May 17, 2007

The front-line stars of Greater Edmonton’s hospitality industry were honoured last night at Edmonton Tourism’s 7^th Annual You’re Welcome Edmonton Awards (YWE) at the Winspear Centre.

“Service excellence is vitally important in Edmonton ’s competitive labour market,” says Ken Fiske, Edmonton Economic Development Corp.’s vice-president of Tourism, Events and Motion Pictures. “Front-line staff play a vital role in creating a positive visitor experience. And a growing number of tourism employers see You’re Welcome Edmonton as an integral part of their employee recognition and retention program.”

Awards were presented in 17 categories. The winners are:

· Outstanding Admin Services Elaine Cardinal-Baker, Edmonton Marriot at River Cree

· Outstanding Banquet Server Emir Osmanovic, Shaw Conference Centre

· Outstanding Bartender Angie Chandar, Smitty's Manning Crossing

· Outstanding Bell Person Dave Lennox, The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald

· Outstanding Casual Server Vicki Cedric, Smitty's Manning Crossing

· Outstanding Driver John Stobie, Sawmill Group Limousine Driver

· Outstanding Fine Dining Jason Spencer, Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe La Ronde

· Outstanding Food Services Khatam Zafar, Delta Edmonton South

· Outstanding Front-line Services Jacob Golka, Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe

· Outstanding Front-line Services Ellie Miller, WestJet Airlines

· Outstanding Hostess Bev Ballentine, Northlands Spectrum

· Outstanding Heart of House Carl Mapes, The Sutton Place Hotel

· Outstanding Information Services Julie Black, Northlands

· Outstanding Reservations Agent Morgan Jacko, The Sutton Place Hotel

· Outstanding Retail Services Amanda Jovine, The Beach Hut

· Outstanding Tour Guide Nancy Jacobsen, Downtown Business Association

· Outstanding Volunteer Irene von Stackelberg, Edmonton Airports

A record number of 947 award nominations were received this year, an increase of 147 new nominations over last year. Teams of industry partners from the hospitality and tourism sector conducted interviews with nearly 500 semi-finalists this past April to determine the three finalists and final award recipient for each category.

Highlights of the 2007 awards and the event’s nominations history include:

· Amanda Jovine who, at the age of 17, became the youngest winner in the history of the awards when she took home the 2007 Outstanding Retail Services award.

· Edmonton Airports ETeam garnered a record-setting 135 nominations this year, surpassing Northlands Park who previously held the record at 89 nominations for one year.

· The Edmonton Marriott at River Cree was a first-time nominee at this year’s awards, entering the race with 11 nominations.

· Outstanding Banquet Server Emir Osmanovic secured the award for the second straight-year, the third-consecutive year the Shaw Conference Centre has won this category.

A “Meet the Winners” breakfast mixer event will take place on May 30 at the Sutton Place Hotel providing an opportunity to meet the 2007 category winners.Details of Edmonton ’s “Excellence in Hospitality Month” will also be announced.

The You're Welcome Edmonton Awards was created in 2001 by Edmonton Tourism to recognize individuals in the tourism industry who have provided superior and consistent customer service to visitors and local residents. The awards event is just one component of the overall You're Welcome Edmonton program which includes a Conference Services program.

Edmonton Tourism, a division of Edmonton Economic Development Corp., is responsible for marketing Greater Edmonton as a preferred destination for leisure travel, business travel and film production. Edmonton – named Canada ’s Cultural Capital for 2007 – is Alberta ’s No. 1 tourism destination for in-province and other-province visitors, and Alberta ’s No. 1 metropolitan destination for U.S. visitors.

—30—

Note: a summary of the 7-year history of nominations for the awards is available. The summary provides interesting trivia such as a list of familiar hotel names that regularly appear in a historic review of the highest number of service nominations: the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, Sutton Place Hotel, The Coast, Delta Edmonton, Ramada Hotel and the Crowne Plaza .

Media contact:

Lisanne Lewis

EEDC Communications Manager

Phone: (780) 917-7894

E-mail: llewis@edmonton.com