The 2007 Annual Premier’s Award for Tourism was awarded to prominent Summerside businessman, Don Groom, during an awards gala to wrap up the Tourism Industry Association of PEI’s Tourism Conference.
Minister of Tourism, Philip Brown, was in attendance to present the award to Mr. Groom on behalf of Premier Binns.
“This award is presented to a local individual, association, or company who has made a significant, meaningful contribution to the tourism industry in Prince Edward Island,” said Minister Brown. “It is intended to recognize and celebrate a leader who has helped to move the industry forward, inspiring others to take steps to do the same in years to come. The decision to present the 2007 Annual Premier’s Award to Mr. Groom is based on his many tourism initiatives over the years, all of which have impacted positively on the growth of the tourism industry of Prince Edward Island.”
Operating out of Summerside’s landmark “Brothers Two Restaurant,” Mr. Groom launched the musical dinner theatre experience, originally known as The Governors Feast, thirty years ago. Throughout the years, this feast experience has entertained tens of thousands of Island residents and visitors and has since expanded into the Christmas season and to locations as wide and varied as Halifax, Fredericton, and Yarmouth.
Among the many products Mr. Groom has helped to create are the Culinary Institute of Canada, of which he was a founding board member; the College of Piping and Celtic Performing Arts in Summerside; and, in most recent years, the Summerside Waterfront Renewal Program.
A successful business owner, Mr. Groom has held leadership roles in a large number of tourism and cultural organizations, and has been awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in PEI Tourism and the Canadian Tourism Silver Medallion Award for contributions to the Tourism Industry in Canada.
“On behalf of Premier Binns, I am proud to honour Don Groom’s accomplishments and his lifelong work on behalf of the tourism industry in Prince Edward Island,” concluded Minister Brown.