Winners announced in Best of Helsinki 2011 competition
The atmosphere at the awards gala at City Hall was boosted by the positive outlook for the tourism industry, as Helsinki looks set to post another record breaking year in 2011. The previous record for overnight stays, 3.2 million, was set last year.
The winners in the 2011 Best of Helsinki online competition are as follows:
Kaarle XII: "Thursday nights" - Best Nordic Oddity
Cumulus Hotels: "Weekend Party Pack" - Best Northern Exposure
Finnish Museum of Natural History - Best Family Resort & Fun
Flow Festival - Best Helsinki Event
Fregatti Oy: Sailing a Square Rigger - Best MICE Experience
Favourite Travel Professional also awarded
In addition to the public competition, 1300 travel industry professionals got to vote in a closed category, Favourite Travel Professional. This year the award went to Eevaliisa Hannukainen, a popular tour guide from Helsinki Tourist Guides. Eevaliisa has been very active in promoting incentive to tours to Finland and Helsinki in particular. She has also been an active member of Incentive Association Finland (IAF), the forerunner to SITE Chapter Finland. The association represents companies that provide services for the business travel sector.
The Tourist & Convention Bureau also presented its Lifetime Achievement Award at the gala to two experienced representatives of the industry: Pentti Kivinen, Managing Director of the Finnish Fair Corporation who retired earlier this year, and Martti Tyynismaa, Managing Director of the Restaurant Lasipalatsi. In addition, the Helsinki Tourism Association awarded its student awards to Johanna Järvinen and Maura Walther, both of whom study at Laurea University of Applied Sciences. The subject of their joint thesis was "Service Design - The effectiveness of methods from a multisensory perspective, case: Linnanmäki".
Picture of the winners. Photo: Esko Jämsä.
