And…the finalists for the Industry awards are:

WEBSITE CATEGORY:

Large Private Sector

• Silver Star Mountain Resort
• Big White Ski Resort
• Sunshine Village Ski & Snowboard Resort

Public Sector

• Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Tourism Prince Edward Island
• Tourism Vancouver

Small Private Sector

• Nahanni River Adventures
• White Point Beach Resort
• Opus Hotel Vancouver

CAMPAIGN CATEGORY:

Large Private Sector

• Spafax Canada
• Mastercard Canada
• Best Western Hotels

Public Sector

• Travel Alberta
• Canadian Tourism Commission
• Quebec City Tourism

Small Private Sector

• Bellstar Hotels & Resorts
• Antigonish Eastern Shore Tourist Association
• Harbour Tide Inn

INNOVATION CATEGORY:

Large Private Sector

• Kicking Horse Mountain Resort
• Air Canada
• Iceberg Finder

Public Sector

• Tourism British Columbia
• Kootenay Rockies Tourism
• Nova Scotia Department of Tourism

Small Private Sector

• GPS Tour Guide
• metroCode
• RezGo.com
• Adventure Engine

Industry category finalists for the prestigious new Canadian e-Tourism Awards have been determined!

The Industry Awards recognize excellence in website design, on-line campaigns and innovation for three sectors: public, private and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Consumers from around the world can now view the submissions from 18 finalists within the Website Design and Online Campaigns categories.

Help determine who will receive the Yahoo! “Big Ideas Chair Award”

Yahoo!’s “Big Ideas Chair Award” is the Industry category’s best-in-show accolade. And it’s YOUR votes that will help decide which e-Travel organization will be bestowed this honour.

Votes can now be cast at CanadianEtourismAwards.com until October 21st.

It’s so easy to vote. What are YOU waiting for?

October 14th, 2007 is the deadline for the e-Tourism Awards Traveller categories, so if you have not yet submitted your favorite travel picture, video or story…you only have 9 days left!

If you’re using new and emerging technologies to inspire fellow travellers to explore Canada, the Canadian e-Travel Awards wants to to recognize your work! The Awards team is looking for stories, photos and videos that reveal Canada for what it really is: an exciting and totally unique tourism destination.

Story Telling
Submit a link to an experience that you posted on your or somebody else’s blog.

Photo
Submit a link to a photo that you posted on a blog, or on photo websites such as Flickr, or Picasa.

Video
Submit a link to a video that you posted on a blog, or on video websites such as YouTube or Travelistic.

High scores will be awarded to entries that are thrilling, captivating, and, not least of all, contemporary. You know—the kind of images you enjoy seeing yourself!

Hopefully this little collage of some hotel guests in British Columbia “maximizing” their guest experience will inspire you to explore your image files to see what YOU have in the there!

These are from a little project I manage with HotelsByCity.net, called BedJump.

REMINDER: the deadline for Canadian e-Tourism Award submissions for the Industry Categories are only only a few days away! Submissions close when the clock strikes midnight on September 14th, 2007.

Recently I had the opportunity to join the Canada-e-Connect organizing team, as well as members of the Canadian Tourism Commission on another interesting conference site tour.

We visited the Telus World of Science, who will be hosting the exciting awards ceremony for the Canadian e-Tourism Awards on the evening of November 8, 2007.

Science World is an interesting and popular place to visit for people of all ages, but the real attraction for the e-Tourism Awards is the amazing OMNIMAX theatre, housed in the round portion of the facility that looks like a giant golf-ball.

The theatre is the perfect venue to hold the awards. Be ready for a truly unique experience that brings together state-of-the-art technology, design and innovation—in an evening that will be sure to inspire all who attend.

Vancouver based VRX Studios is the Canada-e-Connect photography sponsor, and David MacLaren, President, CEO, and Chairman of VRX joined the site inspection to test lighting and capture a few images along the way.

Naturally I thought it would be fun to feature an image of “Team CEC” captured by David after we toured the Telus World of Science:

From Left To Right:
Jens Thraenhart (Exec Dir Marketing Strategy & Chair Canada eConnect), Mimi Chan (Project Manager - Canada eConnect), Gisele Danis (Exec Dir Global Brand Integration), Micheline de Bellefeuille (Manager Publishing), Sandhya Suryam (Manager Brand Integration), Antoine Scott (Graphic Designer). Missing: Trevor Roald (Assistant Project Manager - Canada eConnect)

And since my aim is to feature what’s really going on behind the scenes…enjoy this little video of David trying to get this motley crew together for the “perfect” capture:

See you at the Canadian e-Tourism Awards!

The Canadian e-Tourism Awards have announced an important deadline extension for submissions for both the Industry and the Traveller categories.

Industry Category Submission Deadline: September 14th, 2007

Traveller Category Submission Deadline: October 14th, 2007

Naturally this is great news for any organization who simply could not find the time to put together their application, but don’t delay any longer if you plan to enter. September 14th is right around the corner!

The e-Tourism Awards have an outstanding program planned with partners, Yahoo! Canada and the Canadian Tourism Commission, and will also feature an exclusive pre-screening of the first-ever Canadian Destination IMAX movie during the Awards Ceremony at Telus World of Science. And the After-Awards Party at Coast Restaurant is certainly not to be missed!

Tickets to the Canadian e-Tourism Awards are included in the Canada-e-Connect Conference Registration. Additonal tickets maybe available at limited capacity at a first come basis.

Don’t you want your online efforts to recognized by the top Canadian industry minds in e-Travel?

There are a number of web awards currently open for submissions online, and today I was considering what makes the first ever Canadian e-Tourism Awards different, or unique from other options. Is there a compelling reason why online travel and hospitality marketers in Canada and around the world should submit their nominations to the Canadian e-Tourism Awards over another premier award event?

Of course there is! In fact, there are many reasons:

First of all, the Canadian e-Tourism Awards are exactly that–Canadian. The Awards are open to enterprises in Canada and around the planet who promote uniquely Canadian experiences. Is there another online awards that specifically focusses on creative talent and success stories in the Canadian travel and tourism arena on an international scale?

The Awards further offer some exciting and unique category segments that simply aren’t available in any other online award format. The “Best Website Design” category is bound to be an anticipated announcement, but there are more exciting categories to be judged. For example, the “online marketing campaign” category highlights successful practices in channel integration, return on investment and the ability to achieve a specific goal and prompt a call-to-action. Talk about a focus on quality.

Consider the award for “innovation“, which focusses on the use of technology to leverage consumer trends and contribute to strategic alignment. The Canadian e-Tourism Awards are looking for nominations that may include mapping applications, GPS applications, Google Earth integration, wireless marketing applications and social media interpretations. The use of other emerging web technologies is proliferating in the online travel space in Canada, and the Awards offer an incredible opportunity for Canadian organizations to be recognized for their innovative efforts.

If you take a look at the who’s-who member list of the Canadian Tourism Council and you’ll find an incredible community of e-talent. Clearly, council members are experts in their fields, and these are the e-tourism professionals who, along with the general public, will be judging the e-Tourism Awards. Where else can travel and tourism industry organizations be judged and recognized by true experts (and colleagues) in the Canadian travel sphere? The quality of judging in itself should be a very compelling reason to participate.

Yahoo! has agreed to support the Awards by enabling the Canadian and International public to vote online for their favorite Canadian travel websites and campaigns. This public input will factor importantly in the e-Tourism Council’s selection of the best overall campaign, to which Yahoo! Canada will also award the Yahoo! Big Idea Chair, recognized worldwide as a hallmark for exceptional achievement in online marketing creativity.

The first ever Canadian e-Tourism Awards are going to be an exciting event, and I’m personally excited to see who will be named the best-in-show in both the Industry and Traveller categories.

With less than two weeks left until the submission deadline, I urge you not to wait any longer to submit your nominations. Entries will be accepted until August 31, 2007 from around the world so long as they feature, market, or sell a Canadian destination, product, attraction, or experience.

“You snapped it in a terrific shot. You couldn’t wait to blog about it. Or maybe you caught it on film. The point is you got it. You posted it. Now we want to recognize you. Can’t win if you don’t enter.”

Jens Thraenhart truly captured the essence of what is so intriguing about the Traveller categories within the first-ever Canadian e-Tourism Awards in a post today on his blog. It’s a great article, and well worth a read.

Linkage
Canadian e-Tourism Awards [Website]
Image thanks to [Fun Researcher]

Canadian online travel and hospitality marketers are pushing out some of the most innovative content available anywhere. And now, you have the opportunity to be recognized for your incredible creative and development efforts at the first ever Canada e-Tourism Awards.

Hosted by the Canadian e-Tourism Council, the prestigious Canada e-Tourism Awards recognize excellence in website design, online marketing campaigns and innovation within three sectors: public, private and small-to-medium sized enterprises.

The awards also aim to recognize travellers by showcasing the best in user generated content with awards for the best storytelling, the best photo, and the best video or short-film.

Nominations run until August 31st, so it would be a great idea to start thinking about your entries.

Will award winners receive prizes? Of course! Read all about it here.

Click on the video below to hear Jens Thraenhart discuss the strategy behind Canada’s first e-Tourism Awards, and find out why the awards were initiated this year:

How are the Canada e-Tourism Awards being judged?

Link
[Canada e-Tourism Awards]