The Destination Excellence Awards recognize outstanding contributions to destination management in Texas. The Destination Excellence Awards are primarily juried by an impartial panel of industry experts; Texas destination organizations also have the opportunity to select Peer Recognition Awards in each category.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2024 AWARDS WILL BE OPENING SOON

Budget Categories
$0 - $500,000
$501,000 - $1 million
$1 million and over


Judging
An impartial panel of industry experts will select winners and runners-up in each awards category, and in each budget category.

Peer Recognition Awards
DMO/CVB staff will have the opportunity to vote for first place and runners-up in each submission category regardless of budget size.

Only DMO/CVB Staff are allowed to vote via their official TACVB membership email (traditionally a work email). Any votes submitted with a non-TACVB membership email will not be recognized.


Awards
Trophies will be awarded to all first-place winners and certificates to runners-up.


Submission Categories

Website Design & Effectiveness
* The entry should include descriptions of features such as mapping, search filters, user-personalization, etc., and the integration of a broad range of social media channels.
* Creative implementation of the destination’s brand--visually pleasing, unique, captures the spirit of a destination.
* Demonstrates technological innovation.
* Results should include the number of unique visitors, bounce rate, time on site and signals of intent to travel.

Leisure/Tourism Marketing Campaign
* Campaigns may be directed at niche markets or a general travel audience.
* Campaigns may also relate to special events, crisis management programs or overall tourism promotion.
* They must focus on a single, unified theme.
* Results should include impressions, results, pick-up, and social media (if applicable).

Community/Local Engagement Promotion
* Promotion supports the local community/residents
* Campaigns may also relate to special events geared toward a local audience
* They must focus on a single, unified theme.
* Results should include impressions, results, pick-up, and social media.
* Include resident sentiment of promotion

Meetings & Conventions Promotion
* Promotion must be geared towards bringing a meeting/convention to your town.
* They must focus on a single, unified theme.
* Results should include impressions, results, pick-up, and social media (if applicable).

DMO of the Year
This category seeks to recognize a destination (of any size) that has made a significant impact within the travel industry this year. That could include but is not limited to significantly increasing tourist numbers, achieving substantial recognition across the industry or in the media, releasing a new successful campaign, hosting a significant event, or a combination of many of these and more. There will only be ONE DMO of the Year Award presented to membership in 2024.


Entries must include:

* A description of the destination over the past year.
* An explanation for the rise in tourism. What changes helped make your DMO successful?
* Details of any campaign or strategy involved in boosting the destination’s reputation.
* Explain staff and community involvement, involvement with TACVB, the culture of DMO, staff and board development, and key performance indicators.