Secretary of Commerce Mike Gill and Liz Fitzsimmons, executive director, Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts, presented the 2016 Tourism Awards during a luncheon at the Maryland Tourism & Travel Summit (MTTS). The awards recognize excellence and major contributions in cultural heritage and culinary tourism, economic impact, partnerships, and elevating Maryland’s image as a tourism destination. "I am proud to present the 2016 Maryland Tourism Awards," said Secretary Gill. "Tourism is an important economic driver for the state and today we recognize the outstanding achievements of our tourism partners who support OTD and MTDB in fulfilling their mission of increasing visitor expenditures to Maryland."

This year, Alchemi Design & Publications, LLC, and Visit Harford! won the Cultural Heritage Tourism Award for their Visit Harford! Restaurant Guide, a coordinated marketing effort of printed materials and online presence encouraging sports spectators to explore local dining options. The Tourism Partnership Award, which recognizes innovative partnerships that advance regional marketing initiatives, went to Annapolis Tours by Watermark for their partnership with Historic Annapolis in designing architectural tours. Visit Annapolis and Anne Arundel County took home the Visit Maryland Award for their Naptownlocals.com microsites. And the Simon Pearce Factory Outlet won the Economic Engine Award for their positive economic impact on the region and the state. "These awards pay tribute to the people, programs and organizations that have ramped up their performance and significantly contributed revenue to the state by getting visitors to stay longer and spend more here," said Fitzsimmons.

Pictured: Secretary of Commerce Mike Gill, right, joins Liz Fitzsimmons, executive director, Tourism, Film and the Arts, left, in awarding Arlene Holzmann of Simon Pearce Factory Outlet with the Economic Engine Award.

Each fall, the Maryland State Arts Council joins with an artist, teacher and students to produce 12 ornaments to be hung on the Maryland holiday tree as part of the America Celebrates display on the Ellipse in President’s Park in Washington, D.C. This year, fifth grade students from Rosa Parks Elementary School in Hyattsville and their art teacher, Eileen Cave, joined mixed media artist and MSAC Artist in Residence Suzanne Herbert Forton to create ornaments based on indigenous Maryland wildlife presented in the style of artist Gustav Klimt.

The America Celebrates display is produced by the National Park Service and National Park Foundation, and brings together works by ordinary Americans from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. The National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony will be on Thursday, December 1, 2016, and will include a performance by award-winning singer/songwriter James Taylor. More information about the America Celebrates display can be found at www.thenationaltree.org.

The Maryland Office of Tourism invites you to show us Maryland, your way! That’s why we created ‘Maryland My Way,’ a new contest where YOU shoot your own 30-second commercial showing off what makes Maryland special to you. We want you to show why Maryland is an exciting, must-see place with lots to see and do. Cast it, shoot it, script it, create it! Register here and send in your 30-second spot by November 17, and our panel of judges will select three winners for cash prizes—plus, your commercial will be broadcast on all of our social media channels, on our website, and maybe even in some of our broadcast TV spots. So get out there with your video camera and tell your story—show us ‘Maryland, Your Way!’.

Web visitation has shown an 82 percent increase in total, unique traffic through the first month of Fiscal Year 2017, primarily driven by increased traffic to VisitMaryland.org. Social media channels showed growth as well, with 17.7 percent growth across platforms. Welcome centers also posted strong numbers, welcoming 43,326 visitors, which is an increase of nearly 26 percent over July 2016. Additionally, OTD’s communications efforts generated more than $95,000 in advertising value as well as strong results on OTD’s, in-house M3 measurements.

Maryland’s positive results are reflected in a 3.7 percent growth in employment in the Leisure and Hospitality sectors, a 5 percent increase in gaming revenue to $103 million for the month, strong growth in visitors through both BWI and Amtrak, and a growth in tourism taxes to $107,155,163, an increase of 5.3 percent, more than tripling the state-wide increase across categories of 1.6 percent. For all of the numbers, read the monitor at visitmaryland.org.

Each week, the Maryland Minute provides highlights and insights on this weekend’s events around the state. Maryland Minute is featured on CBS radio stations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. and on Baltimore’s WBAL-AM 1090.