December 7, 2006
In this issue:

VCM is moving!
New International Air Policy Will Benefit Tourism
Monkeybean Launches Its Free Reservation System
An Update on Community Tourism Foundations
Top 10 Tips on Sprucing Up Your Email Content
Staff / Board Profile: Meet Ian Maw!
Submit your festival or event to vcmbc.com for free!

Well, the holidays are fast approaching, welcoming the family celebrations, the glitz, the eggnog, the fabulous shortbread, and the Move. Yes you heard that correctly… Vancouver, Coast & Mountains is moving offices over the Christmas holidays, so we wanted to give you a heads up to our schedule and some possible glitches that may impact your ability to get a hold of us:

First, the new address is:

Suite 600, 210 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5Y 3W2
(effective January 2, 2007)

We are officially packing up our offices on December 15 and 18, but all will become unplugged on December 19. We anticipate this move to go smoothly and quickly, with all computers up and running on December 20. Email is the preferred method for tracking us down during the dates of December 20 – 22, as we may have difficulty accessing our phone systems, but we promise to do our very best to keep in touch. By January 2, 2007 everything will be smooth sailing!

If you have any questions about our move logistics, please feel free to contact Mary Ann Bell at 604-638-6927 or maryann@vcmbc.com (hopefully before Dec. 19 ?).

Happy Holidays to everyone!

New International Air Policy Will Benefit Tourism

The Council of Tourism Associations (COTA) is pleased with Transport Canada's announcement Monday, November 27, 2006 of its new international air transportation policy. The new policy direction, entitled "Blue Sky," will create new and expanded tourism opportunities by easing restrictions on flights between Canada and international destinations.

"We're pleased to see this new policy direction coming out of Ottawa, and remain cautiously optimistic that it will result in a wider range of travel options and more affordable airfare for inbound and outbound travellers," noted C. Michael Campbell, President and Chair of the COTA Board of Directors.

As a result of the new policy, Canada will pursue additional "Open Skies" agreements with other countries, which would result in the ability of airlines from Canada and its signatory countries to operate with fewer restrictions between each others' airports.

COTA has been pressing for this policy direction from Transport Canada for several years, through the auspices of the Airline Industry Monitoring Consortium (AIM BC), a group of tourism-related stakeholders concerned with air policy that is managed by COTA. AIM BC also provided input to Transport Canada during the consultation period leading up to this policy announcement.

"We have huge potential for growth in the Asia-Pacific tourist market here on the west coast, and hope this new policy will open up opportunities from those countries." said Mary Mahon Jones, COTA's CEO.
The text of the Blue Sky policy is available on the Transport Canada website at: www.tc.gc.ca/bluesky.

COTA is a federation of organizations and businesses representing an industry of nearly 18,000 tourism operations throughout British Columbia. Tourism creates jobs for over 117,900 British Columbians and $9.8 billion in visitor spending in communities throughout the province.

For further information: Mary Mahon Jones, CEO, Council of Tourism Associations (COTA), Ph (604) 685-5910, mmahonjones@cotabc.com.

Source: COTA: December 6, 2006

Monkeybean Launches Its Free Reservation System

MonkeyBean Solutions (www.monkeybean.ca) has released its highly anticipated reservation system, MB Res. With this new reservation system, tour operators can create tour product, manage inventory, generate passenger manifests, create promotions, define cancellation fees and much more. And best of all, it's free.

"We feel that tour operators should do just that, operate tours", said MonkeyBean's CEO, Martin Ostrovsky. "They shouldn't have to spend money on things like web servers and databases. Let MonkeyBean worry about that."

"Our aim", Ostrovsky continues, "is to provide global exposure for those small tour operators in Canada who do not have the financial resources to do so by themselves."

Signing up with MonkeyBean is quick, easy, and like the new reservation system, free. Once signed up, tour operators can load their trips and within minutes, their trips are live on the MonkeyBean website, ready for purchase by both travel agents and direct passengers.
For more information on MonkeyBean and MB Res, visit www.monkeybean.ca

Source: CTC Tourism Daily

An Update on Community Tourism Foundations

Community Tourism Foundations (CTF) is an innovative program created to provide communities with assistance in tourism development and to access partnered marketing funds. The marketing funds will allow the community to build upon their existing activities in order to increase overnight visitation to their community and travel throughout the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Tourism Region.

Currently the following communities are approved as part of the CTF Development:

• Bowen Island
• Burnaby
• Harrison/Kent
• Langley
• New Westminster
• Squamish
• Sunshine Coast
• West Vancouver
• White Rock

In addition to these communities, the Fraser Canyon and Hope have submitted an Expression of Interest for the opportunity to access the program.

Once a community is approved an initial meeting takes place with various stakeholders in the community. As a result of the initial meeting and the commitment by each member of the working group, a report is produced and a Memorandum of Understanding signed. This starts the next stage in the process, which is determined by the needs of the community.

Once a community has completed the development phase of CTF they will have access to partnered dollars for marketing initiatives. The intent of the marketing program is to build overnight visitation to individual communities, or clusters of communities, that are market-ready and have long-term destination marketing plans supported by research. CTF partnered dollars are targeted towards communities that need initial financial support to achieve their potential in terms of active private sector participation.

The following communities are approved by Tourism BC and are participating in the CTF Marketing Program:

• Abbotsford
• Chilliwack
• Coquitlam
• Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows
• Mission
• Surrey
• Pemberton
• Powell River

NEW UPDATE: As of April 1, 2007 communities that would like to access the partnered marketing dollars through Vancouver, Coast & Mountains will have to first work through the Community Tourism Foundations Development program.

For additional information on the Community Tourism Foundations program contact Shawna Leung at 604.484.5360 or shawna@vcmbc.com.

Top 10 Tips on Sprucing Up Your Email Content - As Told by Don Corleone

Hey listen up. Ignore these tips about your forthcoming email content...at your own peril.

1. Shorten the Subject, take the canolis! – Hey! Those email readers cut off the subject lines at 40-50 characters, whattayadoin puttin’ your jewels at the end?
2. Only using images? – Just fuggetabout it. Don’t waste your time emailing. Your email is gonna wind up right in the trash, just like our late friend Johnny.
3. Keep it clean – Now I have been trying to be "clean" for years, but this is not what I am talking about. I’m talking about using black type on a white background. Easy on the eyes.
4. Use a table of contents for your newsletter – Tell ‘em what their gonna get, before they open the door, know what I mean? NO ONE likes surprises...
5. Make them an offer they don’t refuse – Do I need to say any more?
6. Keep paragraphs short – Life is short (some shorter than others, but that is not the fault of the Don). People don’t have time to read long emails.
7. Use bullets – Did I say bullet? Just make sure your copy is easy to read, bulletized and bullet-proof (unlike Sonny), if ya know what I mean.
8. Include links before the scroll – Not including links above the fold, is like the Corleone family not having a pot of sauce cooking on the stove. Links are just necessary.
9. Cut your copy in half, leave it for a bit then cut it again! – I think this may have happened to … nevermind.
10. Talk to your recipients, do not bore them. Even the Don don’t like to read something uninteresting. There’s a lot of clutter out there, break through (just don’t break heads).

Janine Popick, President and CEO - Founder of Vertical Response

Staff / Board Profile: Meet Ian Maw!

Ian Maw knows firsthand what attracts visitors to Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa SM. He left a top sales position at a leading downtown Vancouver hotel to live and work in the Fraser Valley. For him it's an easy sell when it comes to marketing breathtaking scenery, outdoor recreation and a grand hotel with an 80-year history.

Maw, who graduated with a BA from the University of Victoria in 1981, began a career in sales at Purolator Courier Limited. In 1989, he parlayed his sales experience into a plum job at Contact Pacific Services, a Vancouver-based destination management company that developed new opportunities in Canada, the United States, England and Australia organizing incentive and meeting programs for groups from 20 to 800.

When he joined the Four Seasons Hotel, a AAA Five Diamond property, he benefited from several years of in-house training that still pays off today in the exacting standards he brings to his role. He left Four Seasons in 1994, joining another Vancouver AAA Five Diamond hotel, the Pan Pacific where he managed group sales.

He was next appointed director of incentive sales at Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, going back to the group incentive market that he had been highly successful with earlier in his career. By 1998, he had returned to the prestigious Four Seasons and was appointed director of sales. Maw, well-known as a collegial team player, managed four group sales managers and a portfolio of key accounts.

Many students of the Hospitality Program at Vancouver Community College have benefited over the years from Maw's expertise in the industry; he was a lecturer there from 1993 to 1999. And of course, many of our Tourism Partners have also benefited, as Ian is currently in his fourth year of serving on Vancouver, Coast & Mountains board.

Today, he and his wife Nancy live on a scenic acreage with their cat, two dogs, and seven chickens. They have become an unofficial bed and breakfast for their many visitors from Vancouver who, like the guests at Harrison Hot Springs Resort & Spa, are attracted to the area for its beauty, golf, fishing and relief from the pressures of the city.

Thanks for all of your hard work Ian, it is well appreciated!

Submit your festival or event to vcmbc.com for free!

Do you have the festival of the season coming up? Is your community known for your fabulous annual corn-popping contest and festival? Make sure that visitors to www.vcmbc.com know about it by submitting the details on-line. Visit www.vcmbc.com/page.cfm/9819 and fill out the form to submit all your event details.