05/19/2026
The Clarenville Coasts Regional Tourism Association is very pleased to announce that we have been awarded Best Regional Project by the Economic Developers Association! 🏆
Photo: Town of Clarenville Mayor John Pickett and Economic Development Officer Colin Holloway accepting the Best Regional Project Award from EDANL Board Member Lindsey Hynes on behalf of the Clarenville Coasts Regional Tourism Association.
From the EDANL - Economic Developers Association for Newfoundland and Labrador press release:
This award recognizes a project that has had a major economic development impact in a region. It rewards projects that include multiple partners and demonstrate the power and effectiveness of cooperation, coordination, and collaboration.
The winner of this year’s Best Regional Project award is the Clarenville Coasts Regional Tourism Association for its “Sustainable Tourism Enhancement Plan”.
The objective of this plan is to position Clarenville Coasts as a recognized, year-round tourism hub by 2028 by strengthening operator collaboration, enhancing visitor discovery, and promoting experiences that inspire longer stays, repeat visits, and meaningful economic impact across the region.
This award celebrates the plan and the journey that got stakeholders to this point. The development of the Clarenville Coasts Regional Tourism Association Inc. is the result of a structured, multi-year process grounded in collaboration, planning, and industry leadership.
In 2022, the Town initiated a working group to guide this effort. Strategic planning took place over a 15-month period in 2022-23. The second phase – capacity building and early implementation – took place in 2023-24 where an advisory committee was formed and, through an MOU, funding accessed by the Town of Clarenville. In 2025 a regional body was formally established, and in 2026 an aggressive growth campaign was operationalized.
The Town of Clarenville led years of cooperation and collaboration between tourism operators, industry stakeholders, and representatives from municipal, provincial, and federal governments.
This is very difficult to achieve, especially over a long time horizon. The result is a model example of regional economic development and thus its architects are very deserving of this recognition.
