February 28, 2023
Cory O’Born
[email protected]
Kau’ilani Robinson
(206) 251-8920 | [email protected]
SEATTLE – Visit Seattle made it rain at this year’s Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Adrian Awards on Thursday, Feb. 23 – winning four of the evening’s awards for its ‘Kissing in the Rain’ booth. Visit Seattle – the non-profit destination marketing organization (DMO) serving Seattle and King County – was awarded platinum in the public relations + communications category, and three golds for PR/special event, PR/innovation and advertising/brand activation.
Visit Seattle’s Kissing in the Rain booth flips the narrative on Seattle’s rainy reputation – positioning the weather pattern as a romantic reason to cozy up in the city during fall and winter. To bring the vision to life, Visit Seattle and agency partners Copacino Fujikado and C+C created a first-ever traveling rain booth – surprising warm-weather cities with the magic and romance of a rainy Seattle day. The booth quickly made a splash with media and prospective travelers – receiving global media attention and giving Seattle travel a boost in the fall months.
The HSMAI Adrian Awards celebrates excellence in travel marketing – awarding the industry’s campaigns and hospitality professionals in advertising, digital marketing, and public relations. The 2022 Adrian Awards honorees were selected from more than 600 global entries by senior industry and media experts.
“We’re so proud for our organization and the city we love to be spotlighted on this global stage,” said Ali Daniels, CMO for Visit Seattle and creative lead for the project. “The rain booth is something we all took a lot of pride in – a way for us to differentiate and get creative in how we’re marketing ourselves to travelers during this crucial period of recovery for the industry. With Seattle as our ‘muse’ we showed people how romantic, spontaneous and beautiful our rain really is.”
Working with Copacino Fujikado and C+C, Visit Seattle created a booth to replicate a rainy Seattle day, with a design inspired by the Emerald City. The 17’ x 16 wood-paneled booth had rainfall that was captured and pumped back to make the booth fully sustainable. Emulating the romantic portrayal of rain in cinema, visitors to the booth were able to create their own keepsake, movie-style posters against the romantic backdrop of Seattle’s skyline. The photos captured Seattle’s rainy-day joys: as people kissed in the rain, danced in the rain, and rejoiced in the promise of a rainy Seattle day. To expand the activation, Visit Seattle worked with over 20 of its hotel partners to create ‘cozy season’ packages for people ready to experience the real thing. The rain booth has traveled to Venice Beach and Scottsdale and will be making its way to other warm-weather cities later this year.
The HSMAI Adrian Awards are regarded as travel marketing’s highest honors. The rain booth marks Visit Seattle’s first platinum recognition at the awards. The Visit Seattle team was honored on-stage at the 2022 ceremony, which took place in Los Angeles.
“It’s a true testament to the tremendous talents, ambition and creativity of the entire Visit Seattle family – including our internal team members, our hotels and our agency partners,” said Tammy Blount-Canavan, CEO for Visit Seattle. “This collective team takes such pride in promoting our great city – and I’m thrilled they’re getting the recognition among the best of the best at the HSMAI Adrian Awards.”
Read more about this year’s winners here.
About Visit Seattle:
Visit Seattle has served as the official destination marketing organization (DMO) for Seattle and King County for more than 50 years. A 501(c)(6) organization, Visit Seattle enhances the economic prosperity of the region through global destination branding along with competitive programs and campaigns in leisure travel marketing, convention sales and overseas tourism development. Visit visitseattle.org.
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