The Indiana Tourism Association announced its annual award winners at its conference March 4 in Fort Wayne.

The awards honor businesses that invest dollars wisely in creative and innovative programming.

Winners from Northwest and North Central Indiana include:

• Best Advocacy Initiative (Marketing Budgets over $300,000) – Indiana Dunes Tourism
• Best Cooperative Partnership (Marketing Budgets over $300,000) – Downtown Elkhart promotion
• Best Digital Marketing Campaign (DMO) – Visit South Bend Mishawaka

The conference from March 3 through 5 was attended by 300 tourism leaders from throughout the state.

The Indiana Tourism Association was founded in 1980 and partners with the Indiana Destination Development Corp. and the Association of Indiana Restaurant and Lodging, along with other local and regional associations.