Ottawa Tourism Rideau Canal — Photo by Ottawa Tourism

OTTAWA, February 19, 2009 — Ottawa travel planning is now easier than ever with the launch of Ottawa Tourism's refreshed website early this week. Visitors looking for Ottawa events such as Winterlude, running through February 22, 2009, will find improved booking capabilities as well as enhanced information for researching attractions, restaurants and more.

Canada's winter celebration—Winterlude—has attracted thousands this year with programming that includes a new outdoor Sound and Light Show at the American Express Snowbowl, pond hockey tournament, and Taste of Winterlude culinary program. For visitors to Winterlude, not only is information improved on the new site, booking an Ottawa hotel or Winterlude getaway package is also made exceptionally easy.

"Visitors to www.ottawatourism.ca will see more images and more relevant content – finding even more reasons why they should visit Ottawa, Ontario," says Noel Buckley, President and CEO of Ottawa Tourism. "The content of the site is easy to search and many of the pages provide related links, content and getaway packages that can be booked immediately online."

Ottawa Tourism's online booking engine—which transacted over $1.8 million in hotel room and package sales in 2008—remains front-and-centre on the site, making it easy for visitors to plan Ottawa travel. Packages for hockey fans, cultural enthusiasts, families and gourmands are available as are hotel-only options. Information about Ottawa attractions, sightseeing, restaurants, and festivals is enhanced and simpler to navigate.

In 2008, the Ottawa Tourism website hosted over 1,000,000 visits including 524,926 unique visitors from around the world. Complete content is provided in English and French and smaller microsites exist in Chinese (Mandarin) and German. Spanish and Japanese microsites are planned in the coming months.

For more information about visiting Ottawa, Ontario, visit www.ottawatourism.ca

About Ottawa Tourism

Ottawa Tourism provides destination marketing, strategic direction and leadership in cooperation with members and partners to service the travel media and attract visitors, tours and conventions to Ottawa and Canada's Capital Region. Its vision is to build recognition of Ottawa as an outstanding four-season tourism destination.

For more information, please contact:

Jantine Van Kregten

Ottawa Tourism Director of Communications

613-237-5150, ext. 116

613-866-4955 (cellular)

[email protected]

Jantine Van Kregten
Ottawa Tourism Director of Communications
613-237-5150, ext. 116
Ottawa Tourism

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