Port City of St. John's Wins Best Shoreside Welcome for 2011

For the second year in a row, the port city of St. John's has won an award for its outstanding port welcome.

Mayor Dennis O'Keefe received the Cruise Insight 2011 Award for Best Shoreside Welcome from Dream World Cruise Destination Magazine while promoting St. John's along with partners from the St. John's Port Authority to the cruise industry at the Seatrade Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami, Florida.

"We take great pride in being able to showcase our unique culture and heritage with our dockside program," says Mayor O'Keefe. "This award is recognition that the City of St. John's and our Cruise St. John's partners are giving our visitors a world class experience each and every time a cruise ship sails into St. John's Harbour."

The City is currently looking at ways to enhance its award winning dockside program and has a call for proposals out looking for new cultural performances for the 2012 cruise season.

Looking ahead to the 2012 season projections have the port city seeing a large increase in the number of cruises and visitors. In total, 16 cruise ships are expected in St. John's in 2012, bringing with them over 25,000 passengers and crew, an increase of 67 per cent over 2011.

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
Chair, Cruise St. John's Committee
City of St. John's
Phone: (709) 576-8477
E-mail: dokeefe@stjohns.ca