The 2013 Visit the Battlefords and Win contest concluded on Jan. 31 and Battlefords Tourism has announced Ben Vangelderen of Lacombe, Alta as the winner.
Vangelderen is the proud winner of a 60" Panasonic SMART VIERA Full HD Progressive 3D Plasma television, sponsored by Battleford Furniture, Battlefords Tourism and the Battlefords Hotels Association.
The contest began in January 2013 as a means to measure the ability of the Battlefords to attract visitors through attendance at trade shows. Entry forms were only made available at trade shows, and in order to enter people had to book a stay at one of the members of the Battlefords Hotels Association - the Tropical Inn, Gold Eagle Lodge, Super 8, Travelodge, Jackfish Lodge or Best Canadian Motor Inn.
"It can be difficult to measure the return on investment for trade show attendance when you aren't actually selling a product," says Battlefords Tourism Executive Director Ryan Bater. "In our case, we are encouraging people to visit, and we were looking for a means to determine if the people who we met at trade shows actually visited the community as a result. This was treated as an experiment and we were pleased with the result."
Vangelderen's winning ticket was picked up from the Battlefords Tourism booth at the Battlefords Best Business Showcase and Trade Fair in October 2013. He submitted his entry when he stayed at the Super 8 North Battleford.
Based on the success of 2013, the contest is being reprised in 2014. Contest forms were available last week in the Battlefords Tourism booth at the Saskatoon Sports and Leisure Show.
