Explore Seattle Southside Wins The State of Washington Tourism Award

Explore Seattle Southside is honored to be the winner of The State of Washington Tourism's 2024 award for Outstanding Marketing Program, one of several awards the organization grants each year to celebrate innovation and excellence in the tourism industry. The award recognizes Explore Seattle Southside's "Curiously Wonderful" campaign, which ran from 2023 - 2024 and highlighted unique attractions in SeaTac, Tukwila, and Des Moines.

The multi-channel campaign, produced with advertising agency 123w, was a resounding success, reaching over 73 million impressions, and sending 1.1M new users to the Seattle Southside website. In addition, the campaign generated significant earned media, resulting in nearly 300 articles published and reaching over 69.6 million unique visitors, a 174% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, Seattle Southside’s social audience grew by 931% across all platforms. Social impressions rose by 85.6%, post link clicks by 291.7%, and engagement increased by 238.4%.

This resulted in growing Seattle Southside’s travel economy. Visitor volume went up, and direct travel-related spending increased by 5.1% ($47.7 million) compared to 2022. In addition, travelers that stayed in a hotel/motel contributed $906.3 millionーan 8.9% increase.

The campaign’s success stemmed from research findings and traveler insights that showed how our audiences were seeking unique experiences with quick hits of adventure on shorter trips. We leaned into an eclectic and oddly endearing personality for Seattle Southside to unlock a new brand platform, positioning the region as 'Curiously Wonderful’: a one-of-a-kind place full of unexpected microadventures.

The campaign put Seattle Southside back on the map for travelers, providing them new reasons to visit and encouraging them to get off the beaten path to discover some of the region’s curiously wonderful hidden gems.

The campaign also united SeaTac, Tukwila, and Des Moines under a brand they could rally behind to drive business growth. Additionally, the brand platform provided flexibility to highlight the many businesses and attractions within the region so travelers could get a sense of all the great experiences to make their trip more memorable.