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Hot
News from Tourism Vancouver TOURISM
VANCOUVER COMMITS TO "GREENING"
ALL OF ITS FLIGHTS Tourism
Vancouver has committed to
"greening" all of its air travel
with the purchase of carbon
offset credits through Uniglobe
Travel's Green Flight program,
the only program of its type in
Canada. Tourism Vancouver is the
first destination marketing
organization to commit to
offsetting all of their flights
through the program. In 2007
Tourism Vancouver will offset
approximately 220 metric tons of
emissions resulting from the
organization's air travel.
TRAVEL
WEEKLY READERS ONCE AGAIN NAME
VANCOUVER TOP CANADIAN
DESTINATION US
travel trade publication Travel
Weekly has once again named
Vancouver the "Top Canadian
Destination" at their annual
Readers Choice Awards. Accredited
travel agents cast their votes
through an on-line open ballot
process, and this marks the
fourth consecutive time that
Vancouver has been awarded the
distinction. Travel Weekly is
read by over 44,000 agents,
suppliers and tour operators in
North America. This award is the
latest in a list of honours that
Vancouver has received this past
year, including again being named
"Best City in the Americas" at
the recent Condé Nast
Traveler Readers' Choice
Awards. HOTEL
GEORGIA EMBARKS ON MAJOR
RECONSTRUCTION AND
EXPANSION Vancouver's
oldest hotel, the Hotel Georgia
has now closed to undergo an
extensive interior
reconstruction, redesign and
expansion, which will include a
$14 million structural upgrade.
The hotel's guestroom floors will
be reorganized to accommodate
larger guestrooms, resulting in
between 220 and 250 opulent rooms
and suites. The project will also
include the construction of a
48-storey luxury condominium
tower with retail space and hotel
expansion. CELTICFEST
TURNS ST. PATRICK'S DAY INTO A
FIVE DAY
CELEBRATION For
five days in March, the sounds of
vigorous fiddles, skirling
bagpipes, boisterous bodhrans,
dancing feet and voices will
resound throughout downtown
Vancouver as the fourth annual
CelticFest Vancouver brings
visitors and locals together for
an extraordinary celebration of
Celtic culture. From March 14 to
18 the festival will feature
hundreds of local and
international artists at more
than 60 events scheduled at
dozens of popular venues and two
outdoor stages along Granville
Street. Headliners for this
year's festival include Ashley
MacIsaac, Spirit of the West,
Daniel Lapp, The Paperboys and
The Real McKenzies. Along with
musical performances, highlights
include a scotch tasting event, a
brewmaster's dinner, Celtic music
workshops, and a limerick
competition. The most popular
free event of the festival is the
annual St. Patrick's Day parade,
which will be held on Sunday
March 18 from 11am, starting at
the corner of Howe and Drake
Streets in downtown
Vancouver. OLYMPIC
CLOCK KICKS OFF COUNTDOWN TO THE
GAMES In
celebration of the three-year
countdown to the beginning of the
2010 Olympic Winter Games, the
Vancouver Organizing Committee
(VANOC) will unveil a giant
countdown clock at the Vancouver
Art Gallery on February 12. The
clock will count down the
remaining days, hours, minutes
and seconds to the Opening
Ceremony for both the 2010
Olympic and Paralympic Winter
Games. Although full design
details of the Omega clock will
be a surprise until the public
unveiling, the clock will
represent Canadian and West Coast
themes and promises to become a
signature landmark in Vancouver
for the next three
years. START
YOUR DAY WITH CLAUDE
MONET The
Vancouver Art Gallery is offering
a unique start to the day for
groups taking in their "Monet to
Dali" exhibit this summer. From
June 11 through to September 16,
groups can enjoy a continental or
full breakfast buffet at the
Gallery Café before taking
in "Monet to Dali: Modern Masters
from the Cleveland Museum of
Art". Groups can choose to dine
inside amidst classical music and
floral arrangements, or outside
of one of the city's best
downtown patios. Breakfast and
exhibition entry packages start
at CAD $25 per person and are
ideal for groups of between 20
and 40 people. As
well as introducing the breakfast
packages, the gallery has also
announced the following
exhibitions that will take the
gallery through to
2008: •
Emily Carr and the Group of Seven
(May 12 - January 6, 2008) Works
of quintessential BC artist Carr
will be featured alongside her
Canadian contemporaries, the
Group of Seven. •
Georgia O'Keeffe (October 6 -
January 13, 2008) In
collaboration with the Irish
Museum of Modern Art, the VAG
will feature the only North
American presentation of this
exhibition. •
Roy Arden (October 20 - January
20, 2008) Spanning 25 years, this
exhibition will highlight the
work of an artist inherent in
establishing Vancouver as a
centre for contemporary
photographic art. VANCOUVER
LOOKOUT GETS A
REFRESH The
Vancouver Lookout at Harbour
Centre is currently undergoing
extensive renovations before
reopening in March. After 12
months of planning, demolition
started in January. The renovated
attraction will include an
updated space, along with new
interpretive materials and
programming. The lookout, which
originally opened in 1977, sits
50 storeys above the city and
offers a panoramic view of
Vancouver and the Lower Mainland
area. The space is available for
private functions and can
accommodate 200 guests for a
stand-up reception or up to 140
guests for a sit down
dinner. www.vancouverlookout.com SPORTS
HALL OF FAME OPENS NEW GREG MOORE
GALLERY The
Vancouver-based BC Sports Hall of
Fame is opening a new permanent
gallery to pay to tribute to
local Vancouver motor racing hero
Greg Moore. Opening February 27,
the gallery will celebrate the
life and sporting achievements of
Moore, a championship-winning
Indy racer, who died while racing
in 1999 at the age of 24. The
gallery will include exhibits
such as his Indy race car, a race
car simulator, childhood items
and video footage. The BC Sports
Hall of Fame also includes
tribute galleries that celebrate
the sporting contributions of
Terry Fox and Rick Hansen and is
located in the BC Place Stadium
in downtown Vancouver. www.bcsportshallfoffame.co
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