Explore St. Louis Honored with 2022 HSMAI Adrian Award

ST. LOUIS – Explore St. Louis was honored with a Silver Adrian Award from the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) for its St. Louis Celebrity TV Campaign. With over 600 entries submitted this year, this campaign was judged to be exceptional by experts in hospitality, travel, tourism and media. HSMAI, now in its 66^th year of recognizing excellence in travel marketing, is considered the largest and most prestigious competition in global travel marketing.

The focus of the 2022 HSMAI Adrian Awards was on the Next Great Chapter in travel marketing, and this campaign “captured the essence of a great travel story.” Winners will be celebrated in February 2023 in Los Angeles, CA.

Explore St. Louis also recently received the “Campaign of the Year” Award at the Missouri Division of Tourism Governor’s Conference. The St. Louis Celebrity campaign was recognized as an effective integrated marketing strategy that resulted in increased tourism and economic benefit to the region.

The winning campaign included a series of TV spots that featured St. Louis celebrities, including Sterling K. Brown, John Goodman, Jenna Fischer, Ozzie Smith, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Andy Cohen, Nikki Glaser, Jenifer Lewis and Becky Sauerbrunn.

“It’s important to note that none of the St. Louis celebrities accepted compensation for participating in the campaign,” said Brian Hall, chief marketing officer, Explore St. Louis. “Instead, each home-town star was delighted to encourage visitors to St. Louis and requested that any payment be donated on their behalf to their favorite charity.”

To view the celebrity ads, visit https://explorestlouis.com/intheknow.