The Ontario Economic Development Awards took place on Thursday, Feb. 4 at the Toronto Marriott Eaton Centre Hotel. Elora & Fergus Tourism, Sensational Elora and Grand River Country took top honours in 3 separate categories in best visitor guide, best marketing campaign and best specialty brochure in the provincial tourism marketing categories. The ceremony honours winners and honourable mentions for their efforts in promoting their communities for location and tourism opportunities.
“This year, over 130 entries were judged” stated 2009 EDCO President Lauren Millier. “The competition allows local communities to see just how they stack up against other municipalities when it comes to promoting location, investment & tourism opportunities”.
Expert judges reviewed all of the entries that covered everything from promotional brochures to infrastructure development projects. There are judges from specialized areas of expertise assigned to judge specific categories.
Over 20 tourism partners from Centre Wellington were on hand to accept these awards during the Annual Conference of the Economic Developers Council of Ontario. “It is always an honour to accept these awards as the competition is very competitive”, stated Deb Dalziel, Tourism Coordinator for Elora Fergus Tourism.
“These awards demonstrate our effectiveness in our economic development and tourism marketing efforts, and provide recognition to so many of our creative and hardworking events and projects in our community. It was especially thrilling to have our Mayor, members of Council and so many partners present to participate in the award ceremonies.
These prestigious awards were especially distinctive as the Honourable David Onley; Lieutenant Governor of Ontario was on hand to personally congratulate all winners including the large delegation from Centre Wellington.
EDCO is the country’s largest provincial economic development association that offers this program as well as professional development opportunities throughout the year.
Membership is close to 600 that come from the private and public sector.
