Osoyoos Aims to be a "Superhost"

Osoyoos is on its way to becoming a community filled with super hosts, which fits nicely with the town’s new brand as 'Canada’s Warmest Welcome!' This spring, Destination Osoyoos launched a new initiative to help local businesses get top-notch customer-service training for their employees under TourismBC’s industry-leading SuperHost program. Destination Osoyoos CEO Glenn Mandziuk says the goal is to ensure the community offers “an exceptional guest experience” to visitors and local residents alike.

SuperHost was developed in 1985. Since then workshops have been delivered to over 800,000 participants in British Columbia and TourismBC has licensed SuperHost to organizations around the world – including in Asia, Australia, the U.S.A. and across Canada. Jo Knight, Destination Osoyoos’ Director of Tourism & Visitor Experience, says DO is the local area’s licensed delivery organization for SuperHost training.

She says the SuperHost workshops provide customer-service skills to employees and help local companies gain more business through better service for customers.

Knight delivers local SuperHost workshops through her own ‘PADDLE OUT’ training company. “We take our promise of ‘Canada’s Warmest Welcome’ very seriously, and people in Osoyoos are determined to deliver on it,” she says. “SuperHost helps us all to become ambassadors for our businesses and our community.”

Knight says the goal is to earn full ‘SuperHost Community’ recognition for Osoyoos by 2010, which means 60 per cent of businesses will be recognized as SuperHost Business, with each committed to certification of at least 60 per cent of their staff in at least one SuperHost workshop.

“We are still in the early stages, but the response has already been great,” Knight says. “It’s quite exciting.” She adds that local businesses and organizations involved so far include Spirit Ridge Resort, Nk‘Mip RV Park & Campground, Nk’Mip Desert Cultural Centre, WorkZone, the Osoyoos Museum, EZ Rock Radio, CIRO Radio FM-106.5, the Osoyoos Rotary Club, Osoyoos Secondary School, the Holiday Inn, Destination Osoyoos, Shoppers Drug Mart, Into U Hair & Body Lounge, and Pharmasave. Knight says the local Rotary Club will hold an auction soon to raise funds so it can sponsor up to 100 young people in Osoyoos to take SuperHost training at no cost.

Destination Osoyoos offers the one-day ‘SuperHost Fundamentals’ workshop and the half-day ‘Solving Problems Through Service’ and ‘Sales Powered by Service’ workshops. In addition, ‘Management’ workshops can be arranged upon request. The current round of workshops is scheduled for June 20 and 22. To learn more, register for an upcoming workshop or arrange for a custom SuperHost workshop call Knight at (250) 495-5070 (ext. 202) or email jknight@osoyoos.ca.

'LaStella' opens as Osoyoos' newest Winery

Osoyoos’ newest winery has been open for just over a month, but it’s already attracting a lot of attention. LaStella Winery, owned by Enotecca Winery & Resorts, threw open the doors of its brand-new Tuscany-style facility on May 1 – and Wine Shop Manager Trena Kraft tells Destination Osoyoos that while it’s not wide open yet for unscheduled wine tours, the winery is beginning to sell wine and is hosting increasing numbers of people for tastings.

Word is getting out about LaStella, which is located near Lake Osoyoos on the west side, just off 148th Avenue. This summer’s edition of Wine Trails magazine includes an article describing the winery and its liquid fare, along with General Manager Anthony Buree. The article notes that LaStella’s impressive architecture – including the main building with tower, a patio, wine shop and tasting room – features Venetian hand-blown light fixtures, Italian herringbone tile, and antique furniture. Wine Trails calls it “one of the prettiest wineries in the Valley”.

Wines already available include Vivace (a Pinot Grigio), La Stellina (a Merlot rosé), and Allegretto (a Merlot). LaStella’s flagship wine, Maestoso (a Merlot), will be available starting this fall. LaStella Winery can be reached at (250) 495-8180.

DO Profile: Derek Noske

Derek Noske, Vice-Chairman of the Destination Osoyoos Board of Directors, is a veteran senior business executive who is contributing his wealth of knowledge to help ensure that tourism and economic developments in Osoyoos bring not just prosperity, but also an enhanced quality of life for everyone in the community.

Throughout his career, Noske has worked in top business positions, guiding financial programs and consulting on major business developments. He serves as a managing partner with Orca Pacific Management Consultants and continues to provide management and business consulting services to companies across the United States – specializing in what he notes is the “fast-moving arena” of providing in-depth analysis and advice on potential mergers and acquisitions.

Noske was born in Vancouver and was raised there, as well as in Oliver and Prince George. He completed an Advanced Marketing Management program at the Banff School of Management and earned a graduate degree in Business & Marketing from the University of Florida.

From 1962-78, Noske worked for Laurentide Financial Corporation, based in Vancouver – working his way up to Regional Sales Manager, Manager of Advertising & Promotion, Vice-President of Marketing & New Business Development, and finally to General Manager of Telecheck Canada, an early, leading-edge national electronic debit transaction system.

In 1978 Noske moved to Florida as President & CEO of a 500-employee company affiliated with Barnett Banks, launching one of North America’s first systems of ‘automated teller’ terminals provided to merchants to authorize credit-card and cheque payments.

Later he designed and implemented a successful Corporate Relocation Program for a major Florida real estate brokerage, before returning to Canada in the early-1990s to introduce a consumer credit card system for the Mohawk Oil Company, as well as developing new business models for Waterway Houseboats in Sicamous, B.C. At one point he also stepped in and served as interim President and Chief Operating Officer for National Air Technologies, based in Toronto and Vancouver.

Noske moved to Osoyoos in 2000 and by 2001 he was involved in Destination Osoyoos. He says that throughout his career he has “tried to find a way to give back to the community, and Destination Osoyoos fitted perfectly for me.” Noske says communities can’t stop change, but they can help to guide what kind of change occurs, so that it works “for the good of the community”. He thinks Destination Osoyoos initiatives in recent years – such as the town’s Resort Municipality status and the planned new Airport industrial development – will help ensure that young people will be able to build careers and futures in Osoyoos and that the tax burden for seniors and other citizens will be kept down. Noske is active in the effort to overcome the local doctor shortage, and he believes the next big challenge for the community is the need for affordable housing.

Noske married his schoolhood sweetheart Eileen and the couple has three sons – Stacy (in Florida), Mark (in North Vancouver) and Rory (in Texas) – as well as two grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He is a director of the South Okanagan Liberal Association and a layman at the Catholic church in Osoyoos. When not consulting for businesses or lending a hand to Osoyoos initiatives, Noske loves fly-fishing and skiing.

HelloBC listings take Osoyoos Accommodations to the World

One of the enhanced services the new BC Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos offers for local tourist accommodation businesses is connection to the powerful worldwide promotion gained through the ‘HelloBC’ services, including its online ‘Listings Program’ and its most-trusted national and international source of travel planning information about the province – the annual BC Approved Accommodation Guide. The Visitor Centre gets involved not only by taking reservations through HelloBC’s online booking service, but also by helping local businesses to get their listing into this Number One worldwide sourcebook for visitors to the province.

Destination Osoyoos CEO Glenn Mandziuk says while many local hotels, motels, B&Bs, campgrounds, RV parks, and resorts have enrolled in the HelloBC service, a number still have not. “I really encourage all accommodations in town to get into HelloBC. The Guide is where visitors from around the world look for assurance of quality services, and that’s what Osoyoos offers.” The 2008 BC Accommodation Guide includes 10 Osoyoos B&Bs, 4 campgrounds and RV parks, and 19 hotels, motels and resorts.

Jo Knight, Destination Osoyoos’ Director of Tourism & Visitor Experience, says she knows that people from outside Canada who travel the popular tourist paths across Alberta and B.C. look to the Guide when planning what route they will take. “And now that we’re an official ‘resort community’ aspiring to be world-class, all local accommodations can make use of this key global marketing tool by listing themselves in it,” Knight says. She notes that in May, as part of the HelloBC Listings Program, the Visitor Centre booked more than 50 online reservations for local accommodations – and she expects the Centre will book more than 70 reservations in July and August.

Tourism Trends

• The Canadian Consulate General in Minneapolis recently noted that KPMG says Canada is the most cost-effective country for business among the G-7 countries by keeping wages under control and because of incentives such as the federal government's corporate tax cuts and R&D tax credits.

He adds that the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) says Canada now ranks fourth among the economies that will offer the best business environment in the world during the next five years, 2008-12 –among 82 countries studied. The EIU cited the quality of Canada's infrastructure, market opportunities, moderate taxes and lack of restrictions on trade and foreign exchange. Canada's value to investors includes an innovative labour pool, R&D tax credits, and attractiveness for knowledge-based companies looking to expand.

• As noted in a June 7 Calgary Herald story, the BC Visitor Centre @ Osoyoos (along with Visitor Centres in Kelowna and Penticton) have begun to offer rental of ‘The GyPSy Guide Okanagan Wine Tour’ – a unique self-drive touring system.

Using a global positioning system ('GPS') unit mounted in the car or RV, the GyPSy Guide plays specific audio files at pre-programmed locations. The Herald story says the result is a guided tour device that ‘speaks’ to you right at the moment that a point of interest comes into view, or when a route turn is required. As the visitor is guided from winery to winery, information is presented about differences between regions, characters who have developed Okanagan winemaking, what to taste at each winery, and the merits of different wine styles.

• June 3 the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame announced it has inducted five remarkable Canadians who have made contributions to the tourism sector and their communities. This year’s inductees are: Peter Armstrong (founder of Rocky Mountaineer Vacations rail service); Walter Smith (a tourism ambassador and volunteer with Tourism Prince Rupert); Jean-Marc Eustache (President, Transat AT Inc., a company including travel agencies, an airline, and hotels); Guy Laliberté (founder, Cirque du Soleil); and Charles Lapointe (President, Tourisme Montréal).