THE CHARLOTTESVILLE ALBEMARLE CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU’S WEBSITE RECEIVES A W3 “GOLD AWARD”
The International Academy of Visual Arts chooses www.visitcharlottesville.org as favorite among over 4,000 entries
The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau (CAVCB) official website was honored with a W3 gold award in the Tourism Category, from the International Academy of Visual Arts (IAVA).
The W3 Awards honor creative excellence on the web, and recognize the creative and marketing professionals behind award winning sites, marketing programs, and video work created for the web. In this competition accessible to all, small firms are as likely to win as Fortune 500 companies and international agencies.
In its eight year, the W3 Awards received over 4,000 entries. In determining winners, entries are judged based on a standard of excellence as determined by the IAVA, according to category entered. IAVA members include executives from high-profile organizations such as Coach, Disney, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Victoria’s Secret, HBO, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Wired and Yahoo!.
A collaborative effort between the CACVB, its marketing firm Payne, Ross & Associates and its website developer simpleview Inc., the new www.VisitCharlottesville.org was launched in February this year. The renewed, refreshed website mirrors the CACVB’s new brand and engages potential visitors at a whole new level with the use of large images and alluring video content.
Kurt Burkhart, Executive Director for the CACVB, expresses his pride and joy: “This award represents a huge honor for our Bureau, along with our partners simpleview Inc, and Payne, Ross & Associates.. VisitCharlottesville.org is being recognized as one of the top websites in the world, and this correlates to the significant traffic increase we have seen in the past few months. Over 500,000 unique visitors have viewed our website in the past year, an increase of 79%! Our website is inviting, and it attracts more potential visitors, which convert into increased visitation to our area.”
CACVB Board Members were also very excited by the great news. Lee Catlin, Assistant to the County Executive for Community and Business Partnerships says “Very exciting, congratulations to everyone. Great to see good results coming from our renewed focus on marketing and branding!” while Chairman Jason Burch, Director of Marketing for the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport exclaimed “This is excellent! I join everyone else in congratulating our hard working CACVB team!”
Megan George, Marketing Manager at simpleview Inc. said “Charlottesville won a Gold W3 Award for its tourism website. Congrats Team. A Gold level is the highest we have ever received for this specific award. Nicely done!”
To view the entire list of winners, please click here:
http://www.w3award.com/winners/list/?l=S&event=8&category=&award=G
(the Charlottesville & Albemarle County website is listed alphabetically under “simpleview”)
Charlottesville and Albemarle County have racked-up numerous accolades that continue to motivate travelers to visit, what is commonly referred to as, Jefferson’s County. Forbes Magazine named our area the Locavore capital of the world; Go Green Go Travel chose Charlottesville as their #1 destination for agritourism; and Wine Enthusiast Magazine proclaimed Virginia as one of the top 10 wine destinations in the world. With its burgeoning arts and entertainment scene, Charlottesville remains a draw for visitors who attend our array of festivals and events that celebrate music, theater and innovation, not to mention food & wine.
Brigitte Bélanger-Warner
Director of Sales & Marketing
Charlottesville Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau
434.970.3632 – warnerb@charlottesville.org
About the CACVB
In addition to serving as the global resource for marketing the tourism assets of Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia, through www.visitcharlottesville.org, the CACVB assists tour operators, meeting planners, reunions and other groups in planning visits to the destination. CACVB’s mission is “to enhance the economic prosperity of City and County by promoting, selling and marketing the City of Charlottesville and County of Albemarle, as a destination, in pursuit of the meetings and tourism markets.” CACVB operates the Downtown Visitor Center (610 E Main St) which is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and a satellite Visitor Center in the Albemarle County Office Building (401 McIntire Rd) which is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., as well as a touch-screen kiosk at Monticello’s Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center.