Ottawa Tourism chair Daniel Laliberte. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

If someone had a crystal ball to see what was in store for the local tourism sector in 2007, it might have looked pretty bleak.

This year saw the elimination of all municipal funding for Ottawa Tourism, its president Jacques Burelle suddenly stepped down, the Canadian dollar briefly surpassed $1.10 against the American dollar, there was the potential for another poorly attended Tulip Festival and the winter tourism season got off to a very warm start in January.

Somehow though, Ottawa came out on top with one of the best showings for tourism in years, according to Daniel Laliberte, general manager for the Ottawa Marriott and chair of Ottawa Tourism.

"It's been a year of ups and downs in my view, but things came together," added Dick Brown, executive director of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association (OGHA).

Good times winter, spring and summer

"From the business side, '07 has been exceptional. We had one of the best Winterlude years we have had in recent years, even if it started a little scary," said Mr. Laliberte.

Sceptics had feared the Rideau Canal would not freeze over until late into the festival, or not at all, after a warmer than usual fall and winter and almost no snow in January. However, the National Capital Commission dubbed the 29th edition of Winterlude "one of the best ever" with an estimated 1.6 million visitors. Attendance could not be confirmed as 2007 was not an official survey year, but organizers said the record of 1.6 million set in 2000 may very well have been broken.

The 55th edition of the Ottawa Tulip Festival emerged from the ashes thanks to local businessman David Luxton, who saved the festival from bankruptcy and radically changed the format of the event. The Tulip Festival had been losing money due to poor attendance and bad weather for several years, but this year's no-fee events with a focus on international friendship saw attendance jump to 125,000 from just 39,000 in 2006.

The good times continued into the summer months as Ottawa had several attractions that brought in the tourists.

"The results were one of the best years we have ever had. The summer was the strongest July and August Ottawa has had in about six years in terms of hotel occupancy. Overall hotel occupancy levels in Ottawa are at their highest level since 2001," Mr. Laliberte said. In 2001, tourism in Ontario saw a sharp decline due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, followed by tighter border-crossing restrictions and the outbreak of SARS in 2003.

High-profile events such as the designation of the Rideau Canal as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 150th anniversary of the selection of Ottawa as the capital of the pre-Confederation Province of Canada, and hosting the FIFA Under-20 Men's World Cup, also made for a strong year.

As well, the National Gallery of Canada hosted a collection of landscapes from French impressionist favourite Pierre-Auguste Renoir, drawing 172,052 visitors, while the Canadian Museum of Civilization hosted Treasures from Beijing, a display of rare artifacts depicting the development of Chinese civilization. Bluesfest also shattered all previous records, with 300,000 guests at its new location at LeBreton Flats.

A loonie ride

This summer was also the beginning of the loonie's rise – or the fall of the American dollar, depending on one's perspective. This has been a big challenge for Canadian cities that depend on American tourism. But Ottawa, it seems, has come out unscathed, so far.

"We've been able to really find a way to offset the impact of high gasoline prices and the high Canadian currency, which I know hasn't been the case in Montreal and Toronto. They have had a more difficult year than us," said Mr. Laliberte. "Whether that is because of Ottawa Tourism marketing our destination, I could not tell you. We did lose some of the American business, but we were able to more than replace those numbers with Canadian business coming mostly from Toronto and Montreal."

City cuts funding

Another blow to Ottawa Tourism was the withdrawal of all municipal funding in early 2007. The city had funded Ottawa Tourism for 35 years and contributed $790,000, in 2006, roughly 36 per cent of the organization's $2.2-million annual budget. Mr. Burelle at the time predicted the lack of funds, "will result in significant staff layoffs, and completely curtail the services Ottawa Tourism (provides) the city ... (our) voice will be silenced and Ottawa will become the only G-8 capital without a say in how it is presented externally."

Fortunately, his prediction couldn't be further from the truth and the organization actually doubled its staff in 2007.

"We have more money than we have ever had with a budget of almost $9 million," said Mr. Laliberte. That funding is mostly from the OGHA's voluntary three per cent destination marketing fee. Money also comes from membership fees, the products and packages that Ottawa Tourism sells, the support from various partnerships like the museums, VIA, Air Canada, the Ontario Marketing Tourism Organization, and the Canadian Tourism Commission.

"When you combine all of that, this year was the highest amount we have ever had. Since the DMF was introduced four years ago, we have been able to ramp up our marketing effort and build some momentum. That's about how long it takes to really see an impact, we are really seeing results now," Mr. Laliberte said.

OT says goodbye, hello

Ottawa Tourism also said goodbye to Mr. Burelle, who announced in July that he was stepping down from the helm of the organization after four years.

In November, the organization said it had named a tourism veteran from one of Canada's busiest tourist destinations as the new president.

"Jacques had moved Ottawa to a new level in terms of its ability to provide services to the tourism sector. (His) departure came as a bit of a surprise, but the upside to that is that we were able to attract a person like Noel Buckley, a seasoned destination marketing professional to head up the Ottawa Tourism operation," said Mr. Brown.

Mr. Buckley, who has spent 10 years as president of Niagara Falls Tourism, has extensive experience within the provincial and federal tourism sectors, as well as the business sphere as the senior director of sales and marketing at Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort. He will join the Ottawa team in the first week of January.

Big announcements

Finally, the announcement that the expansion of the Congress Centre was finally going ahead and that the Ottawa International Airport will now have daily flights to Frankfurt, were music to the ears of those in the tourism industry.

"The last building block has been put in place for Ottawa to achieve its potential as a visitor destination with the Congress Centre," said Mr. Brown. "Combine that with the new daily flights to Frankfurt, the renewed leadership at Ottawa Tourism, the success with the destination marketing fee to generate money, I think Ottawa is well-positioned to move forward."

Ottawa Tourism 2007 by the numbers

Visitors to the Winterlude (estimated): 1.6 million

Visitors to The Tulip Festival: 125,000

Visitors to the Rembrandt collection at the National Gallery of Canada: 172,052

Visitors to the Treasures from Beijing exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Civilization: 92,000

Visitors to FIFA U-20 games in Ottawa: 125,531

Visitors to BluesFest: 300,000