Louisiana to IL, MI, NC, and with the majority of entries from IN, OH, & KY. Guests of the participating innkeepers used a promo code to book their stay, and upon arrival entered into the cash giveaway. Four (4) winners were announced early December of 2020. Executive Marketing Director, Sarah Prasil, expressed “it was a priority to support our innkeepers and local businesses during the pandemic, and while it seemed the best time to cut back, in crisis marketing its ever important to stay top of mind”. She added “we certainly didn’t want to encourage unsafe travels, but after the country started to open up, we wanted to offer incentives for folks to come to Madison/Jefferson County”

The second award was for ‘Best Digital Marketing Campaign’. VMI partnered with Cincinnati Magazine on a “Fall in love with Madison” digital campaign in 2021. The campaign targeted the regional Cincinnati market, utilizing fall beauty shots of Madison that were transformed into a sliding video ad on Facebook, as well as a blog about “Seven Things to Fall in Love with in Madison, Indiana”. The campaign directed users to sign-up for the Visit Madison monthly newsletter and go to the website. The reach, awareness, and engagement reported were above industry averages.

Sarah Prasil expressed “it’s a great honor to get statewide recognition for all the efforts our team makes that goes into spreading the uniqueness of Historic Madison and Jefferson County, and doubly great to bring home two awards!”

Lucy Dattilo, VMI Board President added, “I am very proud of the efforts of our marketing department. Sarah Prasil and Hannah Shaffer are exceptional professionals. Madison is blessed to have them lead the tourism marketing efforts in our community. VMI appreciates the recognition from the ITA and support they have provided us.”

The Indiana Tourism Awards were presented on Tuesday, March 15. The awards honor tourism businesses who are creative, innovative and maximize the dollars invested. The winners were:

• Best Advocacy Initiative – Hamilton County Tourism, Inc.

• Best Cooperative Partnership – Indiana Foodways Alliance

• Best Culinary Focused Marketing Campaign – Hamilton County Tourism, Inc.

• Best Digital Marketing Campaign – Visit Madison, Inc.

• Best Leisure Travel Marketing Campaign – Visit Bloomington

• Best Event/Festival – Falls of the Ohio State Park

• Best Specialty Item (Marketing Budgets under $300,000) – Shelby County Tourism and Visitors Bureau

• Best Specialty Item (Marketing Budgets over $300,000) – SoIN Tourism

• Best Visitors Guide (Marketing Budgets under $300,000) – Visit Wabash County

• Best Visitors Guide (Marketing Budgets over $300,000) – Elkhart County, IN CVB

• Best Tourism Website – Visit South Bend Mishawaka

• Best COVID Marketing Campaign (Marketing Budgets under $300,000) – Visit Madison, Inc.

• Best COVID Marketing Campaign (Marketing Budgets over $300,000) – Elkhart County, IN CVB

Two hundred tourism leaders from around the state came to the Indiana Tourism Conference for networking and educational sessions over the three-days.

. . . The Indiana Tourism Association’s mission is advocating the value of tourism in Indiana and supporting the best practices of its members. Established in 1980, the association partners with the Indiana Destination Development Corporation, Association of Indiana Restaurant and Lodging and other statewide associations to support tourism investment and promotion as an economic contributor to the state. For more information, visit www.IndianaTourismAssociation.com.

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