The Vermont Travel Industry Conference (VTIC) is pleased to accept nominations for the Travel Person of the Year Award and entries for the Governor’s SMART Award for Creative Marketing in Tourism. Both awards will be presented at the 32nd annual conference March 31 & April 1, 2015 in South Burlington, Vermont at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center.
The SMART Award will honor a tourism-related business, region, association, special event, travel journalist or other, which has leveraged the Vermont Brand through creative, innovative and customer focused marketing.The SMART Award recognizes an ongoing commitment to Vermont’s tourism industry and will be selected by an independent panel of marketing experts assembled by the Vermont Travel Industry Conference (VTIC) Board of Directors.
Past recipients of the SMART Award include SkiVermont for their “Check in to Win” campaign, freelance writer Melissa Pasanen for her Twitter handle @TasteofVermont, and Jay Peak Resort for their “Anthem” campaign.
The Vermont Travel Person of the Year Award recognizes an individual who contributes significantly to Vermont’s travel and tourism industry, enforces the Vermont brand, helps position Vermont as a friendly and fun place to visit, promotes the value of tourism to the state’s economy, and exemplifies what is good within the travel industry and within our local communities.The 2014 Vermont Travel Person of the Year award was presented to Nancy Illemann-Rock of Smugglers’ Notch Resort.
Eligibility, criteria and entry forms for both awards can be found online through the Vermont Travel Industry Conference website at www.VTIC.org. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, March 3, 2015.
For the second year, the 2015 Vermont Chamber Hospitality Awards will also be presented at the Vermont Travel Industry Conference. Traditionally the Vermont Chamber Hospitality Awards have been presented at the Vermont Chamber’s Hospitality Gala held each fall. In an effort to showcase these awards to a greater population of the Vermont tourism sector, committee members at the Vermont Chamber of Commerce and VTIC have come together to explore the opportunity of presenting these four peer-driven industry excellence awards at VTIC. The Vermont Chamber of Commerce Hospitality Awards include Chef of the Year, Restaurateur of the Year, Allied Member of the Year, and Borden E. Avery Innkeeper of the Year. Information about these awards can be found on the Vermont Chamber of Commerce website www.VTChamber.com.
The Vermont Travel Industry Conference draws one of the largest gatherings of tourism professionals in the state including owners, managers and employees of the many businesses connected to this important segment of the economy. If you are part of a tourism-related business or have an interest in the Vermont travel industry, we invite you to attend! Registration is available online through the conference website at www.vtic.org.
Highlights of the 2015 Conference:
· Registration is open! Register by February 6 to save.
· Now accepting nominations for the 2015 Vermont Travel Person of the Year award.
· Seeking entries for SMART Award for Creative Marketing using Social Media in Arts, Recreation, and Tourism.
· Keynote presenter: Robbin Philips, Brains on Fire – Lessons Learned in Word-of-Mouth Movements
· Auction donations needed to benefit Ted Bridges Hospitality Scholarship.
· Now accepting nominations for the 2015 Vermont Chamber Hospitality Awards.
· Presentation themes: Agri-Tourism, Partnerships, Public Relations, Trends in Tourism, Guest Experience, Marketing, Aesthetics.
· Review the conference schedule – session descriptions will be added this week!