VISITOR CENTRE STAFF GET EVEN CLOSER TO THE COMMUNITY
Osoyoos merchants gave staff of the B.C. Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos “Canada’s Warmest Welcome” when they stopped by during their current familiarization tours of local businesses. Here, the team visits with Home Hardware employee Tony Batista in front of the Main Street store. From left are: Visitor Experience Specialists J.T. Khaira and Tina Schulte, Tony, Tourism Services Event Co-ordinator Candace Schroeter, BCVC@Osoyoos Manager Millie Jarrett, CIRO Radio & Destination Osoyoos IT Technician Keith Calder, and Visitor Experience Specialist Kelly Paziuk. Missing: Visitor Experience Specialist Karen Wagner.
------------------------------
The staff of the BC Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos are hitting the streets this spring to gain the intimate knowledge of Osoyoos that they need in order to provide the best possible service to the hundreds of daily guests in town.
Destination Osoyoos Executive Director Jo Knight says the staff, headed by BCVC Manager Millie Jarrett, are spending four days touring its hotels, spas, restaurants, golf courses, wineries, and other local attractions and businesses to gain valuable expert knowledge.
“As a provincial ‘gateway’ Visitor Centre, we work hard to stay at the top of our game,” Knight says. “During summer we sometimes get more than 1,000 guests in our Centre in a single day, and we are continually making sure we have the skills and knowledge to give each of them Canada’s Warmest Welcome and make their experience the very best it can be.”
Knight says two additional Visitor Experience Specialists are working at the Visitor Centre this summer to help provide first-class service during the busy season. They joined in the series of local ‘FAM tours’ (familiarization tours) to accommodations and other local businesses. The staff wore their Visitor Centre uniforms as they began their brief tours of resorts, hotels, B&Bs, campgrounds, restaurants, tourist attractions, and other businesses – starting on May 27 with visits to stores up and down Main Street.
Knight notes that everyone on ‘Team DO’ also takes part in the in-house ‘Signature’ training programme which consists of a three-day Tourism Visitor Information Counsellor course, WorldHost® customer service training, as well as CPR, First Aid, and ‘AED’ (automated external defibrillator) training. In addition, staff at the BC Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos learn how to make province-wide accommodation reservations and activities bookings – a service which includes reserving local hotel rooms or booking tickets to nearby attractions like the popular NK’MIP Desert Cultural Centre, or farther afield like the Vancouver Aquarium, whitewater rafting or whale watching!
The BC Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos is open seven days a week – currently 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and extending to 8 a.m.-6 p.m. for July and August. The Centre, at the junction of Highways 3 and 97, offers orientation, information, Super Natural British Columbia® clothing, books, mementoes, an RBC bank machine, and Greyhound bus passenger service. Destination Osoyoos also operates the CIRO community tourism information radio at 106.5-FM. More tourism and community information is available at www.destinationosoyoos.com and 1-888-OSO-YOOS (676-9667).
MEET THE 2010 D.O. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
The 10 members of the 2010 Destination Osoyoos Board of Directors, drawn from the local community, are busy setting the strategic direction for the tourism marketing and visitor services organization. The Board is made up of, from left: Derek Noske – Past Chair (Orca Pacific Management Consultants), Mohamed Awad – Vice-Chair (Enotecca Winery & Resorts), Rob Rausch (Wakepilot Wakeboarding), Todd Mallen (Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort), Cam Bissonnette (Osoyoos Duty Free Shop), Gayle Cornish (Osoyoos Museum), Don Brogan – Chair (Walnut Beach Resort), Paul Scanlon (Watermark Beach Resort), Peter Bueschkens – Secretary-Treasurer (Osoyoos Holiday Inn), and Jason Parker (McKinney Creek Adventures).
D.O. MEETS WITH B.C.’S FINANCE MINISTER
From left, Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater, Destination Osoyoos Board Chair & Walnut Beach Resort General Manager Don Brogan, DO Executive Director Jo Knight, and B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen meet June 7 on the patio at Walnut Beach Resort.
-----------------------------------------------
Destination Osoyoos never misses an opportunity to meet with top officials whenever possible – to learn about the latest developments which might affect tourism marketing and visitors services, and to put forward the Osoyoos viewpoint on issues of importance.
On June 7, DO Board Chair Don Brogan and Executive Director Jo Knight met for an hour with B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen, during his visit to Osoyoos for the annual convention of the Economic Development Association of B.C.
“We really thank our local MLA, John Slater, for arranging for us and the representatives of a number of other local organizations to meet with Minister Hansen,” Knight says.
She adds, “It was an excellent opportunity to meet with a top government official and share information about some of the issues facing the tourism sector.”
Knight says that she, Brogan and Hansen discussed the question of rebates for the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) for the tourism sector – especially relating to accommodations and longer-term visitors like snowbirds – as well as the province’s tourism marketing plans in the post-Winter Olympics period, and future policy regarding local and regional Destination Marketing and Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) after the current regulatory period which ends in July 2011.
CHECK OUT D.O. & OSOYOOS TOURISM ON FACEBOOK
Catch the latest buzz about what’s happening on the Osoyoos tourism scene by checking in with the Destination Osoyoos site on Facebook. DO’s CIRO Radio & IT Technician Keith Calder updates the Facebook pages frequently with new photos, event notices, newsy tidbits, and links to related activities and organizations. Check it out at: facebook.destinationosoyoos.com
PROFILE – D.O. BOARD CHAIR DON BROGAN
Destination Osoyoos Chair Don Brogan shows off the new licenced Beach Bar area
at the Walnut Beach Resort, where he is General Manager.
---------------------------------------
Don Brogan has a lifelong connection with the South Okanagan and brings his passionate enthusiasm for the area to his new role as Chair of the Destination Osoyoos Board of Directors.
Brogan grew up in Oliver, where his parents operated the SuperValu store, and he graduated from Southern Okanagan Secondary School (SOSS) after serving as its student president. His interest in civic affairs comes naturally, since his father served as Mayor of Oliver in the early 1980s. Brogan attended Okanagan College, Capilano College and the University of B.C., studying business, accounting and computer science. In 1989-91 he worked in Ottawa for Western Economic Diversification and the Canada Revenue Agency, and then returned to work as a grocery store manager in B.C.
After owning his own retail produce store in Penticton for a number of years, Brogan became General Manager of the Osoyoos Holiday Inn in 2001. In 2007 he took on the position of General Manager of the new Walnut Beach Resort in town, which opened in April 2008. He completed his Masters of International Hotel Management, from Royal Roads University, in 2009.
Always interested in civic affairs, Brogan has been on the steering committee of Oliver’s annual Festival of the Grape, he’s former director of the Tourism Committee of the Osoyoos Chamber of Commerce, he helped start the local chapter of the Rotary Club, and he is a director of the Liberal Party constituency association in the Boundary-Similkameen provincial riding.
Brogan wanted to get involved with Destination Osoyoos because he wants to help promote the area he loves. “I’ve been a passionate marketer of this region for many years, and I want to ensure that we continue the great job (former DO CEO) Glenn Mandziuk and (DO Executive Director) Jo Knight have done marketing Osoyoos, and that we keep going forward and doing the things that have gotten us to this point,” he says.
“Tourism is a driving force of our economy, and through many marketing initiatives – including the Celebrity Wine Festival and sponsorship of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts curling championships – we’ve brought the attention of the world to Osoyoos,” Brogan says. “It’s not time to sit on our laurels – once we attract the visitors here, we have to impress them.”
He sees a number of priorities for the continued development of Osoyoos tourism. First, he would like to see creation of a complete inventory of all the attractions and tourism assets in the community. Second, he is a big supporter of virtually all businesses in town having their staff and managers take the locally available WorldHost® customer relations training. Third, he is a firm believer that Destination Osoyoos must continue to partner closely with other organizations – including the Town of Osoyoos, the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS), the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB), and the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA). Fourth, he wants to continue to promote more tourism in the “shoulder” spring and fall seasons. And fifth, he wants DO to focus on communicating fully with everyone, operating in a transparent manner.
In addition, Brogan says, “As we develop tourism, we need to be responsible and good stewards of our environment.” He recognizes that the quality and sustainability of Osoyoos Lake and the surrounding desert and other ecological features are key to the future of the community and its potential to attract visitors.
PROFILE – D.O. BOARD VICE-CHAIR MOHAMED AWAD
DO Vice-Chair Mohamed Awad is General Manager of Operations for Enotecca Winery, which owns La Stella Winery in Osoyoos and Le Vieux Pin Winery in Oliver. Here, he shows off the main tasting room at La Stella.
-------------------------------------
With extensive experience in the hotel and food-and-beverage industries in B.C. and internationally, Mohamed Awad is now pursuing his dream by living in Osoyoos and working in the South Okanagan wine industry – and he’s giving Destination Osoyoos the benefit of all that knowledge by now serving on its Board of Directors.
Awad was born in Dubai and was raised there and in Jordan. He came to Canada in 1990, first studying English Literature at Concordia University in Montreal. In 1994 he took a Hospitality Management program at Vancouver Community College and in 1996 he began working at a number of hotels, primarily leading their food-and-beverage areas. He worked at major hotels in the Middle East and Asia, as well as with the first-class food-and-beverage operations in a number of Vancouver hotels, including the downtown Listel Hotel and the River Rock Casino & Resort in Richmond.
After developing a passion for wine, Awad earned his Sommelier certification in 2002, learning all aspects of the wine production process, the world’s wine-producing regions, and wine tasting. In 2007 he accepted the position of General Manager at Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort, in the NK’MIP Resort on the east side of Osoyoos. Then, in early 2010, he made the move to become General Manager of Operations for Enotecca Winery, which owns La Stella Winery in Osoyoos and Le Vieux Pin Winery in Oliver.
“It’s a match made in heaven. I always had in mind to be involved in the wine industry, and my dream is coming true,” Awad says. He joined the DO Board of Directors this year because he believes he can help in a number of ways – bringing new ideas and a fresh approach, as well as the perspective of the growing wine industry.
“There’s no question there will continue to be more development in Osoyoos in the future – and I want to bring all my experience, including international experience, to our tourism marketing efforts, as we attract as many people as we can to Osoyoos and the South Okanagan.”
Awad and his family live in Osoyoos and love the area. He spends his free time cooking, making wine, and enjoying all the water activities available in the area, like swimming and water-skiing.
OSOYOOS FEATURED IN HIGH-PROFILE U.S. NEWSPAPERS
Osoyoos is increasingly on the world tourism map, thanks to efforts by DO and partners like the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) and the tourism marketing wing of B.C.’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture & the Arts. They all regularly host “FAM tours” (familiarization tours) for travel media and tour operators from Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Asia – promoting the wonders of this area’s ecology, scenery, wonderful destinations and activities, and welcoming people.
Two of the latest examples of huge media attention for Osoyoos were published this past week – in major U.S. newspapers – the New York Times and USA Today.
In a story entitled “British Columbia’s New Vine Trail” in its Travel section, Times reporter Sara Dickerman writes about bringing her family on a trip from Osoyoos to Kelowna, describing the “bewitching landscape” of Osoyoos and including mention of Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort and NK’MIP Cellars winery.
In a story in USA Today’s Travel section entitled “Second homes: Imagine Napa Valley With Lakes”, Larry Olmsted writes about how the Okanagan Valley’s wineries, golf courses and other amenities are attracting American second-home buyers. He quotes Vancouver realtor Christa Frosch as saying about Osoyoos: “It has everything, and you could think you were in Italy's Lake Como, it's so beautiful.”
The articles are at:
FRASER VALLEY RADIO HOSTS LOVE OSOYOOS
Country 107.1 Radio host Curtis Pope and STAR-FM host Lisa Stevens each brought their family RV Roadtrips to Osoyoos last month, providing excellent coverage for the resort community to their Fraser Valley audiences.
--------------------------------------------------
Publicity for Osoyoos in major Canadian centres – including B.C.’s own Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, is as important to the resort community’s tourism marketing effort as international exposure.
So it was a boost for the community when for two days last month, two radio hosts at two stations in the Fraser Valley brought their highly publicized “Family RV Roadtrip Adventures” to Osoyoos. Curtis Pope, afternoon on-air host for Abbotsford’s Country 107.1 Radio, brought his family through town and extolled the scenic wonders of the area. At the same time, Lisa Stevens, morning on-air host at Chilliwack’s lite-rock station STAR-FM, brought her family to town in another RV.
Both DJs filed remote “cut-in” reports on the air from Osoyoos to their listeners, and both also wrote extensive online blog reports about what they saw and how much they enjoyed Osoyoos. They visited the NK’MIP RV Park, the NK’MIP Desert Cultural Centre, the Osoyoos Desert Centre, Osoyoos Museum, Smudge Body lotions company, NK’MIP Cellars winery, Osoyoos Gelato, and the Osoyoos Desert Model Railway. Here are a couple of examples:
Pope wrote: “The slogan is so true , Osoyoos is the warmest welcome in Canada . The people here are so friendly and kind . Everyone here treats you like a VIP . Over the summer they have all kinds of events planned from the celebrity wine fest next month , to summer street dances to the big cherry fiesta . Plan a trip this summer and bring the family to the only desert in Canada.”
Destination Osoyoos Executive Director Jo Knight notes that both these radio stations have excellent demographics for the Osoyoos market – with high listener numbers, their listeners being 55 per cent female, and having good income levels. She adds that local businesses were very friendly and accommodating to the radio hosts – all helping the Osoyoos tourism effort.
“With ‘stay-cations’ being so prevalent these days – people taking their vacations close to home – it’s critical that we market Osoyoos to nearby centres, such as the Fraser Valley,” Knight says. The radio Roadtrip blogs are:
LITERATURE RACKS OFFER MARKETING OPPORTUNITY
Destination Osoyoos Executive Director Jo Knight displays a few of the rack cards and booklets which are available for the hundreds of visitors who come into the landmark B.C. Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos every day looking for tourism information. Knight says the Visitor Centre racks are a great marketing opportunity for local and external accommodations, attractions, events, and other tourism-related destinations. “For as little as $20 per month, a business can gain exposure to thousands of people coming through our door each week,” Knight says. “And they also get the benefit of the expertise of our Visitor Experience Specialists, who are familiar with all the local businesses and provide advice to our guests.” Anyone interested in the racking opportunity can contact Knight at: jknight@destinationosoyoos.com or 250-495-5070 ext. 202.
SONORA RIDGE HOSTS POPULAR EVENT
A local real estate development held a weekend event in late-May that brought in hundreds of visitors from throughout the Okanagan Valley. Robert Linttell, Marketing Manager for the Sonora Ridge high-end neighbourhood development in east Osoyoos, says more than 450 local and distant visitors came to the creative event called “Art, Autos & Architecture”. Linttell says the show featured tours of beautifully furnished Sonora Ridge show homes, close-up looks at the top 2010 models of Mercedes Benz cars and a unique Shelby Cobra roadster, and wine samplings supplied by Hester Creek Estate Winery. The show homes also featured more than 80 pieces of contemporary art by 19 South Okanagan artists. Osoyoos resident Terry Wells, left, was winner of the event’s art-and-wine door prize, presented by Linttell.
B.C. TOURISM INDUSTRY AWARDS LOOKING FOR NOMINEES
The Council of Tourism Associations and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture & the Arts have announced that the 11th Annual B.C. Tourism Industry Awards are looking for nominees.
If you know of a tourism business or individual practising industry excellence, consider nominating them for one of the following categories:
• Vancouver Sun & Province Best Tourism Marketing Campaign Award
• Delta Hotels Environmentally Responsible Tourism Award
• Foresight Sustainability Award
• Tourism Media Award
• WorldHost® Customer Service Award
• T4G Ltd. Technology in Tourism Award
• go2 Employees First Award
• Sport Tourism Community Legacy Award
Nomination deadline is August 6. The awards presentation will take place October 21 at the B.C. Tourism Industry Conference, during a gala evening celebration attended by top people in the province’s tourism industry. For more information about the awards program, see: www.bctourismindustryconference.ca/awards.html. 
Send to a friend
