Nov. 7. Visit Lake Norman, the local convention bureau, was honored with a platinum award for exceptional achievement in destination marketing at the recent North Carolina Tourism Leadership Conference. The awards invite the 100 counties in North Carolina to submit and recognize the best in the state for marketing efforts in the travel and tourism industry. The award selection committee is comprised of peers from South Carolina, Virginia and North Carolina industry affiliates. V

The awards were presented for marketing initiatives implemented between July 2015 and June 2016. VLN received a platinum award in Best Website & Online Communication category for its Capture Lake Norman photo contest. The second annual photo contest was in search of photos that best tell the story of Lake Norman. Nearly 150 photos were submitted and the winning photos are featured in VLN’s Official Visitors’ Guide and other marketing materials including website, social media as well as in the Visitor Center. Also, first, second and third place winning prizes were given based on the voting results. VLN has won five destination marketing awards the last three years.

The North Carolina Tourism Leadership Conference is an annual joint conference between the Destination Marketing Association of North Carolina and the North Carolina Travel Industry Association. The 2016 conference was held at the new Kimpton Cardinal hotel in Winston-Salem. Awards are given annually at the conference to honor and showcase best innovation, best practices, creativity, and outstanding efforts and results in destination marketing across North Carolina.

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