The Argentine Marketing Association presented it with the highest award in the tourism category. Neuquén’s Touristic Promotion agency (NeuquenTur), a body of the Ministry of Territorial Development won the award “Mercurio 2012″, in the tourism category for its overall crisis marketing campaign, as part of the tourism recovery efforts for the touristic resort Corredor de los Lagos, following the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano in 2011.
Marketing agency Gliocchi was in charge of developing the campaign of the one of the major spots of this location, Villa La Angostura.
The event was attended by the chairman and the CEO of NeuquenTur, Sebastián Caldart, Hernán Santarelli, respectively, and Marcelo García Leyenda, secretary of tourism of Villa La Angostura.
“For the NeuquenTur team, this award was a great joy and it was won thanks to the plan led by governor Jorge Sapag and was strongly endorsed by Argentina’s minister of tourism Meyer, which enabled us to recover demand in the touristic spots in Corredor de los Lagos,” held Sebastián Caldart.
He added that “this award does not belong to us alone but also to all of the team that worked to attain all-time-high occupancy rates in this region in less than a year. That is why we want to share it with all the areas of the Government of the Province of Neuquén, and especially with the Ministry of Territorial Development, chaired by Leandro Bertoya; Argentina’s Minister of Tourism, the districts involved and all of the private sector of the region.”
In this line of thought, Caldart stated: “this award recognises joint work by the public sector and the private sector, and we have set common targets for both of them and assembled a plan with outstanding results which are now on display for everyone to see and with a nationally renowned level of professionalism. These efforts also show that marketing as a business, when executed professionally, can improve an industry such as that of tourism and in turn the quality of life of its inhabitants.”
Upon hearing the news, Argentina’s Minister of Tourism Enrique Meyer congratulated all of Neuquentur’s team on their award.
Mercurio Awards
The Mercurio Awards have been presented by the Argentine Marketing Association since 1982. Throughout its editions, hundreds of companies have competed for this award which honours and distinguishes them from their counterparts and has become the ultimate nationwide recognition for those engaging in the development of successful commercial strategies, represented through campaigns involving overall marketing actions.
Every year, a jury of notables is assembled made up of the major names in the industry for the presentation of the prestigious Mercurio award. This jury assesses cases by means of a secret poll monitored by an external audit body, which ensures transparency in the selection process and keeps the winner’s name undisclosed until the day of the annual award ceremony.
Cases are assessed on the grounds of the vision of the market to strike an accurate forecast, a proper diagnosis, clarity in the goals set, strategy design and applied expertise, talent and skills used in the action for the successful attainment of results by means of effective marketing strategies.
