Cape Breton experience up for grabs at Golden Globes

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio arrives at the Golden Globes. (AP / Matt Sayles)

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood will soon be offered an all-expenses paid trip to a top Maritime tourist destination.

Nominees attending the 2013 Golden Globe Awards will be invited to consider taking a three-day VIP getaway to Cape Breton Island.

“I think it’s a lot more than an all-expenses paid trip,” says Mary Tulle, CEO of Destination Cape Breton. “I think this is a wonderful opportunity for Cape Breton Island.”

Tulle is heading to Hollywood where visitors to the Golden Globe Gifting Suite can walk away with a free travel package to the island.

The package includes luxurious accommodations, golfing, kayaking, whale watching and much more. It is the first time a North American destination has been selected for gifting at the Golden Globes.

“This has never been done before,” says Tulle. “It is Cape Breton Island and Bora Bora that are the two destinations being profiled at the gifting suite in Los Angeles this week.”

Parks Canada has also jumped on board. It is offering celebrities VIP tours which include stops at Fortress Louisbourg, the Alexander Graham Bell Museum and the Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

“Speaking to the Golden Globes, that’s a whole new market and a whole group of people that perhaps we would not touch in any other way,” says Lester Marchand of Parks Canada.

Handbags designed by sisters Michelle Newcombe and Monique Delisle were featured in the gifting suite at last year’s Golden Globes. Newcombe says it is high-end exposure to a market that is otherwise hard to reach.

“Going to the gifting suite prior to the Golden Globes is fabulous high-level marketing. It worked out wonderful for us. It depends where you are putting your advertising dollars, that was really great for us,” says Newcombe.

The 70^th annual Golden Globes take place Sunday, Jan. 13 on CTV.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Randy MacDonald