Tourism Whistler’s travel media website named best in Canada by Canadian Tourism Commission
Whistler, B.C. – The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has named Tourism Whistler as winner of the Online Media Centre Award 2009 for the most innovative and user-friendly travel media website in Canada. The website is located at www.whistler.com/media.
The award was announced yesterday at the CTC’s GoMedia Canada Marketplace conference in Whistler.
The competition was judged by Brian Simpson, general manager of the popular travel booking website www.travelocity.ca. He looked for riveting visuals and written content and a valuable media relations web interface, and gave top marks to the Tourism Whistler website in a letter to the winners. “The breadth of content readily available on the site, including detailed history and statistics and facts is impressive,” said Simpson. “I especially like the ‘Story Starters’ section, giving the user ideas when, even at the best of times, writer’s block may creep in.”
The website is designed to leverage the rapidly-increasing media attention Whistler is receiving as the 2010 Winter Games approach. As well as story ideas, it provides a comprehensive overview of Whistler and its status as an Olympic destination, images and b-roll video clips, statistics and facts, and profiles of local athletes, people and groups. The website is also designed to assist the hundreds of media who are planning to be in Whistler to cover the 2010 Winter Games by directing them to apply for accreditation to the Whistler Media House, designed and operated by Tourism Whistler.
“We’ve produced and been recognized for a great media service and we continue to plan and produce an even bigger, more impactful media service for Games time at the Whistler Media House,” said Casey Vanden Heuvel, director of communications for Tourism Whistler.
Tourism Whistler developed the online media room in 2008 to take advantage of media attention that began in Beijing at last year’s Summer Games. Whistler’s role as the Host Mountain Resort for the 2010 Winter Games meant that international media attention quickly turned from Beijing to Whistler, making the online media room a critical tool for Tourism Whistler’s communications and media relations strategy around the Games.
September 24, 2009
Posted in: Canada