Fort Wayne Organizations to Receive Cultural Tourism Award

In 2005, the Fort Wayne/Allen County Convention & Visitors Bureau, along with several other groups, conducted an arts and cultural tourism awareness campaign called "Fort Wayne: The Downtown Experience." The initiative was aimed at promoting the entertainment assets in the downtown area.

Source: Inside INdiana Business

Press Release

A group of Fort Wayne organizations, including the city of Fort Wayne, today won the $25,000 prize for the best cultural tourism campaign in the state.

The campaign, "Fort Wayne: The Downtown Experience," was named the winner of the 2006 Efroymson Award for Excellence in Cultural Tourism Development at the Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference. The conference was hosted by the Department of Tourism, Conventions and Event Management at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).

The prize is made possible through a grant from the Efroymson Fund of the Central Indiana Community Foundation.

“The prize recognizes an organization for a highly creative, professionally executed cultural tourism initiative that met or exceeded results-driven goals,” said Sotiris H. Avgoustis, associate professor and chair of the department.

In 2005, the Fort Wayne/Allen County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), in conjunction with the City of Fort Wayne, the Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District and various arts organizations, conducted an Arts and Cultural Tourism Initiative awareness campaign entitled "Fort Wayne: The Downtown Experience."

This campaign positioned Fort Wayne as the premiere destination for live arts and cultural activities in northeast Indiana, northwest Ohio, and southeast Michigan.

The initiative was designed to promote the many entertainment assets in the downtown area, including the Embassy Theatre, the Fort Wayne Ballet, the Fort Wayne Civic Theater, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, and The Lincoln Museum, which houses the world's largest private collection dedicated to the life and times of Abraham Lincoln.

Cultural tourism initiatives conducted between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005 or work initiated prior to January 1, 2005 that continued through this timeframe were eligible to win the prize.

A panel of objective tourism professionals judged the entries.

Source: Indiana Cultural Tourism Conference