Aug. 22-26, 2010 • Toronto, ON

Nov. 1-3, 2010 • Gatineau, QC

Feb. 2-4, 2011 • Toronto, ON

National Awards for Tourism Excellence
Presented by the Globe and Mail

2003 Recipients

The recipients of the 2003 National Awards for Tourism Excellence were announced at a gala dinner October 27th at the Fairmont the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montréal, Québec, during the National Conference on Tourism.

Dodd Media Sales Business of the Year Award - Single Unit

A pillar of the Canadian tourism industry, Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park has successfully thrilled visitors for over 110 years. The company continues to enhance the visitor experience while protecting the environmental and cultural integrity of the attraction. It is committed to the long-term sustainability of the tourism industry and works tirelessly with committees, organizations and government agencies to promote the industry. Capilano Suspension Bridge and Park is also renowned for providing exceptional training for students. And despite the recent slowdown in the tourism industry, Capilano continues its commitment to marketing Vancouver as a destination and marketing the attraction within that context.

APR Ltd. Business of the Year Award - Multiple Unit

WestJet Airlines is Canada’s airline success story. It has been able to remain profitable for 26 consecutive quarters in a marketplace decimated by SARS, declining demand for travel, power blackouts, forest fires and mad cow disease. Despite the challenges within the tourism and airline industry, WestJet has been able to consistently provide the travelling public in Canada with a quality of service that is the envy of its competitors. Its employees create for their “guests” a warm, friendly atmosphere that keeps people coming back for more great WestJet service.

The Business Development Bank of Canada New Business of the Year Award

The Toronto Star Bluesfest, a non-profit Canadian corporation with a mandate to produce an annual, community-based event in Toronto, was launched by the Bluesfest organization, which for ten years has produced the highly acclaimed Ottawa Bluesfest. In July 2003, the new corporation presented its first music festival in Toronto, attracting 50,000 fans, more than 10 percent of whom came from outside the Greater Toronto Area. Organizers’ goals are to come back next year as a two-weekend festival and to make the Toronto Star Bluesfest one of the biggest tourism attractions, through aggressive marketing of out-of-town markets.

The Loyalty Group Innovator of the Year Award

The Québec Bus Owners Association, which organizes the BIENVENUE QUÉBEC Tradeshow and Marketplace each year, has innovated by introducing an annual theme to the event in order to develop specific sectors of the industry. Following a recommendation about the potential of cultural tourism from the Canadian Tourism Commission’s Packaging the Potential document, culture was chosen as the 2002 theme. Working with the Québec Department of Culture and Communications and Tourisme Québec, the Québec Bus Owners Association used the event to successfully promote a range of cultural products, and to bring together people from the tourism and cultural sectors.

PW Group Corporate Partner of the Year Award

Mirvish Productions has been a major player in Canada’s tourism industry since 1986, leading the way with its positive attitude, passion, promise and performance. Ed and David Mirvish, a dynamic father-and-son team, have produced, co-produced and presented a wide variety of theatrical shows both on tour and in Toronto, generating millions dollars in tourism revenues for local economies and keeping thousands of people in the tourism industry employed. After the SARS outbreak of 2003, Mirvish Productions was the first to come forward inviting tourists to experience Toronto and Ontario, and it partnered with hotels, restaurants, the city of Toronto and Ontario to offer enticing packages.

The Globe and Mail Travel Media Award

After being in the travel writing industry for nine years, travel writer Judy Waytiuk has amassed a body of work that is commendable, accurate and covers much of the world, but primarily Canada. Within this time, she has procured at least five separate tourism-related awards for her writing. She is consistently professional as a journalist and takes every opportunity to tell readers about Canada’s tourism products.

VIA Rail Canada Volunteer of the Year Award

Gordon Slade’s volunteer work over the past 15 years with Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, Parks Canada and regional tourism associations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador has resulted in major expansion and diversification of the tourism industry. He has contributed to its sustainability by assisting tourism associations and private operators to develop tourism plans and investment and marketing strategies, and to recognize the importance of professional marketing, as well as by promoting strategic partnerships among tourism operators and tourism associations, new products and services, and the training of tourism staff to national tourism standards. Gordon Slade’s vision and hard work have made him a tourism industry leader.

WHERE Magazine Marketing Campaign of the Year Award

Nova Scotia Tourism & Culture has always delivered great results through its marketing and promotional activities. But the department was challenged by the industry to break with its traditional Celtic kind of approach and do something different and more leading-edge. So in 2003, it took a risk and made a bold change. Research-based and results-focused, the “Right Here. Right Now” campaign pulled together unprecedented cooperation between government officials, department managers, industry stakeholders and tourism operators, while media support added profile to the campaign and raised the profile of the tourism industry as an engine of economic growth. It revitalized tourism operators who saw the value of a departure from a traditional tone and manner, and resulted in an increase in awareness and inquiries in a tough year when all travel operators are challenged to maintain results let alone surpass them.

Hertz Car Rental Event of the Year Award

The Charlottetown Festival, Confederation Centre of the Arts, is best known for its original production of Anne of Green Gables – The Musical™, Canada’s longest-running and arguably best-loved musical. The festival offers professional musical theatre and comedy, a superb gallery showcasing Canadian art, free outdoor performances, dining, and shopping. In 2004, the Centre will celebrate 40 years of fostering a love for the arts with an exciting line-up of programming, special events and activities. The Charlottetown Festival was recognized as the Top Event in Canada in 2003 by the American Bus Association and received Attractions Canada’s People’s Choice Award in 2000.

CTHRC Award for Excellence in Human Resources Development

CorporaTel provides the centralized reservation and information system for Tourism Nova Scotia, as well as for Super, Natural British Columbia and Discover Camping, processing over 850,000 contacts annually. Vice President Susan Tilley-Russell is a leader in human resource development within her company and has worked diligently both provincially and nationally on behalf of the tourism industry to ensure the development of a professionally sustainable tourism workforce.

Delta Hotels Employee of the Year Award

Fabienne Burgener brings determination, dedication, enthusiasm and a sense of pride in Canada’s tourism industry to her job as Head Reservations Agent with Go West Campers International Ltd. She began working for Go West three years ago when she came to Canada on a student exchange program from Switzerland, where she pursued a two-year tourism apprenticeship. Now a landed immigrant who proudly calls Canada her new home, she is saying “thank you” through her work in tourism. Despite war, SARS and B.C. forest fires, she has kept up the spirit and promotes British Columbia, Alberta and the rest of Canada as a safe and amazingly beautiful part of the world to travel in. Fabienne Burgener has come a long way and is still going that extra mile.

Travel Press Lifetime Achievement Award

The Honourable J. Judd Buchanan, P.C., O.C., was a driving force behind the creation, in 1995, of the Canadian Tourism Commission. The year before, he had been appointed as the Prime Minister's special advisor on tourism, and his report on the state of the industry led directly to this important development. The industry had worked long and hard to achieve a private-sector-led tourism marketing partnership at the national level, and Judd Buchanan succeeded in making it a reality. He also served as its first chair, a position he held until late 2002. When the government created the Canadian Tourism Commission, industry support for the agency's structure and mandate rested, in large measure, on the credibility that he brought to the chair. Judd Buchanan ensured that the CTC was industry-driven and largely free from political interference during its critical formative years. His careful stewardship and wise guidance set the stage for the successes that are possible today.