Mahoning County Tourism Earns Top Honors

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The Mahoning County Convention & Visitors Bureau received a first place Ruby Award and second place Certificates of Excellence during the Ohio Travel Association’s RUBY Awards on Oct. 7.

The first place RUBY – Recognizing Uncommon Brilliance Yearly – was for the bureau’s “Planning Your Perfect Weekend?” promotional video. The video can be viewed at YoungstownLive.com or on YouTube.

“We were thrilled to receive the RUBY award,” said Linda Macala, executive director of the Mahoning County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Tourism marketing and promoting visitation to Youngstown and Mahoning County has certainly been challenging during a pandemic. We were excited to work with a professional local company, Cinemanix, to create this video showcasing all of the wonderful things to do, see and experience here in Mahoning County.”

The second-place awards were for the bureau’s monthly eNewsletter as well as a digital campaign promoting golf in Mahoning County. The bureau was finalists in two additional categories: print advertisement (Rediscover Youngstown), and a social media campaign for their Snapshots of Youngstown Winter 2021 promotion.

Tara Mady, assistant director of the Mahoning County Convention & Visitors Bureau, accepted the awards on behalf of the department.

The RUBY Awards recognizes excellence in Ohio’s hospitality and tourism industry for efforts in advertising, marketing and public relations. This year’s competition, sponsored by Ohio Magazine, had 177 entries in 17 categories.

“The competition this year was fierce,” said Melinda Huntley, Ohio Travel Association executive director. “Despite the hardships created by the pandemic, these professionals produced some amazing campaigns and projects that resulted in increased sales for businesses in their communities.”

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.