Tourism Awards
The Visit Loudoun Tourism Awards Program showcases the work, service, creativity, and contributions of individuals and organizations as it relates to tourism promotion. Take advantage of this opportunity to acknowledge those key individuals and programs that deserve recognition and thanks for their valuable contributions and success.
Tourism Awards are given each year during Visit Loudoun's Annual Meeting when we celebrate tourism in our community. The 2009 Visit Loudoun Tourism Awards will be given at the Annual Meeting in March 2010. Visit Loudoun accepts award nominations on an on-going basis; the deadline to submit nominations for the 2009 Tourism Awards is Friday, January 22, 2010.
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Judging Criteria
Entry Guidelines
Employee of the Year (Individual Award)
Volunteer of the Year (Individual Award)
Humanitarian Award (Individual Award)
Tourism Event of the Year (Program Award)
Tourism Promotion/Campaign of the Year (Program Award)
Hometown Star Award
Judy Patterson Tourism Award (Individual or Program Award)
All award entries for the 2009 Tourism Awards must be for individuals, organizations, or programs that recognize accomplishments for activities that occurred or were completed during 2009. The Visit Loudoun Awards Committee judges the Tourism Awards entries. Typically one award is presented in each category, however, the judges may recognize more than one entry for a particular category, or none if no entry is deemed worthy. The judges may also re-categorize any entry. You may be contacted during the judging process for additional information.
- All award entries for the 2009 Tourism Awards must be for individuals, organizations, or programs that recognize accomplishments for activities that occurred or were completed during the 2009 calendar year. Programs that were launched in 2009 that are on-going and do not yet have results or accomplishments should wait until the 2010 awards.
- Award winners for the previous two (2) years are not eligible for this year's award in the same category. A list of previous winners is included at the bottom of this page, in the "Important Documents" box.
- Select the appropriate category. Complete the Tourism Awards Entry Form using the following criteria to complete the entries. Be as brief as possible and address all the elements that will be judged.
Objectives: Clearly describe the objectives for the program, campaign, or activity so that the judges may determine how well the stated results met the objectives.
Execution: Describe the implementation of the program, campaign, or activity with reference to techniques used, tactics undertaken, and any difficulties encountered and overcome. Identify any partners and their roles. Specify the target audience for programs and events. (The role of an individual should be described as it relates to execution if appropriate.)
Impact/Results: State the results achieved, for example, visitor count increase, increased return on investment, increase in public awareness, increase in economic impact, and other related data. Describe how the results met or exceeded the expectations and whenever possible quantify the results available at the time of submission. (For individuals, describe how the individual influenced the results.) - Gather detailed information or collateral materials that support the summary, including brochures, inserts, posters, videos, clippings, letters from customers, etc.
- Gather photos of the individual, event, or program to be used in the Tourism Awards program. It is preferred that these be digital images, sent to harp@VisitLoudoun.org.
- Submit six (6) printed copies of the completed entry as well as all supporting materials and photos to Visit Loudoun. Please note that all entry materials become the property of Visit Loudoun and may not be returned.
Visit Loudoun
Attn: Greg Harp
112-G South Streeet, SE
Leesburg, VA 20175
Fax: 703-771-4973 - Participate in the Tourism Awards video that will be shown during the Visit Loudoun Annual Meeting & Tourism Awards Luncheon to recognize the award nominees and winners.
- Attend the Visit Loudoun Annual Meeting & Tourism Awards Luncheon in March 2010 to honor the nominees and winners.
Tourism Management Employee of the Year
Tourism Front-Line Employee of the Year
These categories recognize that our employees in management and front-line positions make a difference and contribute to our tourism destination success. Those employees who go beyond their typical job description to improve a visitor's experience should be nominated. The evaluation and criteria should include as many of the following as possible:
- The daily opportunity the employee has to impact a visitor's experience.
- The specific example or significance of ongoing service that led you to nominate the employee.
- Letters from customers complimenting the employee.
- How the level of service provided to visitors exceeds their job performance standards.
Download entry form for Tourism Management Employee of the Year.
Download entry form for Tourism Front-Line Employee of the Year.
This category recognizes the contribution that volunteers make in the tourism industry whether at a historic site, an event, as a member of one of the boards affiliated with a tourism related organization, or some other volunteer opportunity in the tourism industry. The evaluation and criteria should include as many of the following as possible:
- The significance of the volunteer contribution to the success of the tourism program.
- The type of contribution, i.e. leadership, in-kind services, time contribution, etc.
- The duration of service; did the individual volunteer for 3 days, 3 months, or 3 years?
Download entry form for Tourism Volunteer of the Year.
This category recognizes the contribution of an individual or an organization from the tourism industry for their service in aiding and assisting others. The humanitarian efforts may include volunteer hours, corporate support for volunteerism, relief efforts, or specific campaigns or programs that serve a local, regional, national, or global population in need of assistance. The need can range from hunger and health issues to literacy to natural disasters and the environment.
Nominees should exhibit humanitarian qualities such as honesty, integrity, responsibility, compassion, and courage, and an exemplary commitment of time and energy serving others.
The evaluation and criteria should include as many of the following as possible:
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Impact of the service to others, i.e. economic, socioeconomic, physical, etc.
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Amount of time and effort dedicated to the service of others.
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Increased awareness for a cause or need through media coverage, letters, speeches, etc.
Download entry form for the Humanitarian Award.
Tourism Event of the Year: Attendance up to 3,000
Tourism Event of the Year: Attendance over 3,000
This category recognizes events that attracted visitors to Loudoun County and/or its incorporated towns to participate in and attend the event. The evaluation and criteria should include as many of the following as possible:
- The lasting benefit the event had on the community such as a positive economic impact, an improvement to the community, or an improvement in quality of life for Loudoun's residents.
- The level of community support through volunteers, corporate sponsorships, and civic group participation.
- The positive value of the event to the customer in terms of the event as a whole, entertainment, length of time to experience the event, desire to attend multiple days (if applicable), and cost per ticket.
- The number of overnight rooms generated in local hotels, bed and breakfasts, and inns as a result of the event.
- The promotion of the event to out-of-county visitors in terms of creativity, effectiveness, and results.
Download entry form for the Event of the Year: Attendance up to 3,000.
Download entry form for the Event of the Year: Attendance over 3,000.
Tourism Promotion/Campaign of the Year
Entries in this category may include marketing, promotion, and/or public relations promotions and campaigns. This category recognizes creativity, innovation, clearly stated objectives and how those are measured, and the demonstrated results from the program. The evaluation and criteria should include as many of the following as possible:
- The stated objectives and anticipated results.
- The creative design, innovation of the program, and message.
- The implementation process.
- The results from the program; did it reach the targeted audience?
Download entry form for the Tourism Promotion/Campaign of the Year.
This category recognizes the contribution that an individual or organization makes to the tourism industry in bringing a meeting, convention, or sports event to Loudoun. The evaluation and criteria should include as many of the following as possible:
- The benefit of the meeting, convention, or sports event to the tourism industry, including the number of event attendees and overnight rooms generated.
- The type of contribution, i.e. leadership, time, effort, services, etc. that the individual or organization offered to secure and host the meeting or sports event.
Download entry form for Hometown Star Award.
This is Visit Loudoun's highest award honor. Judy Patterson was a founding board member of Visit Loudoun and a creative, innovative, tourism professional with a passion for Loudoun County, its towns, historic sites, and tourism opportunities. The Visit Loudoun Board of Directors established this award to honor individuals and organizations who exhibit a passion for tourism and contribute to the tourism industry a legacy by which they will be remembered. The evaluation and criteria should include as many of the following as possible:
- The level of contribution to the tourism industry such as a significant economic impact, multiple years of contributions, the outcome of the contribution and its opportunity for benefits to the tourism industry, etc.
- The legacy of the contribution. What will people say about this individual, organization, or program in 20 years as they recall the impact of this nominee to the tourism industry?
- The passion, enthusiasm, drive, momentum, team-building ability, etc. of the individual or organization as it relates to tourism industry accomplishments.
- What makes this nominee's contribution significant and outstanding to the tourism industry when compared to other tourism industry individuals or organizations?
Download entry form for the Judy Patterson Tourism Award.