July 2007 Newsletter BOARD MEETING FOCUSSES ON CHALLENGES The 3rd quarter Board meeting of the BCYHA was held in Richmond, at the Delta Vancouver Airport on the 24th of July. The meeting was productive and Board members from across the province were engaged and brought your regional issues to the table.
Some of the highlights of the meeting included:Best Practices for the Effective Use of Additional Hotel Room Tax Revenue
The results of our study, "The Best Practices for the Effective Use of Additional Hotel Room Tax Revenue in British Columbia" is now available for review. As of 31 March 2007, there were 31 city destination marketing organizations (DMO’s) in BC funded through the Additional Hotel Room Tax (AHRT), with an additional four communities with applications pending. Of note: twenty-four of the existing 31 AHRT DMO’s have been established since 2002. Based on the results of the study, the Board will continue to work on behalf of the industry to advance this issue. The Board believes its continued work will eventually lead to more transparency and accountability in the effective use of AHRT marketing dollars, and greater involvement for all stakeholders. Labour Shortage
The Board recognizes the severity of labour shortage problem, and the challenges our industry faces in moving forward. To assist, we have created the Room Service Canada hiring program, www.roomservicecanada.ca. Progress is being made with the program, and we continue to work with both the Provincial and Federal governments to expedite the process. The Board strongly recommends to all members they become engaged, and investigate the benefits of Room Service Canada--the greater the member involvement, the more pressure we can exert on governments to assist in resolving the labour shortage issue. Access Canada
As hoteliers, we are all working with the Provincial Government, and achieving their goal of doubling tourism revenues in BC by the year 2015. An important part of the plan to achieve this goal, is to make BC one of the most accessible places in the world. Recognizing that 15 per cent of the world’s population is comprised of seniors and persons with disabilities, the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) developed Access Canada. Access Canada is the rating of lodging properties based on the level of accessibility offered to guests with disabilities. The ratings, from Level 1 to 4, are based on extent and quality of accessible facilities, services and amenities, including sensitivity training for staff. The higher the rating, the more extensive are the facilities, services and amenities. Watch for the launch of their new website: www.access-canada.ca STERLING SERVICE AWARDS The Sterling Service Awards help BC Hospitality establishments build employee recognition and retention. In today's competitive labour climate, it's getting harder and harder to attract and retain employees, let alone star employees. Today, more than ever, employees want to be recognized for a job well done. Everybody recognizes great service, but not everyone giving it gets recognized. With the launch of the 2007 Sterling Service Awards, the BC Hospitality Industry encourages people to participate by nominating those whose extra efforts made their experience memorable. The awards are hosted by the British Columbia & Yukon Hotels’ Association, the Alliance of Beverage Licensees and the BC Restaurant & Foodservices Association. The kick-off began in June with nomination packages distributed to hospitality properties across B.C. Participation is easy and you can download the nomination ballot forms and poster online at: www.sterlingserviceawards.com/get_involved.htm
You'll find a nomination form template and a poster for use in your employee lounge, as well as in the front of the house. Encourage your guests and staff to nominate by filling in the forms on paper or online. Deadline for nominations are September 15, 2007. BC & YUKON HOTELS' FOUNDATION GOLF TOURNAMENT The foundation held its’ 11th Annual Fundraising Golf Tournament at the Richmond Golf and Country Club on Monday, 23 July. Fortunately it didn’t rain, and a good time was had by all 155 of the golfers that participated. This year, the Tournament raised $50,000 for the Ch.I.L.D. Foundation, and Grace McCarthy was on hand to receive the cheque. The Board extends its gratitude and appreciation to our Presenting Sponsor, "The Globe And Mail," as well as to all other Sponsors. And thanks to all the volunteers who made it all happen. SOCAN AND ITS CUSTOMERS: A NEW APPROACH SOCAN has recently enhanced its service to customers through the recent company-wide re-engineering of its Licensing department. By introducing several changes, SOCAN not only hopes to enhance existing partnerships with its valued customers, many of whom are also members of the BCYHA, but also invest time, energy and focus into creating new ones. One example is the implementation of a team of Customer Service professionals whose only objective is to provide world-class service to SOCAN customers. To reach a member of this team, call SOCAN’s new toll-free number, 1-866-944-6223 or e-mail customers@socan.ca. As well, SOCAN’s e-commerce tools allow for convenient online payment of SOCAN license fees. Visit SOCAN’s website at www.socan.ca to find out more. | 
