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Client: Hattiesburg, Mississippi
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Hattiesburg CVB Honored with National Awards
By: hcvbadmin
February 8, 2005
New York , NY - Recognized for outstanding achievements in tourism marketing, the Hattiesburg Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) was honored with three distinguished awards by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI.) The awards were presented during the 2004 HSMAI Adrian Advertising Awards Ceremony in New York City, which is the largest and most prestigious industry event in the nation.
“We are pleased to be recognized among the nation’s best hospitality industry agencies,” said Bonnie Warren, Past-Chair of the CVB Board of Directors. “We are especially proud of these awards because they are presented by the leading tourism organization in the nation.”
From more than 1,350 entries from 45 countries, Hattiesburg joined Las Vegas, Malaysia and Barbados as Gold award recipients. In addition, Hattiesburg also won a Silver award and a Bronze award for their work on the new branding campaign, highlighting “Hattie” as the tourism spokesperson. The HCVB worked with Northstar Destination Strategies of Nashville to gain extensive research on key markets and consumer behavior habits of those markets to create and implement the new brand.
“The staff truly deserves special recognition,” said Chris Rowell, Chair of the CVB Board of Directors . “Their dedication, skill and contribution made this possible.” Rowell also noted that Hattiesburg’s tourism industry adds over $150 million dollars to the local economy each year.
Since implementation of the “Hattie” campaign, the HCVB has garnered the following awards:
- CVB of the Year awarded by the Southeast Tourism Society;
- CVB of the Year awarded by Mississippi Governor’s Conference on Tourism;
- Research-In-Action award by the Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA), South Central States Chapter.
The CVB staff is housed in the Hattiesburg Visitors Center, located at the intersection of I59 and Hwy 49. For more information, contact the Hattiesburg Visitors Center at 601-296-7475 or visit www.hattiesburg.org.
HSMAI is the leading organization of sales and marketing professionals representing all segments of the hospitality industry. HSMAI has become the industry leader in identifying and communicating trends in the hospitality industry. For more information about these awards, visit www.hsmai.org/awards.
