A leader in the Canadian tourism industry will be recognized with an honorary doctorate degree from Thompson Rivers University next month.

Peter R.B. Armstrong, founder, president and CEO of the Armstrong Group, the owner and operator of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations, will accept an honorary doctorate of laws degree at the university’s Fall Convocation ceremony to be held at its Kamloops campus at 3pm on Oct. 4.

“Peter Armstrong has been an innovator and leader in the Canadian Tourism industry,” said TRU President and Vice-Chancellor Roger Barnsley. “His Armstrong Group has been a significant economic and cultural contributor for Kamloops, and Thompson Rivers University will be very proud to have him as an alumnus.”

“It’s a great privilege to receive this honorary degree from TRU,” said Mr. Armstrong. “My company’s long standing relationship with Kamloops is one that I value immensely and this award further cements my attachment and commitment to the city and its institutions” .

Building on the tourism experience he gained starting out as a 21-year-old doorman at the Hotel Vancouver, Mr. Armstrong founded Spotlight Tours, a precursor to becoming partner and president of Gray Line Vancouver. In 1990 he turned his attention to rail travel, assembling a team to bid on the fledgling Rocky Mountaineer, a two-day all daylight journey through Canada’s West and the Rocky Mountains.

Now in its eighteenth year of operations, Rocky Mountaineer Vacations has grown from the entrepreneurial dream of Mr. Armstrong to the successful company that has hosted nearly one million guests on North America’s largest privately owned passenger rail service, including bringing 80,000 visitors to Kamloops each season. The Armstrong Group also owns and operates the Thompson Hotel, Two River Junction Theatre in Kamloops and Gray Line West, a successful motor coach operation based in western Canada.

Rocky Mountaineer Vacations was honoured with a World Travel Award as the ” World’s Leading Travel Experience by Train” for the second consecutive year in 2006. Most recently, RMV ranked as one of the 50 Best Employers in Canada for 2007 by the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine.

In addition to this recognition from TRU, Mr. Armstrong sits on the board of directors of many organizations in the tourism industry, as well as educational, private and public companies and charities. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the World Tourism and Travel Council, Chair of St. George’s School, a member of the Boards of Directors of the Vancouver Police Foundation and the CHILD Foundation and a Fellow of the Sauder Business School. He has been recognized as entrepreneur of the year several times by various organizations and received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for contribution to Canadian communities. He was inducted into the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2002 and named the 2007 Tourism Leader of the Year by Tourism BC.

For more information, please contact the Office of the President at 371-5740