BATAVIA, Ohio — The Clermont County Convention and Visitors Bureau, which markets the county under the brand Discover Clermont, came home from this week’s Ohio Conference on Travel with a statewide marketing award and a leadership-academy diploma for its director of sales.
Staff from the bureau joined destination-marketing and tourism leaders from across the state at the conference, held Oct. 7-9 at the Roberts Centre in Wilmington, the bureau said in a Facebook post.
Madison Hornsby, the bureau’s director of sales, graduated from the Ohio Tourism Leadership Academy, a program run by the Ohio Travel Association that provides education, resources and professional networks to develop travel-industry leaders across the state. Hornsby also spoke on a conference panel about the role sports tourism plays in Clermont County’s visitor economy.
Hornsby joined the bureau in September 2023 as its digital marketing coordinator and was promoted to director of sales in December 2025, a role in which she leads the organization’s sales and sports-tourism efforts and builds relationships with event organizers, venues, hotels and community partners. She holds a marketing degree from the University of Cincinnati and played college volleyball.
The bureau’s marketing team also won a RUBY Award honoring the Steven Newman Worldwalker Audio Trail as one of the state’s top new digital tourism tools. The RUBY Awards — short for Recognizing Uncommon Brilliance Yearly — are presented annually by the Ohio Travel Association and sponsored by Ohio Magazine; this year’s winners, announced Oct. 8, marked the 29th year of the awards program.
The audio trail, dedicated in May at East Fork State Park, layers storytelling onto the park’s 33-mile perimeter trail system. Visitors can scan QR codes at 10 stops along the trail to hear roughly 30-minute segments recounting the journey of Steven Newman, a Bethel native nicknamed “Worldwalker” who set out on foot in 1983, shortly after graduating from Ohio University, intent on circling the globe. Over the next four years he covered more than 15,000 miles across five continents and more than 20 countries, becoming the first person to complete a fully documented solo walk around the world before returning home to Bethel in 1987. The project also added a trailside sign and a statue depicting Newman as he appeared on his return.
“We’re heading home feeling inspired, energized, and excited to bring new ideas back to Clermont County,” the bureau said in its post.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Discover Clermont, the Clermont County Convention and Visitors Bureau.