D.O. RAMPING UP TOURISM SERVICES FROM ITS VISITOR CENTRE OFFICES

DO Executive Director Jo Knight, second from left, toasts five years of excellent service from outgoing BC Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos staff, from left, Millie Jarrett, Karen Wagner and Kelly Paziuk.

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As this year’s local tourism activity picks up steam through the spring, Destination Osoyoos is ramping up its 2011 program of tourism services and marketing activities promoting Osoyoos as an increasingly popular resort area.

 

While as of April 1, DO no longer manages the BC Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos, it will continue to keep its offices on the second floor of the Visitor Centre.  Destination Osoyoos Executive Director Jo Knight says DO has given “Canada’s Warmest Welcome” to the new operators of the Centre, Adventure Management Ltd., and will work closely with BCVC staff on any tourism issues which relate to the Visitor Centre and its services.

 

“Our main activities have not changed – in fact, they’re increasing in scope,” Knight says.  “As the destination marketing and destination management organization for Osoyoos and area, we are moving forward aggressively with our continuing mandate to deliver a host of tourism-related programs throughout 2011,” Knight says.  “With the support of our new funding partners – the Town of Osoyoos, the Regional District Okanagan Similkameen, and the NK’MIP Resort Association – we’re going to be busier than ever working with the hundreds of local stakeholders to grow the Osoyoos tourism industry.”

 

DO’s ongoing programs include:

 

•  Implementing the extensive new three-year Osoyoos Tourism Market Development Plan.

•  Producing the widely circulated annual Osoyoos Visitor Guide.

•  Working with the local Tourism Advisory Council on new marketing initiatives.

•  Delivering WordHost® customer-service training to Osoyoos businesses.

•  Enhancing the visitor experience.

•  Producing and broadcasting information for tourists and residents on CIRO 106.5 FM Radio.

•  Hosting visiting travel-trade representatives and travel media journalists, photographers and filmmakers for tours of local tourism attractions and destinations.

•  Planning and producing advertising campaigns to attract visitors from around the world to Osoyoos.

•  Supporting community events as the area’s  event broker, and producing a monthly calendar publicizing local events.

•  Producing a monthly electronic newsletter keeping more than 2,000 readers informed about tourism-related developments in Osoyoos.

•  Maintaining a comprehensive tourism information website.

 

Knight notes that, as an indication of how busy DO is these days, she attended a high-powered Visitor Services conference hosted in Baltimore, Maryland on March 28-29 by Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI).

 

She served as a panelist in a session on training staff to deliver visitor services – joining other panelists from New York, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Orlando – and Knight also attended other informative sessions and spent valuable time networking with other visitor services professionals.

 

“It was really my privilege to be in such awesome company, and I was thrilled to be able to introduce Osoyoos to the more than 60 delegates at this important DMAI conference.”

 

 

THE OSOYOOS ‘WARMEST WELCOME’ BRAND IS NOW TRADEMARKED

 

This resort town’s three-year-old logo and slogan – “Canada’s Warmest Welcome” – have proven to be one of the catchiest combinations anywhere.  Now the unique phrase and graphic officially belong to the community forever, as its official trademark.

 

The brand was unveiled in February 2008 after a development process led by Destination Osoyoos.  The logo uses the colours of Osoyoos Lake, the desert, the surrounding mountains, and the ever-present sunshine – and the slogan is a play on the fact that Osoyoos has the country’s warmest climate and lake, and its friendly people welcome visitors warmly.

 

The new brand has been a hit, and it has been used to market the community to visitors from around the world.

 

Now the Town has registered the brand as the community’s official trademark.  The Canadian Intellectual Property Office recently approved registration of the slogan and logo as the “official mark” of Osoyoos, valid indefinitely.

 

Destination Osoyoos Board Chair Don Brogan says, “I am very proud and impressed that Osoyoos has been successful in registering its trademark.  It helps to single our resort municipality out from the others in the province and further raises our notoriety.”

 

Destination Osoyoos Executive Director Jo Knight says, “Canada’s Warmest Welcome is more than a brand; it’s a promise!  It is a privilege for Destination Osoyoos to partner with the Town and act as stewards of this great brand, as we continue to work with everyone in the community to ensure that we deliver on its promise.”

 

Osoyoos Mayor Stu Wells says that, by having the brand registered, “we actually own it and we can protect it and make sure it is used properly.”

 

The Town will own the trademarked brand and Destination Osoyoos will work with any businesses or organizations wanting to use the logo and slogan.  Users will enter into a licence agreement setting out the rules for proper display and use of the material.

 

 

KNIGHT CONTRIBUTES EXPERTISE TO NATIONAL TOURISM ORGANIZATION

ABOVE:   DO Executive Director Jo Knight visited Ottawa recently to lend her expertise to a national human resources project in the tourism industry.    BELOW:  Members of the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council’s Validation Committee enjoy “a taste of Osoyoos”.

 

The professional expertise at Destination Osoyoos is in demand at the national level.

 

On March 14-16, Executive Director Jo Knight served as an invited member of a Validation Committee for the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC), meeting in Ottawa to update the competency standards required for employees in the country’s tourism sector.

 

The CTHRC leads human resource development in Canada’s tourism industry – working closely with business, labour, provincial tourism education councils and industry associations to set national occupational standards and certification.  This promotes the development of one national set of standards and certification for each tourism-related job.

 

Knight and the other members of the Validation Committee reviewed an extensive series of “Transferable Skills Standards” and helped the CTHRC update them.  These standards, initially developed in 2003, represent the knowledge, skills and attitudes that employees must have to be considered competent in a variety of tourism jobs across the country.  They are to be used by industry and educational institutions in the training, professional development and certification of industry professionals.

 

Dozens of particular skills or attitudes are covered in the standards – including such things as positive attitude, responsibility, adaptability, consideration of safety, communication skills, numeracy, thinking skills, technological abilities, teamwork, and knowledge of the tourism sector and organization.

 

“These standards are important to require in employees, in order to maintain a high degree of professionalism in our tourism industry,” Knight says.  “With tourism destinations in Canada and B.C. having to compete with destinations around the world, we have to work hard to maintain a high level of excellence in order to attract visitors to our resorts and communities.”

 

Knight adds she was pleased to contribute to the upgrading of these competency standards, and the CTHRC session gave her a valuable opportunity to network with fellow tourism professionals from other parts of Canada.

 

 

D.O. & PARTNERS MARKET OSOYOOS AT FOUR-CITY TRAVEL SHOWCASE

Executive Director Jo Knight staffs the DO display booth at the Edmonton stop of the four-city Thompson Okanagan Travel Showcase.

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Destination Osoyoos is “on the road” this month, promoting this unique South Okanagan resort area as an ideal location for conventions, meetings and weddings.

 

DO, along with the local Watermark Beach Resort, Walnut Beach Resort, and the Osoyoos Indian Band’s NK’MIP Resort, is taking part in the “Thompson Okanagan Travel Showcase” – a major four-city marketing show being held in Edmonton on April 5, Calgary on April 6, Seattle on April 12, and Vancouver on April 13.

 

“We not only have top-notch facilities for the hosting of conventions, business meetings and weddings,” says DO Executive Director Jo Knight, “but we also offer unique features like the desert environment, world-class wineries, golf courses, eco-tourism, the lake, and our wonderful town – which can raise a business session or special event to the next level.”

 

Knight is staffing a colourful and informative display booth at each of the four stops on the Thompson Okanagan Travel Showcase sales and promotion tour.  The tour is just one of a number of initiatives being taken by DO to attract more of the conventions and weddings market from Alberta, B.C. and Washington State to Osoyoos.

 

www.tlc.travel/index.php?q=thompson-okanagan-travel-showcase-0

 

 

‘WINE LADIES’ TOUR OSOYOOS

ABOVE:  ‘Wine Ladies’ Georgia Mense-Chase, left, and Susanne Seelig-Mense visit the Destination Osoyoos offices for an interview on CIRO 106.5 FM Radio.   BELOW:  They are ready to “Experience Osoyoos”!

 

With help from a number of local tourism partners, Destination Osoyoos developed an itinerary and hosted “The Wine Ladies” – two Toronto-area sisters, business partners, TV personalities, radio hosts, newspaper columnists and purveyors of fine wines – during their April 7-9 visit to Osoyoos, as part of their larger tour of wineries in B.C.

 

The Wine Ladies – Georgia Mense-Chase and Susanne Seelig-Mense – ate at Dolci Deli and the Watermark Beach Resort, stayed at Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort, visited Destination Osoyoos, Walnut Beach Resort, and the local Smudge Body Products store and production facility, and were taken on a tour by Unveil Shuttles to a number of area wineries including visiting several of the area wineries such as La Vieux Pin, Young and Wyse, Cassini, NK’MIP Cellars, and Seven Stones.

 

DO Executive Director Jo Knight, who hosted the Wine Ladies for a brunch before interviewing them on CIRO 106.5 FM Radio says, “It was a pleasure to host Susanne and Georgia!  And it’s great fun to follow their experience on their blog and Twitter.  The Osoyoos exposure is fantastic and the videos they are creating will be great tools for our sponsoring stakeholders!”

 

Knight extends a thank-you to all the local tourism stakeholders who enthusiastically and graciously sponsored this tour, delivering on the Osoyoos promise of “Canada’s Warmest Welcome!”

 

And the Wine Ladies were suitably impressed with the scenic Osoyoos setting and the wineries, hotels and restaurants they visited.  On their Facebook page, Susanne and Georgia reported: “The drive to Osoyoos by the shimmering lake on the left and rugged slate and marble mountains, simply breathtaking!  The sun is shining and life is good!”  A number of their comments specifically noted how well they liked the local amenities, and they add: “Osoyoos most certainly delivers Canada’s Warmest Welcome!”  People can listen to CIRO 106.5 FM when in the Osoyoos area for a firsthand sharing of the Wine Ladies’ experience in the area.

 

www.thewineladies.com

www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wine-Ladies/74962673175

 

 

D.O.’S 2011 AGM TO BE HELD APRIL 20

 

Osoyoos-area tourism stakeholders will gather April 20 at the Spirit Ridge Vineyard Resort conference room for the 15th Annual General Meeting of Destination Osoyoos.

 

DO Board of Directors Chair Don Brogan and Executive Director Jo Knight will present reports on the policy direction of the organization over the past year as well as details of its key programs and achievements through 2010.

 

Black Hills Estate Winery President Glenn Fawcett will be the 2011 AGM’s keynote speaker, making a presentation about the increasingly popular Osoyoos Celebrity Wine Festival.  Fawcett, who is chief organizer of the Festival, is expected to describe highlights of the first two of the annual weekend-long events – held in 2009 and 2010 – and plans for the upcoming 2011 Celebrity Wine Festival, set for June 9-12, featuring Juno-award-winning country music star and actor George Canyon.  Destination Osoyoos is a platinum sponsor of the annual Festival.

 

The AGM will also feature the introduction of the members of the 2011-12 Destination Osoyoos Board of Directors, who will assume office immediately after the conclusion of this year’s AGM.  The Directors represent a variety of sectors in the local tourism industry.

 

 

COMING EVENTS IN OSOYOOS

 

• April 16 – The 10th Annual Osoyoos Volunteer Recognition Awards Ceremony & Luncheon.  12:00 noon at the Sonora Community Centre.

 

• April 23 – Easter Eggstravaganza, including Lions’ Pancake Breakfast (8 a.m. at Town Square), Country Fair (9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Town Square), Children’s Easter Egg Hunt (10 a.m. at Osoyoos Elementary School yard), Decorated Bike & Tryke Judging (12:30 p.m. at Smitty’s Parking Lot), Easter Eggstravaganza Parade (1 p.m. on Main Street from Mohawk to Family Foods).

 

• April 29-May 8 – Okanagan Spring Wine Festival.  Numerous events at wineries, restaurants, hotels and resorts throughout the Okanagan Valley.  For local events see the following wineries’ websites: www.nkmipcellars.com www.twistedtree.ca www.youngandwysewine.com www.lastella.ca

 

• May 19-23 – Annual Meadowlark Festival, one of Canada’s premier outdoor nature celebrations with more than 80 events displaying the ecology, habitat, wildlife, environment and diversity of the South Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys.  For details see:  www.meadowlarkfestival.bc.ca