South Dakota Department of Tourism

10/18/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/19/2024 08:49

TRAVEL SOUTH DAKOTA WINS TWO PRESTIGIOUS MARKETING AWARDS

10/18/2024

PIERRE, S.D. - Travel South Dakota was recently awarded two prestigious awards from Travel Weekly's 2024 Magellan Awards.

Travel South Dakota's "Story of a State" Super Bowl TV spot and campaign won a Gold Award in the TV Commercial category for Destination Marketing. The department also received a Silver Award for its inaugural "So Much South Dakota, So Little Time" winter campaign in the Campaign Advertising/Marketing for Destinations category.

"Story of a State" was a rewriting of Nine Days' 2000 hit "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)" created to show that South Dakota is no one-hit wonder. The regional campaign garnered more than 28 million impressions and drove a massive amount of new direct traffic to TravelSouthDakota.com. Website visits were up 192% during the campaign.

The projects were done in partnership with Travel South Dakota's agencies of record, led by Karsh Hagan's creative, and including work by Miles Partnership, Lawrence & Schiller, Lou Hammond Group and Love Communications.

Magellan Award winners represent the best in the travel industry. According to Travel Weekly, there were a record number of submissions from across the U.S. and the world. Winning a Magellan Award is a tremendous achievement and represents a high standard of excellence within the travel industry.

"This is incredible news," said South Dakota Department of Tourism Secretary James Hagen. "Winning these awards is thrilling and rewarding, especially considering the competition and rigor of the Magellan Awards. Having Travel South Dakota's work recognized as some of the best in the travel industry is a testament to the hard work of our collective teams."

The Magellan Awards honor outstanding design, marketing, and services in a broad range of industry segments including Hospitality, Travel Destinations, Cruise Lines, Online Travel Services, Airlines and Airports, Travel Agents and Agencies, Tour Operators, and Ground Transportation.

The 2024 Magellan Awards received hundreds of entries from top travel organizations and professionals worldwide. The quality of the work was outstanding. The Magellan Awards are judged and overseen by a one-of-a-kind panel of top travel professionals representing the best names and most accomplished leaders from the industry. In determining winners, entries do not compete with one another. Instead, they are judged against Travel Weekly's established standards of excellence.

For more inspiration and travel planning resources, visit TravelSouthDakota.com.

The South Dakota Department of Tourism is comprised of Travel South Dakota and the South Dakota Arts Council. The department is led by Secretary James D. Hagen.

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Media Notes:

For a link to the "So Much South Dakota, So Little Time" winter campaign, click here and here. For a jpeg of a print placement for the winter campaign, click here.

For a link to the "Story of a State" Superbowl commercial, click here.

About Travel Weekly: Travel Weekly is the most influential provider of news, research, opinion, and analysis to the North American travel trade marketplace. It reaches a broad industry audience in print, online, and with face-to-face events throughout the year. Travel Weekly is a part of Northstar Travel Group, the leading B-to-B media company providing information and marketing solutions for the global travel industry. Northstar Travel Group is based in Rutherford, NJ. For a complete list of Gold and Silver award winners, visit TravelWeeklyAwards.com.

CONTACT

Katlyn Svendsen, Global Public Relations & Content Services Senior Director
Travel South Dakota
Email: [email protected]

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