TIMES - Ottawa Tourism

TOUR
TIMES
FALL 2015
The official Travel Trade Newsletter of Ottawa Tourism
GETTING READY TO PARTY
As Ottawa gears up to host a year-long
celebration of 150 years of Canadian
Confederation in 2017, new products, services
and infrastructure are being added that will
enhance the experience of both tour groups and
FIT travellers. From new hotels and restaurants
to an all-new light rail system and self-guided
FAMs, Ottawa Tourism’s Travel Trade Team
is here to help you take full advantage of all
that Canada’s capital has to offer.
OTTAWA IN
EIGHT LANGUAGES
Looking for tools to help you market Ottawa in Canada and
abroad? Look no further than our new Destination Videos.
They are available in 2 ½ and 5 ½ minute versions in eight
different languages: English, French, German, Portuguese,
Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin.
You can view them here.
150 Elgin Street, Suite 1405, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1L4 | 613.237.5150 | WWW.OTTAWATOURISM.CA
CRAFT
BEER
IS HERE!
WE’RE MAKING ROOM!
Ottawa is abuzz with many tourism businesses using this year and next to refresh
their product offering to get ready for Canada’s big birthday party in 2017.
Included among these are new hotels set to pop up across the capital.
HOTEL
ROOMS
APPROXIMATE OPEN DATE
Towne Place Suites Hotel by Marriott
116
Fall 2015 (November)
ALT Hotel – Groupe Germain Hôtels
148
Winter 2016
Hyatt Andaz
158
Spring 2016
Fairfield Inn & Suites Ottawa Kanata
98
October in 2015
Hilton Garden Inn
150
After expansion in October 2015,
will have 326 rooms total
HOTEL REBRAND AND RENO
The former Chimo Hotel, located just off St Laurent Boulevard at Highway 417 has a
new name! The property has been rebranded the Holiday Inn Ottawa East, and expects
to complete renovations by December 2015. Website coming soon at
www.hiottawaeast.com. To reach the hotel, please use the coordinates below:
Telephone: 1-613- 744-1060 Toll-Free (Canada and US): 1-800-387-9779
Email: reservations@hiottawaeast.com
THERE’S LIGHT RAIL AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL!
Ottawa is very excited to be welcoming
the Confederation Line, its very own Light
Rail Transit system in 2018. The new
line with travel across downtown via a
tunnel, then emerge to continue to the east
and west at ground level. It promises to
revolutionize transportation in the capital,
and a second phase already in the
planning stages will extend the systems
further east, west and south. For the latest
progress updates, construction updates,
videos, and background information,
please visit their website:
www.ligneconfederationline.ca
Ottawa’s craft beer scene is
exploding and its newest addition
is coming in January 2016; the
Craft Beer Market. With locations in
Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton,
this successful brand is expanding
eastward with a new location at
Ottawa’s new happening district
– Lansdowne Park. The Craft Beer
Market boasts fresh food made
from local ingredients, and perhaps
most importantly, Canada’s largest
selection of fresh draft beer.
www.craftbeermarket.ca
Canada’s Capital now has
approximately 29 breweries, up
from approximately 20 just one year
ago. It’s no surprise that new places
continue to open up regularly, the latest
include The Weather Brewery; Tooth
and Nail Brewing Company; Tuque
de broue; Mad Hatter Brew Co.
150 Elgin Street, Suite 1405, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1L4 | 613.237.5150 | WWW.OTTAWATOURISM.CA
HERE COMES 2017!
At the Rendez-vous Canada 2015 marketplace, Ottawa Tourism and our partners hosted a
dinner focused on Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017. Watch the video here.
SEE IT
YOUR WAY
Want to discover the capital on your
own, outside an organized FAM?
Ottawa Tourism has developed an
Attractions Passport that enables
Travel Trade clients to do just that.
With the Passport, clients can visit
attractions free of charge, on their
own, and at their own pace. It is
valid for one industry professional
and one guest for the duration of
their stay in Ottawa. Contact our
Travel Trade team today to receive
an Attractions Passport for your next
visit to Ottawa! Click here.
Want to know more about 2017 in Canada’s capital? Keep an eye out for Team Ottawa
and staff at these marketplaces and events.
October 12 – 30
Focus Canada Japan &
Showcase Canada Asia
Japan & China
Diane Houston
November 2 – 4
Bienvenue Québec
Sherbrooke, QC
Kelly Dean
November 14 – 18
OMCA Annual Marketplace
London, ON
Kelly Dean
November 17
OMCA Ottawa Lunch
London,ON
Kelly Dean
December 2
Prestige Holiday Road Show
Belfast
UK Representative
December 3
CITAP
Vancouver, BC
Diane Houston,
Nicole Graves
RESOURCES FOR YOU!
A new web page has been
developed with multilingual tools
to assist Travel Trade Professionals.
Please visit www.ottawatourism.ca/
traveltradeinfo for event calendars,
videos, and much more!
OTTAWA THROUGH A YOUNG STUDENT’S EYES
Ottawa Tourism team and members
attended the Student and Youth Travel
Association (SYTA ) convention in
Branson, MO. Clients witnessed a new
video that showcased students’ favorite
places in Ottawa. If you would like to
see some of their responses check out
the video here.
Additional resources including guides
and maps are also available at
www.ottawatourism.ca/
travel-trade/resources. If there is
anything additional we can assist
you with, please do not hesitate to
contact our Ottawa Tourism Travel
Trade Team!
150 Elgin Street, Suite 1405, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1L4 | 613.237.5150 | WWW.OTTAWATOURISM.CA
MEET
OUR TEAM
KELLY IS OUR DEAN
OF STUDENT TRAVEL
SECOND EDITION
Kelly Dean is a Maritimer “born and
bred”, living in Halifax, Nova Scotia
for the first 23 years of her life. While
in Halifax she attended Saint Mary’s
University finishing with her Bachelor
of Commerce, majoring in Marketing
and Computer Science. She came to
Ottawa after university where she met
her husband and is now raising three
children. As Sales Manager Travel
Trade, Kelly is the point of contact
for Group Tour and FIT Operators
throughout the United States and
Canada, and she is Ottawa’s main
contact for the student tour market.
She’s been at Ottawa Tourism for
over 15 years.
Kelly has sat on various Committees,
Councils and Boards, in her time in
the industry, for many associations,
including NTA, ABA, SYTA, OMCA,
Bienvenue Quebec and Team Canada.
According to Kelly “I’m often asked to
bring in the Canadian and Ontario
perspective to these organizations.
I’ve yet to figure out if that is due
to my wealth of knowledge … or
my propensity to want to share my
knowledge with anyone who will listen.”
TAKE THE TRAIN!
Convenient, comfortable and affordable,
Canada’s passenger train service—VIA
Rail—is a great travel choice that offers
numerous daily departures to Ottawa
from all major cities in southern Ontario
and southern Quebec. Ottawa’s Central
Station is just minutes east of downtown,
and a satellite VIA Rail station is located
to the west of the
city at FallowfieldBarrhaven.
SOCIAL
MEDIA
The Student Market has always been
near and dear to Kelly’s heart. She
created the original Student and Youth
Market Council at Ottawa Tourism
over 12 years ago, to deal with the
challenges of being the most visited
student destination in Canada, by
Canadian students. It brought together
high volume Student Tour operators
with the key student attractions in the
Ottawa area to work on problems,
establish dialogue, and work together
for future improvements. Currently she
is working with a revamped Student
Market Working Group, consisting of
a cross section of the local Ottawa
representation to establish Canada’s
Capital as a go-to destination for
international student groups from the US
and from across the globe.
Follow Kelly on her personal Twitter
account @KellyDeanOttawa
or on the Ottawa Tourism Travel
Trade department’s account
@OTTravel_Trade, a B2B account, on
which she is one of the main contributors.
Like the www.facebook.com/
OttawaTourismTravelTrade
page and find her there.
YOUR CONSENT REQUIRED
As a valued client of Ottawa Tourism,
we hope that you have found our
communications to be interesting,
timely and relevant. This includes
invitations to our customer events and
initiatives. As of July 1, 2014, Canada’s
Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) impacts
how we communicate with you.
Ottawa Tourism would like to continue
communicating with you via e-mail.
Please take a moment to reconfirm your
consent by emailing:
traveltrade@ottawatourism.ca
facebook.com/
OttawaTourismTravelTrade
150 Elgin Street, Suite 1405, Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1L4 | 613.237.5150 | WWW.OTTAWATOURISM.CA
@OTTravel_Trade
@KellyDeanOttawa