The April 2024 eclipse keeps paying off for Erie, Pennsylvania.

VisitErie, Erie County’s tourism marketing and promotion organization, received the U.S. Travel Association’s 2024 Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations Destiny Award for “Integrated Marketing and Messaging Campaign: Overall DMO Marketing Budget less than $1 million” for its “The Ultimate Sunblock” eclipse campaign.

The organization was presented the award Aug. 13 at the U.S. Travel Association’s 2024 Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations conference in Columbus, Ohio.

“I am so honored to have this campaign recognized by an organization as prominent as the U.S. Travel Association, allowing us to share it with industry peers nationwide,” Emily Biddle, VisitErie’s director of marketing and research and leader of both the campaign and Erie’s regional planning committee, said in a statement. “From the minute our team heard the idea from our creative agency, Red House Communications, we knew we could have a lot of fun with ‘The Ultimate Sunblock’ — and we did. We are so appreciative of the Erie community embracing this campaign during the eclipse. This award makes us all the more eager to keep pushing boundaries with our marketing to inspire travel to this spectacular region.”

VisitErie and Red House Communications submitted a summary of its eclipse campaign.

Erie was Pennsylvania’s only city in the eclipse’s path of totality on April 8. VisitErie estimates that more than 100,000 people traveled to Erie that weekend. With nearly a 100 percent hotel occupancy, VisitErie says that the eclipse weekend likely represents the largest visitation weekend in Erie history.