Categories

There are 18 competition categories. Select the most appropriate category for each of your entries.

Each entry may only be submitted in one category, with one exception: If submitting an entry in the Integrated Marketing Campaign category, the individual components of that campaign (such as advertisements, brochures, websites, etc.) may also be entered separately into other appropriate categories.

Please note: Several of the category names and definitions have been revised to better reflect current tourism marketing practices, including AI, streaming video, podcast and streaming audio, influencer and creator ecosystems, and more. 

• Tourism Advocacy
  Recognizes marketing initiatives that build understanding, support, and public trust for tourism among residents, stakeholders, elected officials, and community partners. Entries may include research-driven messaging, grassroots engagement, legislative communications, and community storytelling across paid, earned, shared, owned, and AI-assisted channels. This category is intended for work focused on influencing perception, policy, or stakeholder support rather than driving visitation. Best for: Campaigns aimed at residents, policymakers, or community stakeholders.

• Sustainable Tourism Marketing
  Honors campaigns centered on environmental stewardship, cultural preservation, community benefit, or regenerative tourism practices. Entries should demonstrate authentic alignment between message and operations, along with measurable impact such as behavior change, conservation outcomes, or community benefit. Sustainability must be the core strategy, not a supporting message. Best for: Campaigns where sustainability is the primary message and measurable outcome.
   

• Public Relations & Earned Media
  Recognizes strategic earned media campaigns that generate awareness, credibility, and influence. Entries may include media relations, press events, thought leadership, influencer partnerships rooted in earned strategy, and crisis communications. Evaluation is based on the quality of coverage, message delivery, and overall reputational impact. Best for: Campaigns driven primarily by earned media coverage.
   

• Experiential Marketing, Activations & Events
  Honors in-person, hybrid, or virtual experiences designed to drive awareness, engagement, or visitation. This includes festivals, activations, immersive installations, livestream events, and community-based programming, often supported by digital amplification or creator integration. The experience itself should function as the primary marketing vehicle. Best for: Campaigns where the event or experience is the strategy.
   

• Specialty Marketing
  Recognizes campaigns targeting clearly defined audience segments such as multicultural audiences, sports travelers, meetings markets, international visitors, or behavioral segments. Entries should demonstrate strong audience insight, tailored messaging, and measurable results driven by segmentation strategy. Best for: Campaigns built around a specific, well-defined audience segment.
   

• Travel Trade, Meetings & B2B Marketing
  Recognizes tools and campaigns designed for tour operators, meeting planners, travel advisors, and group sales audiences. Entries may include digital sales materials, microsites, itinerary tools, presentations, or trade activations. Effectiveness, usability, and contribution to bookings or partnerships are key evaluation criteria. Best for: Sales tools and campaigns targeting travel trade or group business.
   

• Consumer-Facing Promotional Materials
  Honors brochures, visitor guides, travel planners, digital downloads, and other informational materials created for travelers. Entries may be print, digital, or hybrid and should demonstrate clear purpose, strong design, and effectiveness as a planning or inspiration tool rather than an advertising campaign. Best for: Guides, brochures, and planning tools for travelers.
   

• Direct Marketing
  Recognizes data-driven communication efforts designed to nurture, convert, or re-engage audiences. This includes email, SMS, loyalty programs, automation workflows, retargeting, and personalized content strategies. Entries should demonstrate measurable performance such as engagement, conversion, or customer lifetime value. Best for: Email, CRM, SMS, or lifecycle marketing campaigns.
   

• Out-of-Home Advertising
  Honors advertising delivered through physical, location-based media such as billboards, transit, airport placements, and digital out-of-home networks. Entries may include geo-targeting, dynamic creative, or integration with mobile strategies, with emphasis on impact within the physical environment. Best for: Billboard, transit, airport, or other location-based advertising.
   

• Print Advertising
  Recognizes paid advertising in newspapers, magazines, and other print publications. Entries should demonstrate creative excellence, strategic targeting, and measurable results, with print serving as the primary medium. Best for: Paid ads in magazines, newspapers, or print publications.
   

• Websites, Apps & Digital Experiences
  Recognizes owned digital platforms such as destination websites, microsites, booking funnels, mobile apps, and interactive tools. Entries should highlight user experience, accessibility, personalization, and measurable performance improvements such as engagement or conversion. Best for: Websites, apps, or owned digital platforms.
   

• Digital Advertising
  Honors paid digital campaigns including search, display, programmatic, paid social, metasearch, retail media, and app promotion. Entries should demonstrate clear performance strategy, targeting precision, ongoing optimization, and measurable ROI. Best for: Paid digital media campaigns focused on performance.
   

• Mobile Marketing
  Recognizes campaigns that use mobile devices as the primary engagement channel, including geofencing, location-based messaging, SMS, apps, QR activations, and proximity targeting. Entries should demonstrate how mobile or location-driven engagement is central to the strategy. Best for: Campaigns driven by mobile or location-based targeting.
   

• Social Media Marketing
  Honors organic and paid social strategies, influencer and creator partnerships, user-generated content, and community management efforts. Entries may include short-form video, live streaming, and social commerce, with evaluation based on engagement, growth, or conversion impact driven by social platforms. Best for: Campaigns centered on social platforms or creators.
   

• Broadcast & Streaming Advertising
  Honors paid video advertising across broadcast television, connected TV, OTT platforms, streaming services, and digital video networks. Entries may incorporate audience targeting, dynamic creative, or cross-platform distribution, with video as the primary format. Best for: TV, CTV, OTT, or streaming video ad campaigns.
   

• Radio & Podcast Advertising
  Recognizes paid audio campaigns across terrestrial radio, streaming audio, podcasts, and digital audio platforms. Entries should demonstrate strong messaging, audience targeting, and measurable response driven by audio placement. Best for: Radio spots, streaming audio, or podcast ads.
   

• Integrated Marketing Campaign
  Honors cohesive campaigns that integrate paid, earned, owned, and shared media across multiple channels. Entries should demonstrate strategic alignment, creative consistency, and measurable business impact, with no single channel dominating the overall approach. Best for: Multi-channel campaigns spanning three or more platforms.
   

• Rural County Marketing
  Recognizes outstanding marketing initiatives from rural counties or small-market destinations. Entries may use any channel or strategy but should demonstrate creativity, efficient use of resources, and measurable impact relative to market size. Eligibility is limited to organizations that qualify as a Rural Area of Opportunity. Best for: Campaigns from eligible rural or small-market destinations.
  
  Florida’s Rural Areas of Opportunity include:
  
  Northwest Rural Area of Opportunity: Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Liberty, Wakulla, and Washington counties, and the area within the city limits of Freeport and Walton County north of the Choctawhatchee Bay and intercoastal waterway.
  
  South Central Rural Area of Opportunity: DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, and Okeechobee counties, and the cities of Pahokee, Belle Glade, and South Bay (Palm Beach County), and Immokalee (Collier County). 
  
  North Central Rural Area of Opportunity: Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Putnam, Suwannee, Taylor and Union counties.