Tourism Windsor Essex CEO Gordon Orr Honoured With Lifetime Achievement Award
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Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island Chief Executive Officer Gordon Orr has received the 2023 Tourism Industry Award of Excellence’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual who has made significant contributions to the development and promotion of the tourism industry and established a visible, long-term record of accomplishment that merits special attention.
Orr has been in the tourism and hospitality industry for over 30 years, starting at 23 at the Best Western Rose City Inn, now known as the Four Points by Sheraton.
His career grew as he rose through the industry as first the Director of Convention Marketing (1996), then Managing Director (2003) of the Convention & Visitors Bureau of Windsor, Essex County & Pelee Island, and then as Chief Executive Officer (2011) for the newly formed Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island, a position he still holds.
As the CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex, Orr has been recognized as leading the tourism collaborative for the region, having earned accreditation through Destinations International’s Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP), attesting to attaining a significant measure of excellence, and he currently serves on the newly established Canadian Destination Leadership Council.
During the pandemic, former Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries Lisa MacLeod appointed Gordon to the 21-member Tourism Economic Recovery Ministerial Task Force responsible for developing ten recommendations to help tourism rebuild and recover. Orr earned his Destination Management Certification through Destinations International (2005) and his Masters in Municipal Leadership (2012) through York University’s Schulich School of Business.
Orr also contributes significant effort to his community, including his involvement as the founding President of the Windsor International Film Festival and his involvement with Rotary International since 1997, including past president (2002/2003) and past president of the Maryvale Adolescence and Family Services Board of Directors (2019-2021). Orr is a proud graduate of the University of Windsor (Hons. BA in Communications) and is currently the elected President of the UWindsor Alumni Association.
Orr will be honoured at a special Lifetime Achievement Award lunch during the 2023 Ontario Tourism Summit at Hilton Toronto Airport & Suites on Tuesday, October 24th.
