November 12, 1996
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

The following is being distributed at the request of John Cabot (1997) 500th Anniversary Corporation:

The Cabot 500 Celebrations receives more international recognition 
through awards ceremonies in London, England

The British Guild of Travel Writers hosted their 1996 International and British Tourism Awards ceremony in London, England last night, Monday, November 11 at the World Travel Market. The Cabot 500 Celebrations has been voted into the Highly Commended Category of the Silver Otter Award for its innovative and exciting year-long calendar of events to commemorate European explorer John Cabot's landfall in the New World. The Cabot 500 Celebrations is the first runner-up in the Silver Otter Award.

"The Silver Otter Award is international in scope and therefore recognizes the impact Newfoundland and Labrador's 1997 celebrations will have, not only in North America but overseas as well." Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation Sandra Kelly said. "This award recognizes Newfoundland and Labrador's efforts in developing new attractions for its tourism market."

Each year, members of the British Guild of Travel Writer's nominate new international and British tourism projects for their awards. These are projects they consider to have tourism potential to benefit the local communities as well as being ecologically sound. All nominations are reviewed and a short list is drawn up for presentation during September. The members then vote for the winners in each category.

The Silver Otter Award for international projects was first awarded to Greece for its development of "traditional settlements" back in 1978. The solid silver otter statuette has since travelled to Canada (twice), Yugoslavia, Antigua, Turkey, Finland, Egypt, Ecuador, Australia, France, USA, Zambia, and Oman.

This is the second international tourism award the Cabot 500 Celebrations has received. In August 1996, it received recognition as the Number One Canadian Event in North America from American Bus Association.

Contact: Gillian Marx, Public Relations Coordinator, Cabot 500 Celebrations (709) 729-2832 or (709) 579-1997.