The Christmas spirit was merry and bright at the Indiana Welcome Center during the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority (CVA)’s annual Holiday Reception on Wednesday, December 7. The event welcomed all the organization's staff and partners to come together for a night full of celebration, honoring both individuals and businesses who have made outstanding contributions to the hospitality and tourism field.
“This reception is for people to come back together, reflect on a great 2022, and get excited for 2023 in the hospitality industry,” said South Shore CVA CEO Dave Uran.
With many strides taken within the industry over the past year, the reception served as a way to bring everyone’s accomplishments to light. Heather Beccera, South Shore CVA chief marketing officer, noted that this has always been a favorite for many throughout Northwest Indiana for this reason. With hundreds in attendance, it was the perfect opportunity to show just how hard each and every person has worked to make the Region a wonderful place to both live and visit.
“I think all of us working together, we're really able to provide a great customer experience,” said Beccera. “So that's what we're looking for, to make it a great experience. We want our visitors coming back year after year.”
The Holiday Reception has also been a well-favored event since it presents many opportunities for networking with and meeting other influential people within the Region as well.
“The most enjoyable part about this event is just being able to get a lot of the small business owners in a room where they can socialize, mingle and see how they can help each other out,” said Rik Brankle-Piszczek, Director of People Performance and Culture at Aftermath Cidery & Running Vines Winery. “As well as working with the CVA staff, especially the marketing crew, and seeing how they can help small businesses out as well.”
The event allowed the South Shore CVA a chance to show its appreciation for those who have helped make this possible in 2022. The success of Region tourism wouldn’t be possible without these partnerships, and the South Shore CVA wanted to make sure each partner knew just how valuable their input has been over the past year.
“We just wanted to say on behalf of our board of directors, and our staff, we've had an incredible run with our partners,” said Uran. “To come to us with events and work with them to showcase them with our partners who provide resources for those things economically”
The Region is also well underway to see great things ahead in 2023. With many new ideas, projects, and more underway, Region tourism is expected to hit even bigger and better heights in the coming year.
“We have over 100 events on the books and a lot of that's due to sports and leisure departments,” said Uran. “We're going to really work hard to continue to bring visitors in but we're gonna focus on the Region itself.”
For more information on the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority, visit southshorecva.com.
