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The recipients of the 2004 TIAC National Awards for Tourism Excellence presented by The Globe and Mail were announced at a gala dinner October 25th at the Westmark Whitehorse Hotel and Conference Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon, during Canada’s Tourism Leadership Summit.
When the Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire opened, its leadership team envisioned it becoming the best hotel in Calgary. Now in its sixth year of operation, the hotel's primary objective is to continue to be the #1 Sheraton in North America for guest satisfaction. It intends to reach that goal by exceeding guest expectations every time. Already, the property has become a distinguished market leader in guest satisfaction, employee satisfaction and financial return. In 2000, it launched an annual Goals & Strategies process, in which all departments work together to determine how they can impact satisfaction scores; this process has become the key element that sets it apart from competitors and brand affiliates. The Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire is an excellent ambassador for the tourism industry.
Headquartered in Toronto, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is the largest luxury hotel management company in North America. A domestic hotel brand until just a few years ago, it has become a dominant player in the worldwide hotel industry, building success on its core values of Respect, Integrity, Teamwork and Empowerment, and on the commitment of employees who strive to exceed expectations. Fairmont leads the hospitality marketplace on key fronts: it has the most comprehensive hotel environmental program in North America, and was the first lodging company in the world to offer comprehensive technology services at all its properties. It continually invests in its facilities, and introduced several innovations in the past two years, including the launch of its Willow Stream spa brand.
In the past 18 months, Scenic Caves Nature Adventures of Collingwood, Ontario, has been transformed into a four-season adventure destination through significant investment in new attractions. Visitors-numbering over 90,000 in 2004-can explore caves, cross the province's longest suspension footbridge, discover flora, fauna, history and heritage on a guided treetop walk, fly on zip lines, and enjoy cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The individual attractions were conceived as parts of a tourism cluster, working together to create a major adventure tourism destination. Owner Rob Thorburn and his family have also partnered with area operators to attract even more visitors to the central Ontario region for overnight and weekend stays.
Capilano Suspension Bridge opened its Treetops Adventure in May 2004. This unique mainstream eco-tourism experience, minutes from downtown Vancouver, takes visitors 100 feet above the forest floor on a series of seven suspension bridges through magnificent old-growth Douglas firs. It encourages guests to enjoy the environment while protecting the forest floor from compaction and erosion. Treetops Adventure's innovative design has garnered the interest of engineers and ecologists alike. Because of the slope of the land, the walk begins and ends at grade, allowing guests aged 2 to 102 to participate. Admissions have soared 40 per cent since Treetops Adventure opened and visitors love this close encounter with the very heart of the rainforest.
Irving Oil Limited, an energy processing, transporting and marketing company serving Eastern Canada, Québec and New England, has partnered with the New Brunswick Department of Tourism for 11 consecutive years. Among other initiatives, the company provides visitor information year-round through its 100 retail locations: all of the outlets display and distribute travel guides, while selected ones employ Public Relations Assistants who are trained as tourism counsellors. Irving Oil helped develop, market and distribute a 2004 New Brunswick festival and events flyer. And it has a program to provide customers with written directions/maps to popular tourist destinations. This successful partnership continues to evolve and grow, contributing to New Brunswick's tourism success.
The world's most widely read travel magazine, National Geographic Traveler is published eight times a year by the National Geographic Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to sustaining the natural environment. Targetted at a well-travelled audience seeking the ultimate travel experience, it frequently showcases Canadian destinations, through vivid writing and spectacular photography. Compared to its direct competitors, the magazine publishes a disproportionate amount of editorial content about Canada. From January 2002 to June 2004, it had 63.7 pages of Canadian edit; in the past 12 months, it has run three feature articles on Canadian destinations. The November/December 2004 issue will devote a minimum of ten pages of edit to Canada, maintaining it as a top-of-mind destination for National Geographic Traveler's global readers.
Dr. Brent Ritchie of the University of Calgary is a visionary and builder who has made outstanding contributions to the tourism industry in Alberta and beyond, consistently demonstrating his resolve to leave the tourism industry in a better state than when he arrived. He started working to build a strong industry on the basis of coordinated public and private partnerships well before P3s became part of the tourism lexicon. A professional educator and researcher who pioneered university-level tourism education, he has held volunteer leadership positions in several key tourism industry associations since 1980. Among other accomplishments, he authored two reports that gave Alberta's tourism industry a voice and vehicle to present to government and other stakeholders its concerns and vision for its strategic development.
Resort Reservations Network Inc. (RezRez) is a medium-sized company that creates innovative marketing strategies to compete successfully with larger competitors. Pooling resources from many vendors enables it to create high-impact advertising in markets and media that are beyond the economic reach of individual participants. RezRez's 2003-2004 Cooperative Marketing Campaign for Whistler Blackcomb was funded by 33 vendors; the company also negotiated preferential rates with the vendors that allowed it to offer unprecedented pricing. In a highly competitive market for mountain destination dollars and a tumultuous travel environment, this efficient, multi-faceted advertising campaign managed to increase sales 13 per cent and attract clients from previously untapped markets in Canada, the United States and other countries.
The Niagara Wine and Food Classic, which offers a full itinerary of wine and culinary experiences, was created as the "signature event" within the Ontario Wine and Culinary Strategy. Exemplifying quality and service, it seeks to position Niagara as the pre-eminent wine and culinary tourism event in Canada, and raise awareness of Canadian seasonal regional cuisine and wine products. Vineyard visits, wine and cooking demonstrations by premium-calibre talent, and a multi-course winemaker's dinner are all opportunities to teach tourists about the destination; this learning experience encourages them to extend their stay and explore the area further. The Classic partners for success with the Canadian Tourism Commission, Ontario Tourism Marketing and the Ontario Wine Council.
The St. Jude Hotel offers visitors to Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, warm hospitality, personal attention and all the amenities of a 3 ½ Star Canada Select establishment. Since 1994, professional development, quality initiatives and the involvement of all staff as stakeholders in the success of the business and their own personal success have dramatically improved employees' morale, confidence and knowledge base, and guest satisfaction. Employee development incentives include 50/50 cost-sharing for Emerit professional certification and college/university courses, and 100 per cent coverage for workshops and seminars. High levels of employee participation in training has enabled all promotions to be made from within the hotel in the past year. The St. Jude Hotel also provides training to address specific skills development needs locally, and supports tourism education.
Delta Hotels, a hotel management company founded in 1962 in Richmond, British Columbia, dominates the first-class segment of the hotel industry in Canada through its managed and franchised hotels, a diversified portfolio of more than 35 city-centre, airport and resort properties. The company’s core values of integrity, teamwork and empowerment reflect its commitment to demonstrate professionalism in the Canadian tourism workforce, and it is an exemplary employer of 7,500 people. It was voted one of “The Best 50 Companies to Work for in Canada” by The Globe and Mail’s respected Report on Business Magazine for three consecutive years. Thanks to a variety of innovations and countless career development opportunities, Delta Hotels maintains one of the lowest employee turnover rates in the hotel industry.
Carmel Byrne, unofficial "matriarch", hostess and historian of the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, a historical, cultural and community landmark that hosts world-class performances and cultural, community and educational functions, has helped create an environment that reflects Calgary's generosity and hospitality. Incredible energy, a humourous outlook, leadership by example and, above all, a passion for people have been hallmarks of her 40-plus years of customer service experience. She has made serving Calgarians and visitors the story of her years at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, enhancing the Calgary tourism industry by upholding high standards of service excellence. She retired when the facility closed earlier this year for renovations, but when it re-opens in 2005, her legacy will continue—because, in many ways, Carmel Byrne is the Jubilee.
Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) of Banff, Alberta, the world's largest heli-hiking and heli-skiing company, recognizes that its success is directly related to its ability to operate in a sustainable manner. It strives to protect and enhance the environments where it operates and to contribute to the cultural integrity of local communities. The company has a long history of involvement in initiatives that influenced the development of wilderness tourism in Canada; its Moving Towards Sustainability report was one of the first sustainability reports issued by a tourism operator. CMH has established a vision for sustainability at the strategic level, and introduced a range of initiatives at the operational, employee, guest and community relations levels. It continues to set and meet ambitious goals.
This award also includes a scholarship component. TIAC-Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Scholarships were awarded to the following students entering their final year of tourism-related studies at a representative university or college in each of Canada's five regions:
- Naomi Dawn Crey, Yukon College
- Deanna Dament, Concordia University
- Annette Grewal, University of Guelph
- Jessica Grigoriou, University of Calgary
- Laura Toole, Mount St. Vincent University
The Butchart Family has made a tremendous contribution to Canadian tourism over the past 100 years through its philanthropy, environmental stewardship and development of the The Butchart Gardens, an icon attraction that is synonymous with Victoria, British Columbia. The family has been welcoming visitors to its gardens continuously since 1904, when Robert Pim Butchart and Jennie Butchart moved to Victoria and transformed an emptied limestone quarry on the family estate into a spectacular sunken garden. Mrs. Butchart began offering visitors afternoon tea, a tradition of hospitality that continues today. Despite the attraction's phenomenal growth—it employs some 600 people during the summer season and welcomes over a million visitors a year—The Butchart Gardens it is still operated in the spirit of a family garden. The Butcharts also began acting as ambassadors for tourism in the Greater Victoria region. They saw their garden not only as an object of beauty, but also as an opportunity to attract and impress international visitors with the splendour of Victoria and surrounding areas. In 1939, Jennie and Robert Butchart handed The Gardens to their grandson, Ian Ross, who turned it into a self-sustaining attraction that became the focus of tourism on the West Coast. Innovations included the introduction of symphony concerts, stage shows and winter illuminations, and international promotions. Christopher Ross, Ian Ross' son, assumed active management of The Butchart Gardens in 1999, introducing what would become a Victoria tradition: a weekly fireworks display choreographed to music. Robin Clarke, daughter of Ian Ross, has been managing The Butchart Gardens since 2001. She ensured that the Butchart family and the First Nations people who once inhabited the land on which The Gardens sit were both presented in the "100 Years in Bloom" celebration of the attraction's 100th anniversary in 2004. The Butcharts have been, and continue to be, pioneers in Canada's tourism industry. Their enduring legacy of warmth and hospitality has immeasurably enhanced Victoria's status as a world-class tourism destination. |
