The Jefferson County Convention & Visitors Bureau was recently honored during the annual Governors Conference on Tourism, held at the Charleston Coliseum and Conference Center. The CVB won the Almost Heaven Achievement Award for the Best Earned Media.
The Jefferson County Convention & Visitors Bureau has placed a significant emphasis in securing earned media beginning in 2025. Working closely with marketing agency, Nikki Butler Design, the CVB engaged a public relations firm to help ramp up earned media efforts and increase coverage of Jefferson County and the eastern panhandle.
The CVB engaged Laurie Rowe Communications to partner on these efforts. The strategy included the following initiatives: Travel Media Press Room, an online resource; identifying travel writers and organizing visits to Jefferson County; creating press releases about unique experiences and events in Jefferson County and tracking and reporting on all earned media about Jefferson County tourism and promoting these endorsements through other marketing initiatives.
From March 2025 through July 2026, the CVB delivered the following results:
• 403 total articles tracked.
• 11,127,597,647 impressions
• $99,479,477 estimated value
• 27 articles pitched to a list of 2,600 writers
• Provided story ideas/content to over 70 journalists requesting information
“Part of the Jefferson County CVB strategic marketing plan is to leverage the dollars with a storytelling component that engages and compels someone to travel to our destination,” says Annette Gavin Bates, CEO of the Jefferson County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Our brand is strengthened by the partners, the restaurants, shops, outfitters and more, complemented by our picturesque small towns. We share this recognition with each and every partner who elevate our county as a must-see destination.”
Jefferson County continues to account for more visitor spend than any other county in West Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle accounts for more visitor spend than any other travel region in the state accounting for more than $1.2 billion annually.
