The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation (OTMPC) awarded the province’s top tourism promotions during the Ontario Tourism Awards gala.
The awards, held at the Hamilton Convention Centre on Oct. 4, celebrated excellence and innovation in the tourism industry, and were presented as part of the 2011 Ontario Tourism Summit, now in its seventh year.
Nominations were open to all organizations or individuals in the tourism industry operating in Ontario. This year, five initiatives were awarded under the “Marketing” category.
For the second year in a row, Ottawa Tourism took home the Best Tourism Advertising award. This year, it was for its “Let’s Go!” leisure marketing campaign that used print, radio and television targeted at both domestic and U.S. audiences to remind them why Ottawa remains a top tourism destination.
Tourism Toronto received the Best Interactive Marketing award for its “Toronto Looks Good on You” campaign, which gave visitors a different kind of souvenir to mark their visit to Hogtown. The marketing organization set up recording stations at a number of Toronto attractions so visitors could record messages explaining why they love the city. The user could then share the video via e-mail, Facebook or Twitter.
The Best Tourism Marketing Partnership honour went to the Highway 11 partnership – a collaboration of chambers of commerce, destination marketing organizations and tourism attractions. The marketing effort promoted Northern Ontario as a tourism destination to new Canadians of Chinese decent through public relations, social media and traditional marketing.
The award for the Best Marketing Initiative under $25,000 went to the Southwestern Ontario team (a coalition of tourism organizations and industry partners) for a game show-inspired event at the Ontario Motorcoach Association luncheon for group tour operators. Attendees were also provided with a catalogue that profiled tourism products and experiences throughout the province.
The Shaw Festival Theatre won the award for Best Printed Collateral Material for a brochure that included not only photographs and play descriptions, but also a visitors’ guide that showcased the Niagara region.
The theme at this year’s summit was “Taking Care of Business” and focused on strategies to help tourism boards engage with today’s “connected travelers.”
