Tourism Office Honors Award Winners
at Maryland Governor’s Tourism Industry Conference
BALTIMORE (November 24, 2008 ) – The Maryland Office of Tourism Development (OTD), an agency of the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), and the Maryland Tourism Council presented awards to a variety of tourism professionals and organizations at the Maryland Governor’s Tourism Industry Conference, Nov. 10-12, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Prince George’s County. More than 200 members of the tourism industry attended the conference.
DBED’s Secretary David Edgerley made the presentations from the Tourism Office. Award winners were recognized as pro-active partners of the Tourism Office, innovators of tourism-related marketing programs and top-quality hospitality professionals. The following awards were given:
OTD Partnership Award for Private Sector Support: Spirit Cruises in Baltimore received this award for its ongoing support of the Tourism Office’s marketing efforts by hosting tour operators, group leaders and travel journalists. Mark Koralewski accepted the award.
OTD Partnership Award for Volunteer Recognition: The Harriet Tubman Organization – the group credited with keeping the flame of Harriet Tubman’s legacy alive – received this award. Donald Pinder, president of the advocacy group, accepted.
OTD Partnership Award for a Sister Agency: The State Highway Administration received this award for its implementation of the Tourism Area and Corridor Signing Program, which helps to direct visitors to destinations and attractions throughout the state.
OTD Marketing Partnership Award: The Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance and Susan Steckman of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel Conference and Visitors Association jointly received this award for bringing 60 travel journalists to the Annapolis area to showcase Annapolis, Maryland and the region.
After the Tourism Office awards ceremony, two leaders of Maryland’s tourism industry – John Fieseler and Tom Riford – presented awards from the Maryland Tourism Council, the statewide advocacy group that represents private-sector segments of the hospitality and tourism industry. Fieseler is executive director of the Tourism Council of Frederick County and Riford is president and CEO of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A committee of previous winners of the Council’s “Maryland Tourism Person of the Year” award had determined the recipients of these awards:
Cooperative Promotion for an Integrated or Continuing Program: The Tourism Council of Frederick County received this award for its Frederick Wine Trail campaign – a program that showcases the county’s wine industry, while promoting other activities and attractions to winery visitors.
Cooperative Promotion Award for a One-Time Initiative: The Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau received this award for its “North American Towne Crier Championship” – a competition among 25 town criers who came to Annapolis for the event. It was part of the 300th-anniversary celebration of the signing of Annapolis’ Colonial charter.
New or Improved Product Award: The Talbot County Office of Tourism received this award for the new Chesapeake Film Festival. Numerous film-industry professionals and a variety of organizations in the county helped to make this inaugural event a success – more than 2,000 people attended the festival.
Best Printed Promotional Material: Howard County Tourism received this award for its “Howard County Wildlife Driving Tour.” The tour highlights area wildlife, while promoting awareness of the county’s ecosystem. Points on the tour are accessible by foot, bicycle, car and public transportation.
Best Electronic Marketing Award: Worcester County Office of Tourism and Maryland.com jointly received this award for their new web site, Wilds of Worcester. com. The partnership promotes the “wild” aspect of Worcester with webisodes designed to generate interest in exploring other parts of Worcester County beyond Ocean City.
Best Visitors Guide: This award was presented to the Tourism Council of Frederick County for their Destination Frederick visitors’ publication.
Industry Partnership Award: The Ocean City Air Show – a joint effort of Ocean City, the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce and the Harrison Group for the Ocean City Air Show – was recognized with this award. The show featured military aircraft demonstrations, civilian aerobatic performers and close-formation flying teams.
Tourism Advocate Award: Susan Jones, of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, received this award for her work to forge an increased-funding plan for tourism, which more than doubled the group’s advertising budget – from $1.7 to $3.5 million.
The Impact Award: Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, which opened earlier this year, received the award. Gaylord’s impact on the state’s tourism industry – with more than 450,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space, and 2,000 rooms – is expected to provide a significant boost to Maryland’s economy for years to come.
Maryland Tourism Education Foundation Award: Michael Haynie, general manager of Tremont Suites Hotels and a Maryland Tourism Development Board member, received this award for his contributions to the education of current and future tourism professionals.
Maryland Tourism Council’s New Professional of the Year: Cheryl Clemens, from Toby’s Dinner Theater in Columbia and Baltimore, received this award.
Audrey Davenport Hospitality Person of the Year: Jody Dalton, from the Historic Annapolis Foundation, received this award.
Maryland Tourism Council Person of the Year: Debbi Dodson, executive director of the Talbot County Office of Tourism, received this award.
Also, announced at the conference was the availability of the Tourism Development Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2008, which highlights Office of Tourism metrics as well as tourism industry measurements. For Calendar Year 2007, visitors to Maryland generated nearly $14 billion in expenditures and $1.7 billion in state and local taxes. This is an increase of 3.5 percent over 2006. The complete report is available at www.visitmaryland.org/AboutMDTourism/Documents/Annual_Report_2008.pdf.
Next year’s Maryland Governor’s Tourism Industry Conference will be held in Ocean City, November 4-6, 2009.
