SAM Magazine--May 15, 2013--The Empire State Development Division of Tourism, which administers the I LOVE NY program, was a co-recipient along with Ski Areas of New York, Inc. (SANY) and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) of the 2013 Tourism Excellence Award for Tourism Promotion at the 7th Annual I LOVE NEW YORK Empire State Tourism Conference on May 2. The co-recipients were selected by an independent judging panel of the New York State Travel & Vacation Association (NYSTVA, conference co-host), in recognition of their collaborative “NYS 10-10-10” program to promote skiing in New York State.

As part of the judging process, nominees had to demonstrate planning and implementation of an overall marketing strategy that is creative and innovative, and resulted in increased attendance, public/private partnership, media exposure, website activity, and/or consumer response. According to Conference Chairperson Suzanne Bixby, the judges selected the NYS 10-10-10 project because it was a model for demonstrating the ease in leveraging public and private partnerships, and for exceeding its goal for number of people buying specially-priced lift tickets and skiing in New York.

“This award is recognition of an outstanding team effort put forth by the NYS Ski Industry, I LOVE NEW YORK and M. Silver and Associates,” said Scott Brandi, President of SANY. “We went from brain storming to implementation in less than 60 days. The results exceeded expectations and we are looking forward to development of a new and improved promotion in the 2013-2014 season.”