WAYNESBORO, VA May 9, 2017 – Looking for a reason to raise a cold beer? We’ll give you two!
Among tough competition from some of the largest tourism bureaus in the state of Virginia, the Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail won two statewide awards at last month’s VIRGO Travel and Tourism Awards, presented by the Virginia Association of Destination Marketing Organizations (VADMO). The beer trail won in the categories of “Regional Marketing Initiative” and “Best in Show.”
The VIRGO Award is the state travel industry’s top prize for advertising and promotions from destination marketing organizations.
The competition was judged by a panel of independent judges who made their determinations based on the quality of the submission, economic efficiency, and the economic or community impact. The awards were presented in April at the Omni Homestead Resort.
The Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail was developed by a joint partnership of five local tourism offices to promote the Valley’s growing craft beer industry and showcase the region’s natural tie-in with compatible tourism offerings.
“By working together, we were able to multiply the impact of our investment and substantially raise the visibility of our regional assets,” said Courtney Cranor, Waynesboro Assistant Director of Economic Development and Tourism and this year’s chair of the Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail.
“The VIRGO Awards offer a bit of friendly competition among statewide tourism agencies,” said Theresa Earles, the VADMO board member who coordinates the awards program.
This is the third award that the campaign has received. In late 2016, the American Marketing Association (Central Virginia Chapter) awarded the Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail with its 2016 Excellence In Marketing Award in the category of cross-media marketing.
The trail also received some attention from the national craft beer tourism community earlier this spring at the first ever Beer Marketing & Tourism Conference in Asheville, NC. The Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail was chosen to represent Virginia and speak on a panel called “Creating Beer Tourism in Emerging Beer Regions” which focused on destinations that have not been historically known as beer destinations but are changing that quickly. Other destinations featured on the panel were Yakima Valley (WA), Santa Rosa (CA), Tampa Bay (FL), and Grand Rapids (MI).
The Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail was created by an alliance of tourism partners from Staunton, Augusta, Waynesboro, Harrisonburg, Lexington, and Rockbridge. The creative team includes Moore Public Relations, Queen City Creative, and Torx Media.
“We couldn’t be happier with this partnership,” says Sheryl Wagner, Director of Tourism for Staunton, speaking of the multiple-locality effort behind the trail.
ABOUT THE SHENANDOAH BEERWERKS TRAIL
The Shenandoah Beerwerks Trail pairs the craft beer experience with a combination of activities and attractions that uniquely reflect the region’s recreational and cultural activities. Trail updates and news can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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