NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: Friday, November 19, 2010
 

BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS RECOGNIZED FOR TOURISM EXCELLENCE

Four Thompson Okanagan businesses and organizations have won region-wide recognition for their excellence in developing high-quality tourism marketing and visitor experiences.

Kumsheen Rafting Resort, in Lytton, Black Hills Estate Winery, in Oliver, Destination Osoyoos, and Tourism Sun Peaks were each presented with 2010 Tourism Excellence Awards during a gala banquet at the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Industry Summit, held earlier this month at Sparkling Hill Resort near Vernon.

Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) Chief Executive Officer Glenn Mandziuk says each of the four organizations demonstrated leadership over the past year by carrying out first-class, innovative projects incorporating best practices in the tourism field.

'TOTA and everyone in our region's tourism industry applaud these organizations for their leading-edge methods of creating world-class visitor experiences and marketing their exciting destinations to tourism operators and potential visitors everywhere," Mandziuk says.

• Tourism Sun Peaks was a double winner at the Tourism Excellence Awards ceremony - being presented with the New or Enhanced Visitor Experiences Award, for its Summer Experience Program, and with the Innovative Marketing & Promotion Award (TIER 2 - for campaigns or projects $5,000 -$19,999), for its Winter Campaign entitled "I Want to be the Sun Peaks Snow Bum".
• Kumsheen Rafting Resort was presented with the Innovative Marketing & Promotion Award (TIER 3 - for campaigns or projects under $5,000), for the late-2009 launch of its own promotional video channel on YouTube.
• Black Hills Estate Winery and Destination Osoyoos were each presented with the Innovative Marketing & Promotion Award (TIER 1 - for campaigns over $20,000) - Black Hills for its sponsoring and promotion of the 2nd Annual Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival, and Destination Osoyoos for its brand-awareness marketing agreement with the producers of the 'Gunless' feature film.

Tourism Sun Peaks' new Summer Experience Program was launched to international tour operators in the spring of 2010, in a move to distinguish Sun Peaks as a compelling summer destination for visitors. The program promoted a creative menu of new product offerings developed by Tourism Sun Peaks and local businesses - using marketing techniques including print, television, on-line, billboard, radio, direct mail, e-blast, and direct sales promotion. The new Summer Experiences - a collection of adventure and culinary vacation packages offered by businesses throughout Sun Peaks - were received with great approval. Results included new tour companies contracting with resort businesses, and existing clients expanding their Sun Peaks inventory and promotion.

Tourism Sun Peaks' winter campaign entitled "I Want to be the Sun Peaks Snow Bum" was a highly successful promotion that in the fall of 2009 invited people from around the world to submit video applications to win an all-inclusive three-month position at Sun Peaks last winter as a videographer and online blogger, to help market and promote the Resort. The competition attracted more than 50 entrants from around the world and was won by a young Brazilian man.

Kumsheen Rafting Resort wanted to find a new way to reach a diverse audience online and generate more excitement and interest about whitewater rafting and the programs at its resort - including cabin, tent and teepee accommodations, a Dry Grad program for high school students, mountain biking in Lytton, and the Cutting Board Restaurant. Kumsheen created its own YouTube channel and began to produce and upload videos, regularly maintaining and updating them with relevant information, particularly during the rafting season. The Resort has received a remarkable volume of exposure on its video channel, with more than 7,000 online views and 15,000 upload views by mid-October 2010.

For the past two years, Black Hills Estate Winery has been the driving force behind the annual Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival, a three-day event that hosts film and television celebrities and visitors, and attracts coverage by magazines, newspapers, websites and entertainment TV shows. The six-event 2010 Festival included a star-studded Celebrity Wine Auction for children's charities, a wine commercial film festival, a beach party, and an international wine competition. The winery organizes the collaborative efforts of many wineries, hotels, chefs, restaurants, musical performers, tourism agencies, celebrities, film producers, media, and more than 1,000 fans of B.C. wine and food. The Festival has had a major impact by raising the profile of the Osoyoos food and wine scene and promoting the area as an attractive destination.

Destination Osoyoos (DO) negotiated a high-profile marketing agreement with the producers of the feature film 'Gunless' to get major recognition for Osoyoos in the film's on-screen credits, on the DVD packaging, on all the movie posters, and also the production of a bonus vignette film about Osoyoos that is included on the Gunless DVD. The big-screen comedy western, filmed near Osoyoos in mid-2009, was released in theatres last April and on DVD in August. Many local sectors collaborated to make the six-week filming period a positive and rewarding experience for the community and those involved with the movie. The marketing agreement gives national exposure to the "Osoyoos: Canada's Warmest Welcome" brand well into the future.

Nominations for the 2010 Tourism Excellence Awards were open to community tourism organizations, private or non-profit business operations, or product-based alliances which within the past 18 months have implemented innovations that enhance the performance and sustainability of the tourism industry in any of the awards program's categories.

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FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Glenn Mandziuk
Chief Executive Officer
Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA)
Tel: 250-860-5999 Email: ceo@totabc.com