ALPINE — The Texas Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus announced that Visit Alpine won first place in the “People’s Choice” Idea Fair awards in the Under $1 Million budget level for COVID-19 Messaging. The awards were presented during TACVB’s Virtual Annual Conference on August 12, 2020.
The award was given to Alpine’s official visitor information center for the 1 on 1 on 1 Livestream Music Festival held on May 2 and 3, 2020, a joint project of the City of Alpine and the Big Bend COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund. The event featured 37 short musical performances and raised over $7,000 for the Pandemic Relief Fund. “On pretty short notice, we were able to share 11 hours of music by and for the Big Bend with the world and bring in some much-needed dollars for local residents,” said City of Alpine Tourism Director Chris Ruggia. “I’m still kind of amazed that we pulled it off.”
TACVB was founded in 1972 to provide professional development and training opportunities, and its Idea Fair promotes “excellence in destination marketing,” according to the association.
The goal of the Idea Fair awards is to generate awareness of the quality work done by TACVB members as they promote their destinations to leisure and business travelers. Members were able to enter their campaigns in the following categories: Tourism Branding & Advertising, Cooperative Marketing, Convention Promotion, Local Awareness, Sports Marketing, Website/Mobile Site/App, Video and, new this year, COVID-19 Messaging.
Each award contains three budget categories to allow participation from all TACVB members (Under $1 million; $1 million to $3 million; and $3 million plus). “Judges’ Choice” winners are selected by a panel of judges comprised of tourism industry experts. A People’s Choice competition allows tourism industry peers to weigh in on their favorites as well.
“We had a record 119 entries this year,” said Jodi Willard, TACVB Idea Fair chairman. “The winners encountered strong competition and these awards are well-deserved.”