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SuperHost® Newsletter Now Available Online The SuperHost® newsletter, Lasting Impressions, is now available online at www.tourismbc.com. This bi-annual newsletter features success stories about businesses who invest in their people, insights from trainers and updates on community training initiatives. Click here to download the latest newsletter.
The Tourism Brief will be featuring six Regional Tourism Updates where regional destination marketing organizations will be providing our newsletter recipients with a snapshot of recent projects, issues and opportunities. For the December newsletter, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Tourism Region has provided you with what's new in their area. Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Community Tourism Foundations® 2007 Travel Guide New Programs:
Cultural Journey Sea to Sky
Honouring the Fraser River and its Peoples Communities throughout the Fraser River Canyon and beyond will be hosting special events, and there will be many opportunities to "ride the river" and explore First Nations cultures along the way. To find out more, e-mail fraser2008@vcmbc.com. Vancouver, Coast & Mountains is moving in the New Year Watch for the formal opening in February when the region will also be profiled in BC Business magazine. For more information about the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Tourism Region, visit www.vcmbc.com. Whistler Wins Big at British Travel Awards Whistler took top prize at the prestigious British Travel Awards, winning "Favourite Ski Resort" as voted by consumers. Both consumers and travel trade were invited to vote online for their favourite nominees in more than one hundred categories, ranging from travel agencies, airlines, and hotels to tourism destinations from across the globe. The winners were announced in a televised event at Battersea Park in London on November 9. Tourism Whistler's Shawna Lang, Leisure Sales Manager UK & Europe, was in London to accept the award on behalf of Whistler while attending World Travel Market representing Whistler. "It's brilliant," Lang said. "We are truly honoured to receive this award - even more so because it comes from travellers themselves. This award is about the incredible skiing and snowboarding at Whistler Blackcomb, but it's also about Whistler's entire package - the incredible range of amenities, first rate accommodations, international restaurants and spas, and especially Whistler's warm hospitality. We have our community and employees to thank for that." As any Whistler local or mountain employee can attest, British accents have long been a welcome and familiar sound on the chairlifts and hotel lobbies of Whistler. Visitors from the UK accounted for eight per cent of Whistler's overnight winter visitors in 2005. The honour comes alongside Whistler Blackcomb's "Best in Mountain Environment" award, presented at the First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards (FCRTA) in London. Several honours have also been presented to Whistler's nenowned Fairmont Chateau Whistler hotel from UK-based tour operators. Neilson Active Holidays presented Fairmont with the "Marque of Excellence Award" for top ski hotel in North America, Virgin Holidays named the Fairmont "Best Hotel - Ski", and Elegant Resorts nominated the hotel for "Best Guest Service". Like the British Travel Awards, these were bestowed based on feedback from the passengers of these tour operators. The British Travel Awards closes World Travel Market, Britain's largest travel trade show. This four-day event brought together a remarkable 48,211 travel industry professionals last year, representing 202 countries and top travel destinations around the world. Whistler's ski season has kicked off to a fantastic start with record early season snowfalls. Back-to-back storm cycles have dumped 10 feet of snow since November 1, beating the past record of November 1994 when the mountains received nine feet. Whistler Mountain opened one week early on November 18, and Blackcomb Mountain opened November 23, in time for the US Thanksgiving holiday weekend. As part of a Whistler Monday's Free promotion, guests can book a minimum four-night stay including a Monday, and the accommodation and ski passes are free for that day. More details and information is available at www.whistler.com or 1-800-WHISTLER. Whistler is a year-round leisure and meeting destination and is site of the alpine, nordic, sliding and Paralympic venues for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Whistler has a range of accommodations totalling 3,200 hotel rooms, and more than 5,000 other tourist accommodation units including condos, B&Bs and chalets. Whistler offers a wide selection of restaurants, bars, spas, boutiques, galleries and activities ranging from world-renowned skiing and snowboarding, mountain biking and golf, to hiking, rock climbing, and watersports. Whistler Blackcomb mountains feature 3,036 hectares (8,171 acres) of terrain and receives an average of 9.14 metres (30 feet) of snow per year. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is home to a diverse community of more than 10,000 permanent residents. BC's Okanagan Valley Named in Top Travel Destinations for 2007 by Frommer's The word is officially out: BC's Okanagan Valley, dubbed by some as Napa North, and by others as the Tuscany of Canada, is a top travel destination for 2007, in the eyes of Frommer's, whose collection of travel products has expanded to include over 300 guidebooks as well as a popular Frommers.com website. The compilation of 12 of the world's most alluring destinations is decided by a team of writers and editors from the heavy-weight travel media umbrella of companies, who "scoured the globe and polled our stable of authors and experts to identify twelve surprising, thriving, or emerging travel destinations," states the Frommers.com web page dedicated to the announcement. "This is a considerable endorsement for the Okanagan Valley and the city destinations within it," says Catherine Frechette, Media Relations Manager for Tourism Kelowna. "Frommer's Travel Guides and the travel products associated with this group of media affiliates are a well-respected resource for travel information, whose readers actively undertake the objective travel advice contained within them." At Frommers.com consumers can find candid, timely articles; as well as reading excerpts from the Frommer's Guidebooks and the site's message boards; and purchasing travel products and services from booking partners such as Travelocity. "With a 45 year-long history of providing travel resources to readers, Frommer's is certainly one of the most recognizable and influential travel media brands on the global stage," adds Miles Prodan, Executive Director for the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association. "This vote of confidence places the region among the most desirable destinations to visit in 2007 with Frommer's readers." Kelly Reid of Penticton & Wine Country Tourism agrees. "The Frommer's accolade comes on the heels of some significant editorial about the Okanagan Valley in publications such as the New York Times and Travel & Leisure magazine. Furthermore, it promotes movement throughout the Okanagan, which is a benefit to the players in the valley-wide tourism industry." Other destinations that were named in the round-up by Frommer's were Krakow, Tokyo, Minneapolis, Panama, Asheville, Ethiopia, Portland (Oregon), Virgin Gorda, Glen Canyon, Zurich, and Portland (Maine). |
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Regional Update - Vancouver, Coast & Mountains
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