MARYLAND OFFICE OF TOURISM ANNOUNCES ANNUAL TOURISM AWARD WINNERS

BALTIMORE, MD (November 14, 2022) – The 2022 Maryland Tourism Awards were presented today at the 41st Annual Maryland Tourism & Travel Summit in Ocean City, Maryland. The awards, given by the Maryland Department of Commerce Office of Tourism Development and the Maryland Tourism Development Board, recognize excellence and major contributions in expanding the market of Maryland tourism products, maximizing opportunities to generate overnight stays, and leveraging partnerships to showcase Maryland as an exciting, must-see tourism destination.

Tom Riford, Maryland Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary of Tourism, Film, Arts, Marketing and Communications; Liz Fitzsimmons, Managing Director of Maryland Department of Commerce’s Division of Tourism and Film, and Captain Judy Bixler, Oxford-Bellevue Ferry and Maryland Tourism Development Board Chair, presented the awards during a luncheon at the conference.

“Tourism is a crucial industry for Maryland, and it provides significant economic impact for our state,” said Assistant Secretary Riford. “I am honored to help present the 2022 Maryland Tourism Awards, which recognize the outstanding accomplishments of our tourism partners who support the collective mission of increasing visitor spending in Maryland.”

“The Maryland Tourism Awards showcase the influential people, programs and organizations that continue to make an economic impact on our state by encouraging visitors to stay longer and spend more here,” said Fitzsimmons.

The award categories and winners are:

Market Expansion Award: Awarded to Worcester County Tourism for successfully producing a comprehensive golf advertising campaign to expand an existing demographic and geographic market.

• Golf in Maryland’s Coast is a marketing campaign for the perfect golf getaway in Worcester County. Focusing on open space, 17 championship golf courses, national and state parks, and the abundance of outdoor and water recreation, the campaign included an increase in print, radio, television and digital advertisements, promoting golf packages, dining, shopping and recreational activities running in target markets and demographics resulting in increases of website traffic, lodging collections, and overall tourism sales tax revenues. 

Maximizing Opportunities Award: The recipient of this award is recognized for successfully taking advantage of an existing trend to generate overnight stays, and presented to Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County.

• The Beaches & Fall Adventure Campaign is a substantial advertising campaign to bolster support for the shoulder tourism season. Following economic indicators and consumer trends, the geo-targeted campaign sought top feeder markets using traditional and non-traditional platforms and sponsorships in a series of festivals and events contributing to an overall increase in web traffic, hotel occupancy and 17 percent increase in sales and use taxes for the county. 

Leveraging Partnerships Award: This award was presented to Wicomico County Recreation, Parks and Tourism for the Maryland Motorcoach Association Partnership and successfully identifying and packaging complementary assets in Maryland’s Eastern Shore region in order to drive revenue with overnight stays.

• Maryland's Eastern Shore & Maryland Motorcoach Association Partnership provides a unified marketing strategy and tour packages that connects partners and assets found across the Eastern Shore region. This partnership resulted in Wicomico County successfully hosting more than 300 group leaders and 70 vendors at the 2022 Group Leader Travel Showcase in Salisbury and working with the other Eastern Shore jurisdictions to create a sponsorship package that included booth space, advertising, FAM opportunities, participation and more.

The Maryland Tourism Awards are open to all individuals, private businesses, governmental agencies and non-profit organizations offering a tourism product or service in Maryland. A panel of judges representing Maryland’s tourism community reviews each nomination.

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About Maryland Department of Commerce Office of Tourism

The Maryland Office of Tourism is an agency within the Maryland Department of Commerce. Visitors to the state spent $16.4 billion on travel-related expenses in 2021. The Maryland tourism industry also generated $2.1 billion in state and local taxes, essentially saving each Maryland household $923 in annual taxes, and directly supported Marylanders with nearly 113,000 jobs. For more information, go to www.visitmaryland.org.