MINISTER ABLONCZY ENCOURAGES
CANADIANS TO EXPLORE CANADA THIS SUMMER
OTTAWA, July 31, 2009–The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism), announced today that she will be joining the growing number of Canadians vacationing within Canada this summer.
"I’ll be travelling from Ottawa to Calgary by road," said Minister Ablonczy, "I’ll be blogging and tweeting along the way to tell Canadians about some of our country’s hidden travel gems."
The Minister departs Ottawa this week, and will arrive in Calgary by mid-August. Last summer, Minister Ablonczy travelled from Calgary to the North, experiencing the region’s spectacular attractions and unique destinations along the way. "We are very fortunate to live in such a
beautiful country," said Minister Ablonczy, "Canadians are enriched by seizing opportunities to see and experience as much of it as they can."
Minister Ablonczy added that the Government of Canada has demonstrated its commitment to enhancing and promoting Canada’s world-class tourism experiences. Canada’s Economic Action Plan invests in our national parks, historical sites, community festivals and major events with significant tourism draw.
The Economic Action Plan also provides funding for a major domestic advertising campaign through the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC). The resulting Locals Know campaign encourages Canadians to share their own authentic stories, comments and photos of Canada’s hidden travel spots with each other. This campaign was recently named one of Forbes.com top ten travel campaigns in the world. Locals Know has exceeded all xpectations and has encouraged many Canadians to consider taking a staycation. The CTC will be launching a new campaign out in the fall to influence Canadians’ winter travel plans.
To follow Minister Ablonczy on this trip, please visit the blog at
http://dianeablonczy.blog.com and follow Twitter at
www.twitter.com/dianeablonczy. Also, become a fan of Minister Ablonczy
on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minister-Ablonczys-Great-Canadian-
Staycation/92277341593 and provide destination suggestions and helpful
tips for her trip. For more information on the Locals Know campaign,
please visit www.locals know.ca .
On The Road Again
“ We own a 1997 RV and it is fun for my husband to drive. We left 1 week ago from Ottawa and will continue on to our home in Calgary. We stay wherever there is a flat place. It is called dry docking. When you have a generator and water you have everything self contained,”
said Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism). “ We stayed in Wawa overnight. It is a beautiful driver over Lake Superior. There is not much traffic and over every bend there is another view of Lake Superior or a sunset and the amazing rock
formations. At night we had to watch for moose.”
“ The idea is to show people what is available in their own back yard. Many times people think they have to go away to have attractions and destinations and enjoyable times. We are stopping at a few places to show people they can have a good time. There is no country like
Canada where you can travel with the amenities we have and hardly see anybody. Europeans for example can’t go very far at all without seeing another large community. It is good for the soul.”
“ There is a lot of negative thinking about Ottawa politicians sometimes but when you think of it all levels of politicians spend over half of what we make. They shape the world we live in and also determine our future in many ways. It is very critical in a democracy that people are engaged in what’s happening,” said Ablonczy.“ Everyone should travel across Canada once to experience our beautiful country.”
