Groups Today Selects Amish Acres as a Top Attraction in the Midwest

Groups Today, a respected tourism industry publication designed for group tour planners, presents Readers' Choice Awards each year as voted on by its subscribers. The 2013 winners were recently announced in the November issue of the trade publication.

The voting is broken down into categories that include top national and regional destinations, attractions, hotels, restaurants, and cruise lines for group travel.

Amish Acres in Nappanee, Indiana received honorable mention in the Midwest Attraction Awards category and was the only Indiana property selected within any of the categories. Midwest Attractions were headed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. In addition to Amish Acres, honorable mentions went to Navy Pier, Cedar Point, and the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library & Museum.

The Midwest Destination Marketing Organization winner was Explore Branson followed by Circle Michigan, visit Milwaukee, Circle Wisconsin, and Real Racine.

Shopping Mall of America lead the shopping destinations over Navy Pier, Woodfield, Illinois, Lodi Station Outlets, Ohio, and Bayshore Town Center, Wisconsin.

Chicago lead all Midwest Destinations with honorable mention going to South Dakota, Holland, Michigan, Door County and Racine, Wisconsin.

Southern attractions were lead by Biltmore Estate, Graceland, Magnolia Plantation, Crystal Bridges Museum, and Natchez Pilgrimage. Western Glacier National Park, Grand Canyon, Universal Studios Hollywood, Albuquerque Balloon fiesta, and the Cody Stampede Rodeo represented the Western group destinations.

Broadway, the Statue of Liberty, Gettysburg, the Newseum, and Cog Railway highlighted Eastern attractions of interest to the group tour market.

"We are honored to represent Indiana in Groups Today's annual Readers' Choice Awards for 2013," said Richard Pletcher, Founder/CEO, of the historic farm and heritage resort," It encourages us to know we are appreciated by those who choose to travel across the country by motor coach," said. The 130 year old Amish farmstead has been under the ownership of Amish Acres and the Pletcher family since 1968. All of the original buildings have been preserved and restored for the purpose of interpreting Amish society through education, enlightenment and entertainment.

The farm's Round Barn Theatre has presented the 1955 Broadway musical Plain & Fancy for twenty seven years and become the show's national home. The theatre has produced over 100 additional Broadway musicals over the last decade and a half. The centerpiece of the attraction is the original farmstead that has been lived on by three generations of the same Amish family. Guided tours, documentary films, family style meals, and domestic crafts and shops surround the farmstead. Two country inns make Amish Acres a destination for those touring northern Indiana and the Midwest.

For more information on Amish Acres contact JanisLogsdon@AmishAcres.com.