St. John’s Chefs Shine!

       

       Chef Jeremy Charles, Raymonds Restaurant, recently took silver and the people’s choice at the Canadian Culinary Championship, Gold Medal Plates in Kelowna, B.C.  http://www.goldmedalplates.com/ccc.html Chef Todd Perrin, The Chef’s Inn, takes to the airwaves on Top Chef Canada, Food Network. Follow Todd’s journey. http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/Top-Chef/show.html?titleid=101890

        Both Chefs represent the latest surge in the foodie movement in St. John’s. Exceptional culinary experience using local ingredients. Charles won with an exceptional rabbit dish. Perrin broke out the seal slider on national television. Dine well. Dine often!

Newfoundland Shortlisted for 2013 IIHF World Women's Hockey Championship...

Some excellent news!!  St. John's has the opportunity to host the 2013 IIHF World Women's Hockey Championship.  After a lot of hard work and collaboration with several key partners, Destination St. John's had submitted a bid to Hockey Canada for review.  Three locations, including St. John's, have been shortlisted with a formal presentation to be held in Calgary on April 6.  It's a great opportunity for St. John's to once again host a world class hockey event.  Just this past November the Women's Four Nation's Cup was held in Newfoundland and we now boast the record for attendence at this event.   Our province is fast becoming recognized as the place to go, whether it is for a conference, meeting, AGM, incentive travel or a major sporting event. 

For more information go to Hockey Canada

DRAGONS' DEN Returning to St. John's...

DRAGONS’ DEN will be holding open auditions in St. John’s on Saturday, March 19th, 2011 for Season Six of the hit series returning this fall on CBC Television.

Aspiring entrepreneurs are given the chance to pitch their businesses and get an opportunity to meet the panel of wealthy Canadian business moguls – the Dragons.

This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs and small business owners to come down and pitch their business concept for the chance to appear on national television. So get your ideas together and drop by the Battery Hotel you never know it could be the chance of a lifetime! 

To get all the details, visit  Dragons Den

20th Annual City Tourism Awards...

Let’s Recognize our Best!

The City of St. John’s will be celebrating Tourism Awareness Week 2011 by honouring the very best in the tourism business at its 20th Annual Tourism Awards Ceremony in June.

Nominations are now being accepted for the following annual awards:

Legend Award

This award is presented annually to the individual or group who has made significant contributions to the enhancement of tourism in St. John’s through:

· reinforcing and promoting our built and cultural heritage unique to the City

· increasing the profile of the City provincially, regionally, nationally, or internationally

· enhancing the environmental health of the City

Event of the Year Award

This award is presented annually to the group or organization who, through the production of an event, best exemplifies the spirit of St. John’s and generates tourism visitation for the St. John’s region. The event must have occurred in the past year and should have:

· celebrated traditions unique to the City

· effectively marketed the City through the event

· celebrated the culture of the City and/or

· promoted the history/heritage of the City


Signal Award

This award is presented annually to the individual, group or company who has made a significant contribution to the evolution and sustainability of the cruise ship industry in St. John’s. The nominee should have:

· been recognized as a true ambassador for the City of St. John’s

· provided profile to the celebrated traditions, culture and unique heritage of the City

· contributed to the profile of St. John’s through effective marketing and promotional activities

· demonstrated a continued commitment to provision of quality service


Victoria Wagon Award

This award is prresented annually to a taxi driver who best exemplifies the spirit of exceptional customer service.


Destination St. John’s Award of Distinction

Attracting meetings/conferences/events is very competitive and often takes significant commitment and effort of local groups or individuals to win the bid to host. The Destination St. John’s Award of Distinction therefore recognizes the work of a local planning committee or individual who was instrumental in bringing the meeting/conference/event to St. John’s.

· The work of the committee or individual will have been judged as prominent in the decision to choose St. John’s as the location for the meeting/conference/event.

· The meeting/conference/event must be regional, national or international and bring substantial economic

benefit to the area by way of overnight accommodation nights sold.

· Guest programs and pre and post experiences should be offered to delegates as part of the

meeting/conference/event.

· The profile of St. John’s, the region and the province should be heightened by hosting the meeting/conference/event.

To nominate an individual or group, please return the nomination form before 4:30 pm on Wednesday, April 6th,  2011 to:


TOURISM AWARDS

Department of Economic Development, Tourism & Culture

City of St. John’s

348 Water Street

P.O. Box 908

St. John’s, NL AlC 5M2



20th Annual Tourism Awards
   

LEGEND AWARD

EVENT OF THE YEAR AWARD

SIGNAL AWARD (Cruise)
VICTORIA AWARD (Taxi Driver)
DESTINATION ST. JOHN'S AWARD OF DISTINCTION (Convention)

Award: _________________________________________________________

Name of Person/Group being Nominated:  _________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Telephone: _________________________________________________________

Nominated by: _________________________________________________________

Telephone: _________________________________________________________

Reason for Nomination: _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

Nomination Form

Please feel free to add more detailed informatin to this form and attach any relevant support documents.

St. John's is Drawing a Record Number of Convention Goers...

St. John's, Newfoundland is fast becoming the place of choice for conference delegates.  Our destination offers a wonderful blend of business and pleasure second to none.  It's a place you visit for the first time, fall in love and the mix of rich history and culture, breathtaking scenery, and extraordinary people is etched in your memory forever.  Coming back to a place you can easily call "home" is a must! 

Read this article... The Telegram

Newfoundland and Labrador a Popular Destination of Choice in 2010...

The 2010 tourism industry in our province experienced another exceptional year!  Local hoteliers reported a 6.8% increase in rooms sold in 2010, to 608,890 room nights up from 570,190 room nights sold during the same time period in 2009. Meanwhile, the average occupancy rate climbed by $2.88 (+2.3%) during the same time period. A strong indication that our destination is proving to be "the place to go' whether for business or pleasure.


To compliment DSJ's successful year, the St. John's International Airport Authority reached a milestone experiencing over 1.3 million passengers boarding or deplaning in 2010 with airline passenger movements showing an increase of 7.7% or 94,769 passengers over 2009. A remarkable accomplishment for our airport!
The cruise industry also had a very successful year hosting 20 cruise ships in 2010, a significant increase from the 11 visits last year. 19,025 visitors (13,013 passengers and 6,012 crew) "came ashore", a 74.3% increase over the 10,917 visitors in 2009.  A wonderful economic benefit for the City of St. John's and surrounds.

And, to put the "icing on the cake" St. John's (Avalon Peninsula was named #1 Coastal Destination in the World! by National Geographic Traveler Magazine beating out popular seaside travel spots in Wales, New Zealand, Hawaii, Italy, Australia and other provinces in Canada!  Check it out at: http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/coastal-destinations-rated

Overall, 2010 was an outstanding year for our province which reflects our rich culture and history, natural beauty, friendliness of our people and applauds the on-going dedication of all stakeholders in the tourism industry. At Destination St. John's we couldn't be more proud!

Newfoundland highlighted as the "Place to Go"...

The people of Newfoundland have always known the beauty of our province, the hidden gems and the many unique things to experience.  No matter what you desire our destination offers an atmosphere that you will remember for a lifetime!  We know it...take a peek and you will know it too!  Check out this article ...It says it all!  NY Daily News

Destination St. John's Welcomes Cathy Duke...

We are delighted to have Cathy Duke join our team this morning as she begins her journey as CEO of Destination St. John's.  Cathy joins us from the provincial government where she most recently served as Deputy Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. Her successful career has included other high profile positions: Deputy Minister of the Department of Innovation,Trade and Rural Development, Executive Director of the Irish Business Partnership, President of Sports Villas Resorts, and the Executive Director of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cathy's exceptional skills and experience will prove to be a wonderful asset for our organization in a thriving tourism industry.  Welcome aboard Cathy!!

2011 Telus Cup Package Makes a Great Stocking Stuffer...

Santa will soon be here and every child, or child at heart would love to have a full tournament pass for the 2011 Telus Cup Midget Championships from April 18 - 24, 2011 being held in St. John's.  140 Midget teams across the country will take to the ice with the hope of being one of six teams on the ice next April at the 2011 Telus Cup, Canada's 41st National Midget Championships. This is the first time that the championships return to a former host city. What an honour for St. John's, Newfoundland! So make sure you come out and cheer on the St. John's Pennecon Privateers as they challenge for the national bragging rights. It's not too late to get your special ticket package for a full tournament pass which includes all 19 games for just $49 until December 31st - $69 as of January 1, 2011. For more information go to www.hockeycanada.ca/teluscup Go Privateers Go!!

Destination St.John's Members Win Awards...

• The St. John's Board of Trade held their 18th Annual "Business Excellence Awards" today at the St. John's Convention Centre. Destination St. John's congratulates four of its members on their tremendous accomplishments.
  
  The Holiday Inn were the big winners with two awards - Customer Service and Reliability and the prestigious Business Excellence Award.  The Newfoundland Chocolate Company received the New Start-Up Award, for Contribution to Community and Community Service (under 50 employees) Coast 101 was given the honour, and the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation were recognized for Marketing and Promotional Achievements.
  We applaud all recipients for their commitment and dedication to their industry and for a job well done!

Dr. Effie Chow, "Visionary of the Decade", Tomorrow Night at DF Cook Recital Hall...

If you don't have your ticket yet you may miss out on a very enlightening experience.  Dr. Effie Chow has arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador and will be the guest speaker at an event called "MENTAL HEALTH, RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS, REDUCE THE STIGMA" along with guest international motivational speaker Jeremy Bennett.  Dr. Chow is a world renowned master of Qigong, Traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, holds a degree in behavioural science and communications, is a psychiatric nurse, has a PHD in Higher education and is founder of the East West Academy of Healing Arts.  Dr. Chow was also a former advisor to President Bill Clinton.  An astonishing resume!  So imagine what you will be missing as both Dr. Chow and Mr. Bennett present this revolutionary approach to Mental Wellness on December 7th at the DF Cook Recital Hall in St. John's from 7:00 - 10:00pm.  If you are a professional in the education, health and enforcement field or an individual sufferer or someone dealing with the state of mental health at any level this event is for you.  Tickets are available at the Holy Heart Auditorium box office by calling (709) 579-4424 for a cost of $97 tax included.



Destination St. John's welcomes Dr. Chow to Newfoundland and Labrador and wishes her a very successful event and an inspiring visit!

North Atlantic Fish & Workboat Show Delegates are in St. John's...

Destination St. John's welcomes approximately 85 delegates to St. John's for the biannual North Atlantic Fish and Workboat show.  This is the "show to be at" for the commercial marine market place as key buyers are brought together from across the region.  It is beneficial for Commercial Fishermen, Aquaculture Vessel Operations, Tour Boat Operators, Fire and Police Marine Operations, Search and Rescue, Research and Scientific Vessels and Off Shore Oil/Gas Service Vessels.  Drop down to Mile One Centre this weekend and take a look at the latest developments in equipment and technology in the fisheries and marine industries.

The second Industry Achievement Awards will be presented on the evening of November 26th at the opening night reception at Club One.

For more information visit http://www.nafish.ca/

St. John's is thrilled to host Dr. Effie Chow, world renowned "Visionary of the Decade"

"MENTAL HEALTH, RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS, REDUCE THE STIGMA"  is a very important event you definitely won't want to miss!  Dr. Effie Chow is a world renowned, Global Award Winning "Visionary of the Decade" and former advisor to President Bill Clinton and Dr. Chow, along with special guest international motivational speaker Jeremy Bennett, will present  this revolutionary approach to Mental Wellness on December 7th at the DF Cook Recital Hall in St. John's from 7:00 - 10:00pm. This event will target a wide audience range from professionals in the education, health and enforcement fields along with individual sufferers and those exposed to and dealing with the state of mental health at any level.   Tickets are available at the Holy Heart Auditorium box office by calling (709) 579-4424 for a cost of $97 tax included. 

Destination St. John's encourages you to attend this event.  Not only will you be inspired by the story of Jeremy Bennett but you will come away with a whole new outlook on Mental Illness.  Don't be disappointed, book your tickets today!

Destination St. John's congratulates "Ramada St. John's"...

Destination St. John's extends a very big congratulations to one of our members, Ramada St. John's, on being recognized internationally as a "Best of 2010" property by Ramada worldwide.  This is a tremendous award to receive that speaks volumes of the quality of customer service and commitment that you can expect to receive at Ramada St. John's and indeed in Newfoundland and Labrador. 

To read the full press release please visit:

http://www.destinationstjohns.com/announcements.asp#LocalHotelNamedasaBestof2010Property

Drop by the Annual Christmas Craft Fair this weekend...

Expect to see the finest crafts made from across the province -and across the country at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John's this weekend.  And with craft demonstrations, lots of FREE parking, NO admission, and a great atmosphere, Christmas shopping has never been so fun!

You won't want to miss your chance to get that beautiful unique gift for that "hard to get" person - all the while supporting talent from Newfoundland and Labrador as well as across Canada.  For more information call 709-753-2749, email info@craftcouncil.nl.ca or visit Craft Council NL