Fairfax County, VA - April 21, 2011 - Visit Fairfax (http://www.fxva.com/) was honored with four awards at the third annual Virgo Travel & Tourism Awards dinner, held Tuesday night at the Marriott Chesapeake in Chesapeake, Virginia. In addition to the three awards for the tourism organization's advertising and PR efforts and a joint-effort put forth by the Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium, Visit Fairfax's marketing manager Patrick Lennon received the DMO "Rising Star" Leadership Award, which "honors a DMO tourism professional whose leadership efforts have greatly benefited the travel and tourism industry."
In addition to Mr. Lennon's award, Visit Fairfax received Virgo Awards in the following categories:
Advertising and Promotions - Interactive (web sites, interactive CDs/DVDs, kiosks, multi-media) for the Visit Fairfax interactive mobile app for the iPhone and iPad, which is available for download on the iTunes app store at http://bit.ly/VisitFairfax.
Public Relations Initiative (community awareness campaigns and community pride initiatives) for the National Tourism Week Job Fair held last May in conjunction with National Tourism Week, as well as our Travel Facts Brochure. Both efforts went far to highlight the benefits of tourism with regard to economic impact and job creation while also providing an opportunity for the Fairfax County tourism community to connect with prospective employees.
Regional Marketing Initiative (two or more cities, counties or towns that have established a program, event, or campaign that markets a region as a consolidated destination): As part of the Northern Virginia Visitors Consortium (NVVC), the award was bestowed to the group at large in recognition of the opening evening event of American Bus Marketplace 2010 held at George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens and was attended by more than 1800 national travel professionals and tour operators selling group travel. The guests were transported in time and place to experience Northern Virginia's rich mélange of tourism products available in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Loudon, and Prince William/Manassas.
The annual Virgo Awards, presented by the Virginia Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (VACVB), are handed out to "individuals, groups, businesses and destination marketing organizations that significantly contribute to the Commonwealth of Virginia's economy through tourism promotion and development."
ABOUT VISIT FAIRFAX
Visit Fairfax is the official tourism organization for Fairfax County, Virginia. Charged with destination marketing and tourism promotion, it is directed by many of the County's top tourism and hospitality leaders. For more information, please visit http://www.fxva.com/.
# # #