Canada Report Card 2015: Which Companies Earned High Honours

Identifying the best hospitality companies, campaigns and individuals in a country as diverse as Canada can be a tricky feat. Benchmarks and metrics vary from company to company, which each define success by largely different standards.

Still, there were many notable standout performers in the tourism industry in 2015, a few of which of include:

Tourism Winnipeg

Winnipeg may have taken home the “Slurpee Capital of the World” title for 15 straight years, but in case you haven’t been looking, the prairie city has a lot more going for it than 7-11 drink sales.

A number of high-profile sporting events, including the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 and the 103^rd CFL Grey Cup, made their home in Winnipeg this year, attracting global attention and plenty of new visitors.

Beyond one-off sporting events, the city is also home to a number of new, iconic—yes, iconic—attractions including the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which opened in 2014, and a major new polar bear exhibit at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. And speaking of iconic, the pop-up restaurant RAW: almond, apparently the only pop-up restaurant in the world to operate on a frozen river, has already sold out more than a month before its January opening date. Incidentally, both RAW: Almond and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights were honored at the Canadian Tourism Awards earlier this year.

While much of hospitality news from Winnipeg has been focused on its gleaming new offerings, a “found” video began making the rounds on YouTube. The video, produced in 1964 by the Manitoba Department of Industry & Commerce, has already racked up more than 50,000 views, bringing further attention to Winnipeg’s offerings (admittedly, some of which are now obsolete.)

Winnipeg’s biggest win this year was a nod by National Geographic Traveler, who listed the city as one of its must-visit places for 2015, placing it alongside such global destinations as New York City, Bermuda and Hawai’I Volcanoes National Park.

Tourism officials aren’t content to rest on their laurels, either. Travel Manitoba, in partnership with the province and the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce have organized a "tourism industry summit" in Winnipeg, scheduled for Jan. 12, to develop a long-term tourism plan.

WestJet

With their successful holiday campaign, WestJet is almost too easy a pick to include on this year’s score card.

In 2013, WestJet nearly broke YouTube with its “Christmas Miracle” video, which has had more than 44 million views to date. This year, WestJet set out with a bigger goal, to perform 12,000 mini-miracles around Canada—and at some of the international airports where WestJet flies.

WestJet is not the only airline to give away tickets—and memorialize giving on video—this year. Air Canada also created a feel-good series where unsuspecting Canadians won free travel home.

But what earns WestJet highest marks is the airline’s efforts to place its employees at the forefront of the spirit of giving. At WestJet’s “command center,” WestJetters manned a real-time miracle counter, where regularly broadcast updates received as many cheers as a Jerry Lewis telethon. Maybe the command center was real, maybe it wasn’t, but the joy expressed by the employees was incredibly infectious, subliminally reminding travellers, “these are people you want handling your holiday travel.”

Incidentally, WestJet was recognized for its corporate culture by Waterstone Human Capital earlier this year, and is the only organization to make Waterstone’s list nine times. And in case you’re wondering, WestJetters actually performed more than 30,000 mini-miracles in one day.

G Adventures

Speaking of great corporate cultures, no best-of list would be complete without the inclusion of G Adventures, who earlier this year earned sixth place on the Globe & Mail’s 100 Best Workplaces in Canada list. The list recognizes companies who “have managed to create a culture where employees trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”

G Adventures’ founder Bruce Poon Tip is also deserving of mention. A huge supporter of the travel agent community, Poon Tip recently spoke before a group of Travel Professionals International (TPI) travel advisors and reminded them that, “people used to buy products from brands. Now they buy products from people.”

The company recently strengthened its travel agency relations when it became a preferred supplier for luxury travel network Virtuoso. The 375 by-invitation-only members of Virtuoso now have instant access to G Adventures entire catalog of 700 global itineraries.

This year also brought about another major new partnership for G Adventures who teamed up with National Geographic to create 70 all new itineraries, in the new National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures collection. The new itineraries will continue to focus on the hands-on experiences for which G Adventures is known but will also explore destinations where National Geographic helped shape history.

Outer Shores Expeditions

Another adventure travel company earning top marks is Victoria-based Outer Shores Expeditions, which operates sailing expeditions along the coast of British Columbia. The company, under the guidance of founder Captain Russel Markel, PhD and marine biologist, is committed to the conservation of the ecosystems, communities and cultures of coastal British Columbia.

The vessel used for all Outer Shores excursions, the Passing Cloud, comes complete with her own bit of Canadiana. The 70-foot schooner was designed by William James Roue, who is more famously known as the designer of Canada’s iconic Bluenose schooner.

While the company says it is committed to sustainability, it doesn’t just talk the talk. Outer Shores Expeditions is completely carbon neutral, as verified by Offsetters. It has also received the Green Tourism Gold certification as well as the Tourism Vancouver Island Sustainable Business Award. It also recently won the Canadian Tourism Award for sustainability.

It also became one of the first companies to publicly commend new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after he instructed cabinet ministers to formalize a moratorium on crude-oil tanker traffic on B.C.’s north coast.

“The new prime minister’s mandate [is one] Outer Shores proudly applauds, as it will prevent hundreds of tankers from endangering the Great Bear Rainforest every year,” said Markel.

Tahkini Hot Springs

Once a remote outpost in the Yukon Territory, the Tahkini Hot Pools demonstrated just how fast an idea can go viral earlier this year. Every February, the hot springs hosts a “Hair Freezing Contest,” where people take a dip in the pool, shape their hair and wait for it to freeze (which takes just minutes, provided the temperature has dropped below -30.) Participants post their photos on Facebook, and the photo of the best ‘do wins $150 cash.

Shortly after the winning photo was posted, the image quickly spun its way around the world. Reuters picked up the photo, which allowed for widespread attention according to owner Andrew Umbrich. Tahkini Hot Springs then received coverage in major news outlets around the world, including Korea, France, China and Japan. In addition to TV and print stories, the Hair Freezing Contest was featured on weather sites, news sites and numerous fashion/hair magazines.

“We had so much attention so quickly that it was a lot of work to keep up with and it was a huge learning experience for us,” said Umbrich.

The campaign generated so much attention, it also received numerous awards, including the Canadian Tourism Award for social media and the WestJet Social Media Initiative of the Year Award.

Follow @MonicaPoling