Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend wins Event of the Year at 2019 Canadian Tourism Awards

Ottawa, November 21, 2019 – The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend was awarded the coveted Event of the Year award at the 2019 Canadian Tourism Awards held in Ottawa last evening.

The Canadian Tourism Awards are presented annually by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) to recognize success, leadership and innovation in Canada’s tourism industry, and to reward those people, places, organizations and events that have gone above and beyond to showcase Canada’s very best and offer travellers superior tourism experiences in Canada.

For the past 45 years, the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend has welcomed participants from around the world who take part in one or more of seven races: the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, Scotiabank Ottawa Half Marathon, Ottawa 10K, 5K, 2K and Scotiabank Kids Marathon.

Each year, more than half of the weekend’s participants come from out of town, some from as far as Asia, Australia and Europe. These visitors generate an economic impact of more than $14 million for the region, with most spending two nights in the area, while enjoying all Ottawa has to offer: great hotels, restaurants and a myriad of tourist attractions.

“The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend has become a vacation destination for runners around the world,” says Ian Fraser, Race Director, Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. “Not only do we put on one of the best organized races in the world, but we offer an unparalleled picturesque and historic race course in the heart of a G7 capital. Not many cities can beat that.”

“We plan on working very closely with our local tourism partners and the City of Ottawa to offer even more great options for our visitors in the coming years,” continued Fraser.

“The Canadian Tourism Awards highlights the creativity, diversity and originality found in tourism, we applaud the organizations and individuals whose hard work will inspire new generations to seek a career in tourism and join the businesses large and small that power local economies across Canada,” said Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) President and CEO, Charlotte Bell.

The 2020 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend will take place May 23-24, 2020.