Supercrawl named Ontario tourism event of the year

A Niagara Region food tour operator and an annual arts festival in Hamilton are among winners of the 2015 Ontario Tourism Awards of Excellence.

Niagara Culinary Tours, launched in 2013, specializes in walking tours in places including St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Besides offering tastings at local restaurants, the company (www.niagaraculinarytours.com) says its guests learn about the history of the area and cultural landmarks.

Hamilton's Supercrawl, named tourism event of the year, is a free, three-day outdoor music and arts festival in the downtown core. In 2014, it attracted more than 165,000 visitors and had an economic impact of over $14 million, according to the awards' promoters.

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"From the outset, Supercrawl has always promoted local artists, businesses andneighbourhoods far beyond the city's borders, so this distinction is a reflection on themas much as us," said Tim Potocic, Festival Director of Supercrawl. "It's a real honour,and great to have confirmation that Supercrawl is on the provincial radar in a big way."

Other winners, announced at a Nov. 10 Toronto gala, included the Royal Ontario Museum for accessible tourism, the Mariposa Folk Festival for sustainable tourism and Guelph Wellington's Taste Real Local Food Fest.

The awards, billed as celebrating "the best of the best in Ontario tourism," are presented by the Ontario Culinary Tourism Alliance, the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corp., and the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario.