Central Florida Visitors and Convention Bureau Honored as Top Visitors Bureau in Southeast

The Central Florida Visitors and Convention Bureau (VCB) was recognized last night as the top Visitors and Convention Bureau in the Southeast during the Southeast Tourism Society’s (STS) 2011 Fall Meeting. This is the third time the Central Florida VCB has been recognized for this award, a record among southeast destinations. “It is a tremendous honor to be recognized among some of the best destinations in the southeast,” said Mark Jackson, Director of Tourism for the Central Florida VCB. “We are proud to be able to promote Central Florida’s Polk County as a vacation destination and to be recognized for our efforts is very humbling.”

The award caps a year in which the Central Florida VCB celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the tourism program in Polk County and was also highlighted by the opening of LEGOLAND Florida and the start of commercial airline service into Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. A division of the Polk County Board of County Commissioners, the mission of the Central Florida VCB is to promote and market Polk County to individuals and groups from outside of the area and to put “heads in beds” and make cash registers ring. Throughout the past year, the Central Florida VCB played a key role in the recruitment of tourism-focused economic engines. Two such successes include recruiting and marketing partnerships with Merlin Entertainments Group’s LEGOLAND® Florida in Winter Haven and Direct Air’s commercial airline service to the Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. While these successes were certainly a team effort by many organizations, the Central Florida VCB was a key player during the infancy of both projects and continues to serve as an integral partner through their current promotion and marketing efforts.

The 2011 Shining Example Awards program was part of the 28th annual fall meeting of STS. It was held at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, LA. Founded in 1983, the Southeast Tourism Society is dedicated to the promotion and development of tourism to its member states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The membership includes state travel offices, attractions, hotels, motels, resorts, convention and visitors bureaus, airlines, bus companies, car rental agencies, newspapers, magazines and other travel-related organizations. Every year, the Shining Example Awards honor individuals and organizations that help maintain and improve the southeast’s position as one of the world’s most popular travel destinations.