Tourism Whistler, in collaboration with its membership and industry and resort partners, welcomed Bravo’s Emmy and James Beard Award-winning culinary competition series – Top Chef – to the resort in January and, as a result, a Whistler-specific episode will air as part of the three-part season finale.

Now in its ninth season, Top Chef  has won an Emmy, received numerous Emmy nominations and has been recognized as one of the best reality show of all time and the No. 1 food show on cable (according to Nielsen). Top Chef airs in more than 20 countries with each episode repeating an average of 12 times. Past locations have included San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New York and Las Vegas with finales in Las Vegas, Hawaii, Aspen, Puerto Rico, New Orleans and Napa Valley.

The opportunity to bring the production to Whistler and Vancouver was secured by the Canadian Tourism Commission, Tourism British Columbia, Tourism Whistler, Tourism Vancouver and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

Season nine introduced viewers to Top Chef: Texas, featuring a record 29 chefs, almost twice as many chefs as in past seasons. After the initial contest, 16 chefs would compete for the title of Top Chef: Texas. This season featured some of the biggest names in food, music and entertainment including Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron, comedian Pee-wee Herman, Cat Cora, John Besh, Tim Love and Patti LaBelle. In addition, returning to the judge’s table are Padma Lakshmi and head judge, chef Tom Colicchio along with Gail Simmons. New this season, chef, restaurateur and television personality Emeril Lagasse and critically-acclaimed chef Hugh Acheson joined the judging team.

Whistler will be featured in the pre-finale episode (third-to-last) airing on Bravo USA on February 15 and Food Network Canada at 9 p.m. ET/PT on March 5. The Whistler episode showcases unique experiences in the resort as part of the culinary challenges among contestants. The Whistler episode will be followed by two Vancouver episodes airing February 22 and 29 (finale) on Bravo USA and March 5 at 10 p.m. ET/PT and March 12 (finale) at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network Canada.

Season eight of the reality series was an All-Star season, featuring chefs from the previous seven seasons who were back for redemption to claim the title that eluded them all. The season was filmed first in New York City and wrapped in the Bahamas. The winner of Top Chef All-Stars was Richard Blais, the season four runner up.

The top 16 competitors in Top Chef season nine include Keith Rhodes, Richie Farina, Chuy Valencia, Whitney Otawka, Dakota Weiss, Nvesha Arrington, Heather Terhune, Chris Crary, Ty-Lor Boring, Chris Jones, Beverly Kim, Grayson Schmitz, Lindsay Autry, Sarah Grueneberg, Edward Lee and Paul Qui.

Whistler is Canada’s premier year-round leisure and meeting destination located in the Coast Mountains 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Consistently rated the top ski resort in North America, Whistler was the Host Mountain Resort of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The resort offers an extensive range of accommodations totaling 10,000 bedrooms among 24 hotels as well as townhomes, condos, B&Bs and chalets. Whistler also boasts more than 100 restaurants and bars, 200 retail shops, 25 spas and countless activity options from world-renowned skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking and golf, to hiking, rock climbing, and watersports. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is home to a diverse community of more than 10,000 permanent residents.

Tourism Whistler is the member-based marketing and sales organization representing Whistler, operating the Whistler Conference Centre, Whistler Golf Club, Whistler Visitor Centre, as well as 1.800.WHISTLER and whistler.com – Whistler’s official source for visitor bookings and information. As the convention and visitors bureau for the Resort Municipality of Whistler, Tourism Whistler represents more than 7,000 members who own, manage and operate properties or businesses on resort lands including hotels, restaurants, activity operators and retail shops.

Media can visit whistler.com/media for Whistler facts, media releases, story starters, local personality profiles and access to images and B-roll.