Tour Lake County wins multiple awards from Ohio Travel Association — again -The News-Herald
Published by: The News-Herald
By Chad Felton
Original article found here
Tour Lake County, the official destination marketing organization for Lake County, has once again been recognized at the Ohio Travel Association’s Conference on Travel in Geneva-on-the-Lake with seven statewide marketing awards.
This year, Tour Lake County took home four first-place awards and three second-place awards.
After earning 10 awards in 2024 — more than any organization across the state — this year’s awards tied for the most received by any organization.
The first-place RUBY (Recognizing Uncommon Brilliance Yearly) Awards were received in the following categories:
• Best New Experience – For the Lake Erie Sand Sculpture Tour: Lake County, which drew over 25,000 people to four different lakefront parks to see public art created by Cleveland master sand sculptor Carl Jara
• Spirit of Community – For the organization’s long-running Arts and Culture Grant Program, which has been supplemented with an additional $250,000 in funding from Lake County’s American Rescue Plan Act funds over the past four years
• Event Campaign – For the 2024 “Fall Y’all” campaign promoting numerous fall activities and events throughout the county via paid digital marketing, social media, website and print collateral, resulting in year-over-year increases in website visits and social media engagement
• Online Blog – By increasing online blog posts threefold in 2024, focusing on keywords and seasonal content, there was a sixfold increase in online blog page views, totaling more than 84,000 visits in 12 months
According to officials, Tour Lake County’s Best New Experience entry was recognized as “flawless,” a designation given to only seven of the nearly 250 submissions.
The three second-place Citation of Excellence Awards were received for Digital Marketing Campaign, Social Media Campaign and Website.
“Being recognized by industry experts and our peers across Ohio for our creative and original marketing campaigns is one of the highest honors we can receive,” said Executive Director Neil Stein. “Our talented team works together to continually set — and raise — the standard for destination marketing.
“These awards are a testament to Tour Lake County leading the way in creative tourism promotion, and we couldn’t be prouder of this recognition.”
The Ohio Travel Association serves as the “leading voice advocating for its members and all destination marketing organizations across the state to emphasize the vital role tourism plays in economic development and the positive financial impact travel has on state and local economies.”
Nine marketing professionals, representing academia, consulting firms and ad agencies, judged each entry based on overall concept, results, and creativity.
For more information, contact Tour Lake County at 440-975-1234 or visit TourLakeCounty.com.