Cheaters rewarded! Tourism Toronto and Tourisme Montréal Announce Winners of
their Grand Prize Giveaway

MONTREAL and TORONTO, June 16 /CNW Telbec/ - Who says cheaters never prosper? Sometimes a little cheating pays, especially when you have the courage to confess. One lucky cheater from Montréal and one from Toronto are packing up for VIP weekends in the other city as Tourisme Montréal and Tourism Toronto announce the winners of their "It's OK to Cheat on Your City" contest.

From May 17 to May 29, Torontonians and Montrealers were encouraged to visit mobile confession booths to record videos expressing their love of the other city. Rodolphe Louis is the winner in Montréal for the Toronto getaway. In his confession he talked longingly of Toronto and his hope to return one day to the sexy embrace of the Toronto International Film Festival.

Torontonian Marina Papastathakis will be visiting Montréal thanks to her heart-felt confession. She looked into the camera and admitted it was time for her to take a break from her relationship with Toronto to try a fling with Montréal, a city she had only fantasized about visiting.

"Both Montrealers and Torontonians have a very strong sense of fidelity towards their home town," said the Honourable Charles Lapointe, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal. "But it was amazing to see so many of them happily and openly admit their appreciation of the other destination."

"Who would have thought that people in both cities would be so eager to confess their love for the other city? Instead of feeling a sense of betrayal, it appears that a healing has begun," said David Whitaker, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto.

The winners were chosen by public voting from the more than 600 confessions that were done, one recorded about every 5 minutes when the mobile units were out. All confessions, including the winners, can be viewed at www.quickiewithmontreal.com and www.ptiteviteavectoronto.com until July 7, 2010.

The two competing tourism bureaus launched the joint campaign to remind travellers in both cities that the excitement of two of the world's great cities is closer than many people realize. A survey by Ipsos Reid showed that a surprising number of Montrealers (67%) do not always tell their friends when they travel to Toronto, and nearly half of Torontonians do not always discuss their visits to Montréal.

For further information: Andrew Weir, Tourism Toronto, 416 987-1741, [email protected]; Tanya Churchmuch, Tourism Montréal, 514 844-1575, [email protected]