LCVA Earns State Promotion Award

The Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association has won the Virginia Tourism Corporation "Passionate about Spreading the Word" award for its community awareness program, according to a press release from the LCVA.

Virginia Tourism Corporation President Alisa Bailey presented the award to LCVA President and CEO Cheryl Kilday at the recent VA-1 Conference in Roanoke.

Bailey congratulated Kilday and her staff for "an outstanding job of marketing the Loudoun area, not only to outside visitors but to local residents as well," calling the Loudoun agency "an integral part of the greater tourism team of Virginia."

The community awareness campaign sought as its major initiative to make Loudoun's residents and businesses aware of the benefits of tourism to their quality of life and to the local economy. By introducing residents to the LCVA, the association endeavored to show them how to utilize the many services available to help increase visitation through visiting friends and relatives, as well as meetings and events.

Key messages focusing on the agency's mission were incorporated into a direct mail campaign targeting every household in the county. The messages included "Tourism Works For You," "Loudoun County Thrives On Tourism," and "Loudoun County: Where We meet." Additionally, three six-inch by nine-inch, four-page color mailings with Loudoun scenes were sent to 110,000 Loudoun households at regular intervals over four weeks in the late spring. A business focus mailing also was sent to more than 9,000 businesses in the county. To top the effort, full-page, four-color print advertisements reflecting the design qualities of the direct mail campaign were placed in seven Loudoun newspapers, also over a one-month period in the late spring.

The campaign encouraged recipients to phone the LCVA or visit its Web site at www.VisitLoudoun.org for information and free planning assistance.

Kilday said the response to the campaign has been positive, with increased Web site traffic and more enquiries at the LCVA office in Leesburg.

For more information, contact Kilday at 703-771-2170, ext. 15, or e-mail her at kilday@visitloudoun.org.