Visit Ventura Director of Business Development Michele Gilmour, Visit Ventura President & CEO Marlyss Auster, and Wanderlust Content Studios Co-Founder Nicole Bordges accepting the Adrian Award.
Maintaining an ongoing streak, Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau (VVCB) was recently honored for travel marketing excellence by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) at the 66th annual Adrian Awards Celebration, the world’s largest global travel marketing competition. The award ceremony took place at the JW Marriott LA Live on Thursday, February 23, 2023. Visit Ventura accepted the award in partnership with Wanderlust Content Studios, the inspiration guide’s publisher.
Visit Ventura received a Bronze Adrian Award for its winning entry in the Print Advertising category for the 2022 Inspiration Guide. This is the fifth Adrian Award VVCB has been awarded in the last five years.
The goal of Ventura’s 2022 Inspiration Guide was to set Ventura apart from its competitors at first glance while diving deeper to capture Ventura’s community. Ventura’s people, places, and partners tell their stories with page after page of engaging content that marries both advertising and editorial in cohesive themes. The result: There are no competing fonts, calls to action, or loud logos. Instead, native content blends organically with editorial. “Ads” are placed within corresponding editorial sections. This gives readers a fuller understanding of all that Ventura has to offer.
And at the forefront of Ventura’s Inspiration Guide? The people of Ventura. Readers will not find paid models posing in photos featured in the guide. People photographed are true local Venturans, who go to the same grocery store and eat at the same restaurants as any other community member in Ventura. The incorporation of local Venturans and local artists alike is at the heart of the inspiration guide, resulting in an authentic and genuine guide that readers recognize from the first page.
“Ventura is a true gem of a City that offers outdoor adventure, historic and cultural attractions, one-of-a-kind retail, and a blossoming culinary scene,” said Ventura Interim City Manager Akbar Alikhan. “Visit Ventura’s annual Inspiration Guide is a stunning magazine that thoughtfully captures the local feel and flavor that makes our community unlike any other!”
VVCB’s work was judged to be exceptional by expert hospitality, travel, tourism, and media professionals. Judges were asked to evaluate each entry based on its own merit and success in achieving its objectives. Past winners of this coveted award include such industry giants as Choice Hotels International, Visit California, Hilton Worldwide, Marriott International, and Royal Caribbean International. VVCB’s wins are a “little engine that could” fairytale come to life.
