City Tourism Awards Announced
The contributions tourism makes to our community are recognized during Tourism Awareness Week and the City of St. John’s is celebrating by hosting its 22nd annual Tourism Awards.
“Tourism contributes over $350 million to our local economy annually and its influence on our local culture cannot be underestimated,” says Mayor Dennis O’Keefe. “Our Tourism and Culture Division of the Department of Community Services, continues to support tourism initiatives in our community and we are pleased to work with our partners to promote the tourism industry in St. John’s and the province as a whole.”
The Tourism Awards recognize the contributions of local residents to the growth and development of the industry. New to the Awards Program for 2013 is the Discovery Award, which acknowledges new and innovative tourism initiatives.
“Again this year we were overwhelmed with the quality of the candidates for our Tourism Awards,” says Councillor Bruce Tilley, chair of the Economic Development and Tourism Standing Committee. “Our award recipients have gone above and beyond to make St. John’s a tourism destination of choice and we are very grateful to them for their contributions to the tourism industry.”
The Awards were presented by Mayor O’Keefe on Thursday, June 13 in the Council Chambers.
The 2013 Tourism Awards were presented to:
Legend Award: Captain James Lynch & Captain Wanda Lynch
Event of the Year Award: Spirit of Newfoundland Productions Ltd.
Signal Award (cruise): Charlie Carr
Destination St. John’s Award of Distinction (convention): International Association of Women in Policing Conference
Victoria Wagon (taxi driver): Tolson Stanley
Discovery Award (innovation): Craft Incubator at Quidi Vidi Village Plantation
St. John's hosted 1,243,000 visitors in 2012, who spent $358 million throughout the local economy.
Overall, 918,000 visitors were residents of Newfoundland and Labrador, while the remaining 325,000 were non-resident or out-of-province visitors. Out-of-province visitors contributed $214 million to the local economy, while residents of Newfoundland and Labrador contributed $144 million.
For further information:
Jennifer Mills
Communications Officer
City of St. John's
Phone: (709) 570-2037
Cell: (709) 690-7586
E-mail: jmills@stjohns.ca
Dennis O’Keefe
Mayor
City of St. John’s
Phone: 709-576-8477
E-mail: dokeefe@stjohns.ca
Bruce Tilley
Ward 3 Councillor
Chair, Economic Development and Tourism Standing Committee
City of St. John’s
Phone: 576-8643
E-mail: btilley@stjohns.ca