2019 Canadian Tourism Award Winners / Lauréats des Grands Prix du tourisme canadien
To view all of the Canadian Tourism Award Finalist videos click here
Airport Excellence Award / Prix de l’excellence aéroportuaire Greater Toronto Airports Authority – Toronto, ON As Canada’s largest airport, North America’s most-connected international airport, and the world’s fifth-most connected airport, Toronto Pearson serves nearly 50 million passengers per year. Toronto Pearson is a key pillar of Canada’s tourism strategy. It is the first and last impression of 42% of Canada’s tourists. Ensuring tourists have an amazing experience during their arrival to and exit from Canada will help to bring them back as visitors, along with their family and friends. |
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Pursuit Attraction & Adventure Award / Prix de l’attraction et du tourisme d’aventure Big White Ski Resort – Kelowna, BC Big White Ski Resort showcases the natural beauty of the Okanagan, all while challenging visitors to push their limits through a variety of outdoor activities. In winter, Big White is home to 119 ski runs, Canada's Highest Elevation Skating Rink, snowshoe and cross-country ski trails, dog sledding, sleigh rides, ice climbing, snowmobile tours, and tubing. In summer visitors can hike, mountain bike, camp, and participate in one of the many festivals. |
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Air Canada Business of the Year Award / Prix de l'entreprise de l'année Harbour Air Seaplanes – Victoria, BC Founded in 1982 with two seaplanes, Harbour Air began as a charter airline servicing the forestry industry in BC. Now with a fleet of 40 aircraft and a team of 450 staff, Harbour Air offers scenic tours, private charters and daily scheduled flights to destinations throughout coastal BC and Washington. As one of the world’s largest all-seaplane airlines and North America’s first carbon neutral airline, Harbour Air welcomes nearly 500,000 passengers on 30,000 flights annually. |
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VIA Rail Community Leadership Award / Prix du leadership communautaire Wooden Boat Museum of Newfoundland and Labrador – Winterton, NL Wooden Boat Museum believes that forming key partnerships within their community is essential to the long-term success of the museum. In the past year they partnered with the Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove Museum to deliver the very popular “Junior Builders Program”, produced a program to assist in the career development for at-risk youth, and partnered with Memorial University in the creation of a boat building course. |
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Restaurants Canada & Diversey Culinary Tourism Award / Prix du tourisme gastronomique The PEI Fall Flavours Festival – Charlottetown, PE The PEI Fall Flavours Festival is a five-week culinary celebration that takes place in communities across Prince Edward Island each September. The Festival showcases the Island’s best ingredients, its unique ‘sense of place’, its exceptional producers and chefs, and Canada’s top chef talents, while providing an exemplary and unforgettable guest experience that captures the essence of the Island’s food culture. |
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Event of the Year Award / Prix de l'événement de l'année Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend – Ottawa, ON The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend is not only Canada’s largest marathon weekend, it is also the city’s largest not-for-profit, tourism event. What began in 1975 as a standalone marathon with 146 runners has grown into a four-day running festival that in 2018 attracted over 30,000 runners, and almost 40,000 out-of-town visitors, for an annual economic impact of over $13 million. Home to Canada’s National 10K Championship, the weekend not only attracts recreational runners but also top elite athletes from across Canada and around the world. |
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ITAC Indigenous Tourism Award / Prix du tourisme autochtone Wanuskewin Heritage Park – Saskatoon, SK Wanuskewin Heritage Park has been a centre for sharing Indigenous culture, traditions and history. Wanuskewin is a sacred site where Northern Plains Indigenous peoples have been gathering for over 6400 years. Wanuskewin considers it their duty and privilege to tell these stories accurately and authentically through programming, cultural events, art, cuisine, dance and through the voices of our Elders. |
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Accor Hotels Marketing Campaign of the Year Award / Prix de la campagne de marketing de l’année “Place of Stories” | Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism – St. John’s, NL Storytelling is deeply woven into Newfoundland’s cultural fibre. Here, travellers find stories in the most unexpected places: from kitchens to coves, pubs to tour boats, and everywhere in-between – the stories are as varied as the tellers that tell them. The “Places of Stories” campaign focuses on creating stories that comes alive through people and places. It’s not just what the stories say, but the emotional connection established because of how they are told, with warmth and wit that reflects the personality of this place. |
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Air Transat Responsible Tourism Award / Prix du tourisme responsable Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre – Stonewall, MB Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre’s mission is to “Connect People with Wetlands”. Since 1993, the Centre has greeted over two million visitors. Through interactive experiences, the Centre fosters awareness of the importance of wetlands and marshal support for their conservation. Through affordable and accessible programming, the Centre connects with all people of all ages in a way that affects them on a personal and meaningful level. |
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Hilton Small Business of the Year Award / Prix de la petite entreprise de l’année Winnipeg Trolley Company – Winnipeg, MB The Winnipeg Trolley Company showcases Canada’s underdog city. Aboard trolleys designed to look like streetcars, the company offers sightseeing, brewery, and ghost tours. Whether taking visitors down a back alley to show off a massive but hidden outdoor art gallery, sharing the story of how a Winnipeg brewery created the famed Budweiser Clydesdales, or recounting the city’s Nazi invasion during World War II, they seek to prove Winnipeg embodies the spirit, passion, and conscience of Canada more than perhaps anywhere else. |
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Tourism HR Canada Employee of the Year Award / Prix de l'employé(e) de l'année Tony D’Ariano | Residence Inn by Marriott London Downtown – London, ON Tony recently celebrated his 15th anniversary as Maintenance Manager at the Residence Inn by Marriott London downtown. Tony is an integral part of the Residence Inn team and is as passionate today as he was the day he started his Marriott Journey. It would be impossible to include all his accomplishments in such a short summary. Tony goes above and beyond on a consistent basis to assist the General Manager, colleagues and his peers, including contractors on site, all to contribute towards the perception of a positive hotel stay experience. |
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Tourism Innovation Award / Prix de l’innovation touristique World-class Experience EXCELLerator Program | Tourism Nova Scotia – Windsor, NS The World-Class Experience EXCELLerator Program by Tourism Nova Scotia is a research-fueled and strategy-driven approach to tourism experience development and market-readiness. Backed by primary market research, concepts tested with target travellers are at the core of this program, inspiring the development of unique and authentic Nova Scotian experiences that motivate first-time visitors to book a trip. |