Final Day! Shining Stars Tourism Awards Call for Entries 

For Immediate Release
2/11/2010 
Contact: Melisssa Stephens 
Phone: 519-751-9900 

Tourism Brantford is pleased to announce that the Call for Entries opens today for the 7th annual Shining Stars Tourism Awards, which honour outstanding achievement and contributions in the tourism industry in Brantford and area. Entries and nominations will be accepted from February 11 to April 12, 2010.

In 2009, nine awards were presented at a spectacular gala with over 130 guests in attendance.  The 2010 Shining Stars Tourism Awards will take place on Thursday, May 6, from 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. at the Best Western Brant Park Inn & Conference Centre. Kirby's Bar & Buffet will be hosting the awards After Party with great prizes available. An event of this caliber assists tourism partners in striving for excellence amongst their peers and raises awareness for tourism in our communities. This year, there are a total of 14 awards - seven categories for businesses, three for individuals and four categories for People’s Choice.

 

The Shining Stars Business Awards include:

  • Promotion and Marketing Campaign Award: Business, Facility or Attraction – over 30,000 visitors
  • Promotion and Marketing Campaign Award: Business, Facility or Attraction – under 30,000 visitors
  • Festival, Event or Tournament Award: Attendance draw of 1,000 people or less
  • Festival, Event or Tournament Award: Attendance draw of more than 1,000 people
  • Rising Star Award
  • NEW Environmental Sustainability Award
  • NEW Economic Impact Award

The Shining Stars Individual Awards include:

  • Arts, Culture & Heritage Award
  • Tourism Innovator Award
  • NEW Stars of the Grand: Brantford Customer Service Recognition Award

The People’s Choice Awards include:

  • Best Family/Casual Dining Restaurant
  • Best Fine Dining Restaurant
  • Best Attraction
  • NEW Best Downtown Hot Spot

Eligibility:

  • You may nominate yourself or another business or event that you feel is worthy of recognition.
  • In order to be eligible for one of the awards, the individual or business must have conducted the activity between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 (excluding the Rising Star and Tourism Innovator categories).
  • You are not permitted to enter a submission, or self-nominate for the award that you won in the previous year. 
  • Self nominations for the People's Choice Awards will not be accepted.

To enter, simply click to be redirected to the Shing Stars Tourism Awards website, select “Call for Entries,” click "Submit your Nomination" for the award you're interested in and complete the required information fields about the business/event you are nominating, along with the corresponding questions. When the form is complete, click "Submit Nomination." You will receive an e-mail to confirm receipt of your entry. If you are nominating a business or individual, once your information has been received by the webmaster, a complete nomination package and instructions will be sent out to the nominee.

Entries must be submitted no later than Monday, April 12th, by 4:30 p.m. Alternatively, you can submit a hard copy entry to the Brantford Visitor & Tourism Centre, 399 Wayne Gretzky Parkway, or e-mail your entry in a word document to dclements@brantford.ca. Instructions on how to do this can be found on the awards website.

Voting for the People’s Choice Awards will begin on March 1st and run until March 31st. Ballots will be published in the Expositor and Your Brant Connection and can be filled out and dropped off at the Expositor or the Brantford Visitor & Tourism Centre. Also, this year we will accept online voting through the Expositor. You can check for updates on the People’s Choice Awards at www.shiningstarsawards.com.

The 2010 Shining Star Tourism Awards are brought to you by Tourism Brantford, and made possible through sponsorships from OLG, The Expositor, Six Nations/New Credit Marketing Collective, BDO Dunwoody LLP, Kirby's Bar & Buffet, Ferrero and Spence Print Solutions.

If you have any questions about the Tourism Awards, please contact Donna Clements, Tourism Business Development Officer, dclements@brantford.ca, 519-751-9900 ext. 204.