COURT HOUSE — The Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders was honored with an Excellence In Tourism Award for the implementation of a Canadian Marketing Campaign produced and managed in-house by the Cape May County Department of Tourism, according to a release.
Awards were presented to 10 organizations that exemplified the best of the state’s tourism industry at the 2009 Governor’s Conference held recently at Trump Marina Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.
The Department of Tourism, under the direction of Director Diane Wieland, was honored for the seventh time from a record number of award entries for the campaign featuring the development of a French language video, a web page in French and a CD post card.
The CD is attached to a post card (to use as a mailing tool in place of the weightier information packages) and includes the video, a photo slideshow of Cape May County, the Southern New Jersey Vacationer magazine and links to the Web sites of Cape May County and the state Division of Travel and Tourism.
“The goal of the program was to resolve the communication barrier by producing marketing initiatives in the native language of the Quebecois, Cape May County’s largest International visitor audience,” stated Wieland.
The award-winning program also included a public relations effort in French.
Targeted media outlets in the province of Quebec received news releases touting various aspects of a vacation in Cape May County.
The initiative also included two familiarization tours of Cape May County for several freelance journalists and a sales mission to Canada by Wieland and Freeholder Leonard Desiderio, highlighted by a networking event with directors of the Canadian Automobile Association from the Quebec region, resulting in 3,000 inches of publicity that translates to $1 million in advertising value.
“Cape May County welcomed a record number of visitors from the province in 2008 due in large part to the ongoing marketing commitment to this important visitor audience by Cape May County’s Freeholder Board for over 40 years,” said Wieland.
According to the official press release from the Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, “This year’s honorees exemplify the spirit of the New Jersey tourism industry by contributing to the quality of the experience for our visitors and promoting economic development by investing in our state’s future,” said Secretary Nina Mitchell Wells. “Through some very creative events, promotions, advertising and public relations initiatives, these organizations have successfully encouraged travelers to select New Jersey as their destination of choice.”
The tourism industry in Cape May County contributed $5.06 billion to the state’s economy in 2008. Tourism expenditures in the County placed the destination second only to Atlantic City in the State in terms of overall tourism expenditures. Cape May County’s tourism industry combined with the industry of Atlantic and Ocean counties contributes almost two-thirds of New Jersey’s total tourism expenditures.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
