The work done by Travel Tacoma + Pierce County and its partners in support of tourism during the U.S. Open Championship has earned recognition from the Puget Sound American Marketing Association (PSAMA) and the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA).

Leading up to, and during the U.S. Open, Travel Tacoma led a two-pronged effort to leverage opportunities to increase awareness of Pierce County as a travel destination, and drive visitors to Pierce County businesses.

“With 200 million eyes on Pierce County, we knew it was our destination’s time to shine,” said Travel Tacoma President + CEO Bennish Brown. “We worked with Pierce County, the City of Tacoma and regional stakeholders on collaborative PR and marketing efforts to tell the stories ‘outside the ropes’ of the Championship.”

“First and foremost we wanted to make sure that all 235,000 visitors had a memorable experience in Pierce County to attract them back,” added Brown.

The visitor experience portion of the work involved the launch of a new visitor-centered website, attraction and dining guides, training of hospitality frontline staff and a strong presence at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

“Exposure and visitor customer service became the two pillars of the campaign,” said Brown. “We are thrilled by the recognition of our campaign strategy from PSAMA and AIVA, but even more thrilled with the results.”

  • 184 percent increase in website traffic
  • 150 percent increase (YOY) in hotel revenue, per available room night during the peak of the U.S. Open

“The 2015 PSAMA Pulse Awards honors the best marketing campaigns produced by or for a company in the Puget Sound area,” Said PSAMA President Sloan Newman.

 

“The Travel Tacoma entry had a well-played strategy and ROI performance” said one judge.

 

Travel Tacoma also won a Gold Davey Award from the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts along with its partner SimpleView for the website, TravelTacoma.com, which was launched in May 2015, prior to the championship.

About the PSAMA Pulse Award
The PSAMA Pulse Awards highlight the region’s best marketing strategies, creativity and results. This award recognizes marketers who best understood the pulse of their audience, and really embraced the marketplace and its objectives. This is the only marketing awards competition of its kind in Washington. Winner will be announced Nov. 5, at the Pulse Awards Ceremony.

 

About the Davey Award

The Davey Awards is an international creative award focused exclusively on honoring outstanding creative work from the best small agencies worldwide. The 2015 Davey Awards received nearly 4,000 entries from ad agencies, interactive agencies, production firms, in-house creative professionals, graphic designers, design firms and public relations firms.