2013-03-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — In partnership with premier sponsor American Express, Tourism Vancouver is pleased to announce that the 2013 Dine Out Vancouver Festival was the most successful Dine Out to date. During Canada’s largest restaurant festival, tens of thousands of local and out-of-town foodies experienced the best of Vancouver’s explosive culinary scene for 17 days.
Taking place January 18 to February 3, the 11th annual Dine Out Vancouver Festival featured a record-setting number of participating restaurants, an array of unique food-themed events and dozens of special hotel packages and rates.
Numbers from the 2013 festival speak for themselves:
- 241 – number of participating restaurants
- 39 – total number of unique culinary events and experiences
- 39 – total number of hotels offering special packages and rates
- 13 – percentage increase in restaurant reservations over last year’s festival (based on reservations made through OpenTable)
- 1.99 million – total number of Dine Out menu views
- 5.5 million – total number of page views to the festival’s new website (www.dineoutvancouver.com)
- 76, 965 – total number of diners seated (based on reservations made online)
- 9,000+ – total number of people served over five days at Street Food City II (a 157 percent increase over last year’s three-day event)
According to Lucas Pavan, Dine Out Vancouver Festival coordinator, this year’s event once again exceeded expectations, pushing Dine Out even closer to becoming one of the world’s leading culinary destination festivals. “I’m thrilled Dine Out Vancouver Festival had another record-breaking year,” said Pavan. “Dine Outcontinues to be a significant economic driver for Vancouver restaurants during what would typically be a slower time of year, and we’re thrilled with the event’s popularity among Vancouverites and visitors alike.”
Throughout the festival, diners were encouraged to cast their votes for their favourite Dine Out experiences. Tourism Vancouver proudly presents the following winners:
Best $18 menu: Nando’s on Davie
Best $28 menu: Salmon House on the Hill
Best $38 menu: Oru Restaurant – the Fairmont Pacific Rim
Best BC VQA wine pairing: Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro
Best BC craft beer pairing: Bitter Tasting Room
Best Service: David Lew from Yew Restaurant + Bar – Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver (for the second consecutive year)
Best Dining Experience: The Smoking Dog Bistro
Diner’s Choice: Salmon n’ Bannock Bistro
Diners who cast their votes were automatically entered into the Dine Out for a Year contest, featuring a grand prize of 52 gift cards to use at restaurants around Vancouver and area. This year’s lucky winner was Deanna McMorran of Burnaby, B.C. Congratulations to the lucky winner!
Tourism Vancouver’s focus is on building exceptional customer relationships with meeting planners, travel influencers, travel media and independent tourists. The organization’s brand essence is about “exceeding expectations”.