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.
Ottawa Tourism presented the 2018 edition of the Ottawa Tourism Awards on Thursday, May 3 at 6:30pm in the Newbridge Ballroom at the Brookstreet Hotel in celebration of the great successes of 2017. This year’s event welcomed more than 260 local tourism industry leaders and featured the presentation of a special Outstanding Tourism Achievement Award by the Honourable Bardish Chagger, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister of Small Business and Tourism.
Winners were chosen among 21 finalists in four major award categories:
New Company of the Year
- WINNER — Tim Hortons Ottawa Ice Dragon Boat Festival
- Mantovani 1946
- The Good Food Tour
Social Media/Marketing initiative of the year
- WINNER — Polar Bears by Canadian Museum of Nature
- Bytown 100 by Bytown Museum
- Haunted Talks by Haunted Walks
- Summer Awareness Campaign by Ingenium
- Music and Beyond goes Viral by Music and Beyond
- Art Match by National Gallery of Canada
- Get Festive by Ottawa Festival Network
- Media Campaign Strategy by Parc Oméga
Event of the Year – Annual
- WINNER — Music and Beyond
- Capital Oktoberfest 2017 by Bier Markt
- CityFolk
- Ottawa Chamberfest
- Haunting Season by Saunders Farm
- Pumpkinferno by Upper Canada Village
Event of the Year – One Time
- WINNER — Tie! Scotiabank NHL100 Classic Weekend by Ottawa Senators
- WINNER — Tie! 105th Grey Cup Festival by Ottawa Sports & Entertainment Group
- Canada Science and Technology Museum opening
- World’s Largest Scavenger Hunt by Escape Manor
The 2018 Ottawa Tourism Awards also presented the Outstanding Tourism Achievement award to Ottawa 2017 for its unparalleled contribution to Ottawa’s big year. Ottawa Tourism also honoured Canada 150 and Canadian Heritage for significant investments in tourism infrastructure in the Ottawa Region, as well as Steve Ball, President of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, as Tourism Leader of the Year.
Four other award winners were recognized at the event:
- Kelly Johnson, a student in Algonquin College’s School of Hospitality and Tourism, received the annual Ottawa Tourism Scholarship.
- Nathalie Katinakis and Margo Pfeiff both won the Ottawa Tourism Travel Writing Award; Nathalie for her article, À la découverte du ByWard Market d’Ottawa : un marché qui est aussi un quartier, which appeared on her blog, Une Porte sur deux continents, on November 29, 2017; and Margo for her entry, Ottawa, Canada’s center of government, is Cool with a capital C, which appeared in the L.A. Times on May 7, 2017.
- Southavy Pathammavong winner of the Ottawa Tourism Social Media Influencer Award.
- Sulin Quant Anastas of the Lord Elgin Hotel was congratulated for being named the 2017 Star of the City.
The Don Blakslee Hotelier Award was presented by the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association to Ross Meredith, General Manager of the Westin Ottawa.
For more about the event, please visit here.