Fuller Takes the Helm for 2011 Victoria Tall Ships Festival

Victoria, BC (2010-03-16) – Local tourism and marketing veteran Jeannie Fuller is taking the helm as the newly-appointed Executive Director of the Victoria Tall Ships Society, the organizing group for the 2011 Victoria Tall Ships Festival.  A native of Victoria, Fuller has an extensive career in marketing, event planning and project management, with more than 20 years in the tourism industry. She was a project manager for the highly-successful BC150 celebrations, managing and producing events in more than 50 communities across British Columbia.

“My aim is to build on the strong community partnerships that make this maritime festival such a great success for Greater Victoria,” said Fuller. “Victoria loves Tall Ships. This festival is also a major tourism draw that creates huge economic benefits for local businesses.” Fuller holds a graduate certificate in Project Management from Royal Roads University, and completed a foundation program in Tourism Management at Simon Fraser University. She is also a business management graduate of the Chamberlain School of Boston, Massachusetts. She is a past director of the Maritime Museum of BC Society.  “Ms. Fuller brings a proven track record of event planning and marketing success to our organization,” said Victoria Tall Ships Society president Barry Newcomb. “She has been involved in both previous festivals and we’re extremely pleased that she will be leading our efforts over the next 16 months to introduce more people, particularly youth, to the joy of these majestic sailing ships.”

The Victoria Tall Ships Society has staged successful Tall Ships Festivals in 2005 and 2008. The next festival is slated for June 2011, final dates are still being negotiated with the American Sail Training Association, organizers of the Tall Ships Challenge® race series, and will be announced later this spring.

In 2005 and again in 2008, more than two-dozen of the world’s finest Tall Ships sailed into Victoria’s historic Inner Harbour for a four-day festival that featured exciting ship tours and a wide variety of dockside activities, including a pirate school for kids, sail training activities for youth, live music, artists, maritime cultural displays, model boat building and much more. The festival attracted more than 32,500 paid attendees and left in its wake $5.8 million in economic impact for the local economy.

The Victoria Tall Ships Society is a not-for-profit organization, incorporated in May 2003 for the purpose of bringing a Tall Ships Festival to Victoria. The society’s vision is to promote a legacy for youth and the life lessons learned through sail training and to promote Victoria’s rich maritime history.

As in 2005 and 2008, ongoing festival supporter and partner, the Provincial Capital Commission, will be providing the society with office space at their headquarters located in downtown Victoria at 613 Pandora Avenue.

For more information about the Victoria Tall Ships Society, visit http://tallshipsvictoria.ca/.

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