Tourism awards honor those who make Sussex special
Southern Delaware Tourism announced the winners of this year’s Southern Delaware Tourism Awards at its annual awards luncheon Dec. 13 at the Lighthouse Cove Event Center at Hyatt Place Dewey Beach.
“This year’s voting was extremely close,” said SDT Executive Director Scott Thomas. “All of this year’s nominees are very deserving of the award, as their contributions help make Sussex County such a special and beloved destination.”
The tourism industry in Sussex County is booming, bringing in more than $2.7 billion annually. Nearly 24,000 jobs in the county are tourism-related, and tourism revenue saves every Delaware household nearly $1,800 in taxes each year, according to an SDT press release.
The five awards announced at the luncheon were Best New Event, Best Event, Best Attraction, the Philanthropic Award and the Tourism Legacy Award.
Guest of honor Sen. Tom Carper attended the luncheon along with SDT board members, award nominees and winners, and members of various local organizations.
Best New Event
The Best New Event award went to the Delaware Seafood Festival, which was held for the first time this August and attracted 3,000 attendees, nearly six times the number organizers Ryan and Nicole Stevenson of Shore Smoke Seasonings initially expected.
Festival activities included an oyster-shucking contest, cornhole competition, shrimp-eating contest, Delaware’s best crab cake restaurant contest and an eight-person, seven-pound giant crab pretzel-eating challenge.
The event supported 18 food vendors and 105 craft vendors, and raised more than $5,000 for American Legion Post 28, Millsboro Little League, Ronald McDonald House, Camp Barnes, Getting It Dunn and Jusst Sooup Ministries.
Nineteen percent of 2024 ticket holders were from out of state, and 77% were from outside Sussex County.
The Stevensons had to limit tickets sold to 3,000 due to Delaware Department of Transportation restrictions, but they announced a change of venue for 2025 that will accommodate up to 15,000 attendees.
With the increased capacity, the Stevensons anticipate next year’s festival will result in 350 hotel room reservations, generating $175,000 for local hotels, $600,000 for Sussex County restaurants and $510,000 for local vendors and shops. They estimate it will generate nearly $1.5 million in total for Sussex County, and they hope to raise $25,000 for local organizations.
Best Event
The Best Event award went to the Coastal Delaware Running Festival, an annual running event with races held in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware State Parks, Lewes and Dewey Beach.
The festival, which is held in April and draws about 10,000 people, including more than 4,000 participants, features a marathon, half-marathon, 9K and 5K. It’s owned by Delaware-based nonprofit Focus Multisports and is a Road Runners Club of America State Championship event.
It was also named Delaware’s Best Half Marathon.
Event highlights include a Boston Marathon-qualifying course, a free finish-line celebration and post-race party, free on-course and finish-line photos, and overall and age-group awards for all runs.
To date, the festival’s efforts have yielded about $760,000 in donations to various local charities and volunteer organizations.
Best Attraction
The Best Attraction award went to James Farm Ecological Preserve, the heart of the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays’ youth and public education programming, which aims to educate Inland Bays watershed residents and visitors about the local environment.
The preserve is also an outdoor recreation site open to the public daily, from dawn to dusk, free of charge.
During fiscal year 2024, the center reported reaching 2,027 youth and 1,226 public participants through its hands-on, nature-based educational programs. In total this year, the preserve saw 34,000 public visitors.
It also has a concessionaire contract with Eco Bay Kayak & SUP, a local ecotourism company, which saw about 1,500 customers visit the preserve. The preserve is one of the center’s many horseshoe crab survey sites, with 27 onsite volunteers.
Additionally, the preserve hosts an annual Delaware Master Naturalist field trip and training program, and is the state’s largest such hosting organization.
Its 31 trained docents have helped more than 6,900 visitors this year.
Philanthropic Award
The Philanthropic Award went to Mariah Calagione, co-founder of Dogfish Head, who launched the company’s Beer & Benevolence program to give back to the local community.
Calagione co-created the Dogfish Dash, Dogfish Head’s annual running event that for the past 17 years has benefited several local beneficiaries, including the Delaware Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and the Sussex County Land Trust.
This year’s Dogfish Dash raised more than $100,000 for the Sussex County Land Trust.
Calagione also currently serves as director of two family-owned and -operated foundations, Red Wagon Foundation and Draper Holdings Charitable Foundation, and is a board member of the Delaware Community Foundation.
She has previously served as a trustee of the University of Delaware and Delaware’s Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.
Legacy Award
The Legacy Award went to Sen. Tom Carper, who has supported Delaware tourism for nearly 50 years as a state treasurer, congressman, governor, U.S. senator and chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
Over the years, Carper has worked to obtain federal funding to maintain Delaware’s beaches, making them an attraction for both locals and tourists, in turn boosting the beach economy.
During and after the pandemic, he introduced legislation to support Delaware’s businesses, hotels and theaters, providing relief and helping them to stay afloat amidst economic hardship and recovery.
He also authored the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for Delaware to improve its roads, highways and bridges, and he secured funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation to extend Delaware Coastal Airport’s runway.
