The Great Waterway Tourism Region Launches Hot Air Balloon at the TALL SHIPS® 1812 Tour in Brockville

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Category: Brockville & Elizabethtown/Kitley

Created on Monday, 10 June 2013 16:58

Written by MEDIA RELEASE

Hot Air Balloon to fly the skies of South Eastern Ontario

Brockville - Just in time for the summer tourism season, The Great Waterway will fly their envelope of brilliant and magical colours through the skies of South Eastern Ontario at festivals and special events. The official launch of this magnificent hot air balloon will take place at the TALL SHIPS® 1812 Tour in Brockville and attended by industry partners, dignitaries and Ministry officials.

The celebration will heat up the crowd when Stephen Paul, Chair of the South Eastern Ontario Tourism Organization, The Great Waterway and Minister Chan, Minister of Tourism, Culture & Sport light up the balloon and set a ribbon on fire to honour the official launch of the balloon. The City of Brockville and The Great Waterway are working together to showcase the launch of the hot air balloon and the TALL SHIPS® 1812 Tour taking place in Reynolds Park on Friday, June 14 at 3:15pm. The parade of the tall ships will follow at 4:00.

Members of the media and residents are encouraged to attend this inaugural event and witness the balloon as it takes its first official flight. Tethered rides will be available weather permitting. A chance to win a hot air balloon ride for two, and a weekend at Cornwall’s Lift Off Hot Air Balloon Festival in July, will be made possible through summer contesting. Partners are encouraged to follow us on Facebook to catch a glimpse of our eye catching balloon shots and to take a look at our Hot Air Balloon video on YouTube.

“The TALL SHIPS® 1812 Tour is a once-in-lifetime event and we felt it was the perfect venue to launch our newest tourism marketing initiative” notes Libby Smith, Executive Director of The Great Waterway.

The TALL SHIPS® 1812 Tour includes a parade of twelve ships sailing into Brockville and will include ship tours, War of 1812 re-enactors encampment, classic boat displays and more. Brian Burns, a long-time Riverfest chairman promised it to be “probably one of, if not the strongest event that Brockville has ever seen.”

“Festivals and events are major economic generators to our Region” added Smith, “last year they were responsible for over 175,000 visits to The Great Waterway. Promoting our tourism region at events is a great way to build awareness for The Great Waterway”.

The Great Waterway is a Regional Tourism Organization who is funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. The Great Waterway promotes and invests in tourism along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, from Prince Edward County in the West to the Quebec border in the East. The Great Waterway region includes unique towns, villages and cities of Quinte West, Belleville, Kingston, Gananoque, Brockville, and Cornwall.