Media Releases

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Readers of Travel Weekly name Whistler the best

Suggested tweet: Readers of #TravelWeekly name #Whistler their favourite ski destination

Whistler, B.C. – Whistler has another impressive award to add to its list of accolades, being named this week by the readers of Travel Weekly as the number one ski destination.

The Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards were announced on Tuesday, December 15 at the Conrad New York, with Whistler taking top prize in the new category of Best Ski Destination.

Finalists in that category included Whistler, Aspen, Jackson Hole, Park City, St. Moritz and Vail. All finalists were named in the December 7 issue of Travel Weekly and winners will be featured in the January 25, 2016 edition.

“These distinctive and widely-recognized awards are presented annually to the industry’s suppliers who led the way in product and service during the past year,” said Alicia Evanko-Lewis, The Travel Group’s Senior Vice President of Events. "Congratulations to Whistler on winning the inaugural Ski Destination award. Our readers have spoken and Whistler is their favourite ski destination.”

The open ballot phase of the voting was conducted during the summer, with readers invited to name their favourites in each category. The leading recipients in each category were identified as finalists, and voting took place throughout November. Readers voted in 74 categories, rating everything from car rental companies, to hotels, destinations, tour operators, theme parks and more.

“We are excited that Whistler has been recognized by the prestigious Travel Weekly Readers’ Choice Awards,” said Barrett Fisher, Tourism Whistler’s President and CEO.

And while Whistler took home the top ski destination award, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler was also recognized with the top ranking in the ski resort category. Finalists in that category included the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, the Four Seasons Resort Jackson Hole, Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort and Spa, St. Regis Aspen Resort, Val Thorens Sensations and Westin Snowmass Resort.

“We are thrilled to be recognized as the best ski resort hotel in the world,” said Norman Mastalir, Executive Director of Fairmont Chateau Whistler. “Fairmont Chateau Whistler is the largest true slopeside hotel in North America and we are located at the foot of Whistler Blackcomb. However, beyond the outstanding physical attributes of the hotel I believe it is the passion for the place, and the way our colleagues provide amazing, personalized service to each of our guests that puts us in the top spot for these awards.”

“We congratulate all of the businesses that contribute to Whistler’s success – and the Fairmont Chateau Whistler for being recognized in the ski resort category,” said Fisher, adding that the awards are great news for Whistler, which was also recognized this year by SKI Magazine.

“These accolades are recognition of the collective work that goes into delivering an exceptional product and top-notch guest experience,” Fisher said. “We are deeply appreciative of this award. The votes came from readers of Travel Weekly – our peers in the travel trade industry. It is humbling to be recognized in this way and we are flattered that they chose Whistler as the top ski destination.”

Travel Weekly, as noted on their website, is “the most influential provider of news, research, opinion and analysis to the North American travel trade marketplace.” In addition to a weekly print publication, TravelWeekly.com, updated several times daily, is the most visited industry website. Travel Weekly is a division of Secaucus, New Jersey-based Northstar Travel Media, the largest travel business-to-business travel publisher in the world.  Travel Weekly and TravelWeekly.com reach an audience of more than 122,517 industry professionals. The website averages more than 460,700 monthly unique visitors and 1.44 million monthly page views.

This year is one of milestones for Whistler: the Resort Municipality of Whistler celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2015; and winter 2015/16 marks the 50th anniversary of Whistler Mountain and the 35th anniversary of Blackcomb Mountain.

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Whistler is Canada's premier year-round leisure and meeting destination located in the Coast Mountains 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Consistently rated the top ski resort in North America, Whistler was the Host Mountain Resort of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The resort offers an extensive range of accommodations totaling 10,000 bedrooms among 24 hotels as well as townhomes, condos, B&Bs and chalets. Whistler also boasts more than 100 restaurants and bars, 200 retail shops, 25 spas and countless activity options from world-renowned skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking and golf, to hiking, rock climbing, and watersports. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is home to a diverse community of more than 10,000 permanent residents.

Tourism Whistler is the member-based marketing and sales organization representing Whistler, operating the Whistler Conference Centre, Whistler Golf Club, Whistler Visitor Centre, as well as 1.800.944.7853 and whistler.com - Whistler's official source for visitor bookings and information. As the convention and visitors bureau for the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Tourism Whistler represents more than 7,000 members who own, manage and operate properties or businesses on resort lands including hotels, restaurants, activity operators and retail shops.

Media can visit whistler.com/media for Whistler facts, media releases, story starters, local personality profiles and access to images and B-roll.

Broadcasters: Whistler now has the capability to take you live with our enhanced fibre network. The significantly expanded network of more than 200 kilometres of fibre optic cabling throughout the resort allows instant transmission of HD signals to any location at any time. Details on how to access, and book the fibre are available on our media site.

Media Contact

Patricia Westerholm
Manager, Communications
T: 604.938.2748
E: pwesterholm@tourismwhistler.com

W: www.whistler.com/media
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