2012 Ottawa Tourism Awards

On Thursday, April 26, Ottawa Tourism presented the 2012 edition of the Ottawa Tourism Awards at the Ottawa Convention Centre.

Nearly 300 tourism industry leaders attended the event in the Convention Centre’s dramatic ballroom. Tickets were available for $150 each.

Special guests included Madeleine Meilleur, MPP for Ottawa-Vanier; Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa; and Ronald Holgerson, Interim President and CEO of the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation (OTMPC).

Ottawa Tourism showed their support for the Ottawa Senators by broadcasting game 7 of the NHL Eastern Conference quarter-final series versus the New York Rangers intermittently throughout the event.

Winners were chosen among fourteen finalists in four major award categories:

NEW COMPANY OF THE YEAR

• CE Centre
• *** WINNER *** Music and Beyond

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR

• *** WINNER *** Calypso Theme Waterpark
• Au feel de l'eau
• National Capital Commission

EVENT OF THE YEAR

• 2011 RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest
• 2011 TD Ottawa Jazz Festival
• AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions - Grand Opening of the Ottawa Convention Centre
• Music and Beyond
• *** WINNER *** National Capital Commission: 2011 Canada Day
• National Gallery of Canada - Caravaggio and his Followers in Rome

TOURISM PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR

• *** WINNER *** AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions and Ottawa Convention Centre
• National Capital Commission and Canada Science and Technology Museum
• Wilderness Tours and Windmill Developments

The Tourism Volunteer of the Year is Deneen Perrin, Director of Public Relations for the Fairmont Château Laurier, and the Tourism Leader is Jim Watson, Mayor of Ottawa.

Three other award winners were recognized at the event:

• Deirdre Kelly and Bruce Stutz won the Ottawa Tourism Travel Writing Award for an article called “Canada Day in the Capital” published in the May 2011 edition of Canadian Geographic Travel magazine.
• Paul Norris of the Lord Elgin Hotel will be congratulated for being named the 2011 Star of the City.
• Denise Lavergne, a student in Algonquin College’s School of Hospitality & Tourism, will receive the annual Tourism Scholarship.

The Ottawa Tourism Awards are coordinated by Ottawa Tourism and celebrate the individuals, organizations and events that have set high standards and demonstrated outstanding achievement, contributing to the growth and development of tourism in Ottawa and Canada’s Capital Region.