TURNER Wins Big At This Year’s HSMAI Adrian Awards

The Olympics may still be up in the air — but that isn’t stopping TURNER from taking home a little gold, silver and bronze in 2021. Along with our extraordinary partners, we’ve been recognized yet again in the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International’s (HSMAI) Adrian Awards, the world’s largest and most prestigious travel marketing competition. The Adrian Awards recognize inspiring best practices in sales and marketing for travel and hospitality public relations. Check out our latest Adrian Award-winning campaigns below — and get in touch if you want to work with us.

Wisconsin: A Wisconsin Cheesecation

Public Relations – Special Event (Gold)

Media events and FAM trips have had to rapidly evolve during the pandemic. But there are still creative (and even fun) ways to reach journalists and influencers in the virtual space. Case in point: a recent National Cheese Day online event that TURNER put together with our partners at Travel Wisconsin and the Dairy Farmers of America — the Destination: Cheesecation Experience. More than 30 media, representing 90+ outlets, virtually transported media to coveted cheese caves, beautiful dairy farms and meetings with expert cheesemakers and more.

Bermuda: Work From Bermuda Certificate Program

Recovery Strategies (Silver)  

The Bermuda Tourism Authority (BTA) and TURNER worked to promote the Work from Bermuda Certificate, allowing executives and students to work and study remotely from the island in a stunning and worry-free environment. The response to the new program was phenomenal, resulting in more than 160 articles about the program alone. Coverage included hits in top-tier publications such as The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, positioning Bermuda as one of the top destinations to consider for a remote working year.  

Bermuda: The Power of Celebrity

Digital Marketing (Bronze)

As part of Bermuda’s ongoing effort to double the number of African American leisure air visitors by 2025, the island hosted Yara Shahidi and her family during a getaway that took the world-famous American actor, activist and model to some of the island’s most beloved spots. During and after their Bermuda trip, the family posted content across all of their channels netting more than 24 million views and comments from African American celebrities like Taraji Henson and Naomi Campbell.

Tupelo: An Emerging Culinary Destination

Public Relations – Marketing (Bronze) Tupelo, Mississippi, is synonymous with one mega-star: Elvis Presley. The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll was born in the city in 1935, and over the years, Tupelo has become a must-visit for music lovers the world over. But Tupelo is more than Elvis — much more. For one thing, it’s a culinary hot spot with a deep south food heritage, offering visitors an array of flavorful experiences and unique eateries. In order to revitalize the city and attract a new, younger audience (some of whom might not even be familiar with Elvis), TURNER set about establishing Tupelo’s reputation as an emerging culinary destination — with exceptional results.

Estes Park: Visit Estes Park ‘Inspired’

Digital Marketing – Video (Bronze) 

There’s nothing quite like the transformative feeling of rock climbing in Estes Park. But a new short film produced by TURNER and Visit Estes Park comes close. Starring Estes Park native and world-renowned rock climber Tommy Caldwell and his extended family, Estes Inspired: Tommy Caldwell features gorgeous hi-def cinematography and insightful interviews with Tommy. Coinciding with Visit Estes Park’s new website launch, earned more than 17 million total impressions and hundreds of thousands of views.

South Walton: The Power of Trendspotting

Recovery Strategies (Bronze) The COVID-19 pandemic hit the tourism industry hard — and South Walton, located on Florida’s Gulf Coast, was no exception. TURNER knew that a fresh public relations strategy was essential to ensure the destination was top of mind for those comfortable traveling, in addition to providing inspiration for future travel. To that end, we identified the top travel trends that we were confident would arise during the pandemic — and translated those trends into bookable action. Our tactics outperformed the competition, with coverage in Robb Report, Condé Nast Traveler, AARP and many more outlets. Notably, visitation to South Walton grew year-over-year during several months, with rates up more than 50 percent in August and September.

The Ritz Carlton, St. Thomas: The Return of Luxury to U.S.V.I.

Public Relations – Relaunch of Existing Product (Bronze) The reopening of the legendary Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas was monumental for the Caribbean destination, offering luxury hotel accommodations backed by the core values and hospitality excellence that The Ritz-Carlton is known for. While The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas already benefited from having a strong brand identity, TURNER worked to more cohesively tell the story of the resort and differentiate the destination through a streamlined PR strategy. The result was coverage in such outlets as Departures, USA Today, Forbes and Condé Nast Traveler for more than 70 million impressions.