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Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Celebrates 34th Anniversary in Style

For those of you who were unable to make it, we thought we would give you a little summary of this year’s terrific Regional Tourism Leaders Forum. Read on:

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains celebrated our 34th anniversary by playing host to more than one hundred tourism industry representatives at the RTLF June 21st and 22nd at The Club in Gibsons. Prolific keynote speakers included Tourism BC President & CEO Rod Harris, Director of Tourism Development in the Ministry of Tourism, Sport & Arts John Willow and Powell River & Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons. The speakers facilitated discussion on important industry issues ranging from the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to Premier Gordon Campbell’s challenge to double tourism revenues by 2015. “The challenge is profound, but it also has its upsides,” said Willow. “A vibrant and sustainable tourism industry will deliver impressive benefits to government, communities and businesses.”

“We're very excited to respond to the Premier's challenge and thank him for investing $2 million in regional destination marketing to help us on the path to achieving this goal,” added Kevan J. Ridgway, President & CEO of Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Tourism. “He will be very proud of this investment when we report back our results.”

During the Annual General Meeting, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Board of Directors Chair Irene Sturzenegger lauded the organization’s recent transition to a stakeholder model, with the number of marketing partners having doubled in the past year. Her sentiments were echoed by Ridgway, who pointed to the Community Tourism Foundations Marketing Program as a source of significant development. Treasurer Debbie McKinney, who reported an impressive excess in revenues for the year, was presented with the Most Valuable Marketing Partner Award.

“This has been a year of extraordinary growth and diversity for this region, and, indeed, for all regional destination marketing organizations in Super, Natural British Columbia,” said Sturzenegger. “Our relationships make us strong, and we value every one of them.”

The two-day annual event, slated for Pemberton in June 2007, also included presentations from local speaker Stuart Ellis-Myers, BC Ferries Director of Marketing & Public Relations Doug Treleaven, Go2 CEO Arlene Keis, BC Centre of Tourism Leadership and Innovation General Manager Terry Hood, Council of Tourism Associations First Vice President Jim Storie and Vancouver Sun and Province Advertising Manager Frank Franco.

Hope to see you next year!

Tourism BC Releases Consumer Show Report

Tourism BC has released its top line report for regional consumer shows. Researchers attended 8 consumer shows with the regions last year, and have found that on average, 67% of consumers who took information spent at least one night in BC. Top performing show was the Vancouver Travel & Vacation Show at 82% conversion.

"Recreation & activities" (57%) were the primary motivation for their trips, followed by "Relaxation & escape" (21%), with sightseeing/touring (15%) the third trip motivator. These results differ significantly from our general inquiries, where sightseeing is 46%, activities 27% and relaxation 19%.

Average length of stay for consumer show attendees follows our normal pattern at 6.2 nights. Of those consumers who did not visit BC in 2005, 72% said they would come in 2006.

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains will continue its consumer show programs in 2007. In most cases, we will take our full 10 x 20 booth, and offer pre-packaged brochures from our partners, with more details to follow. As an add-on to some consumer shows, we will also arrange pre- and/or post-show media and trade activities.

For more information on consumer shows, please contact Kevan at 604-638-6930, or kevan@vcmbc.com

Accounting Tips for the Tourism Industry

Accounting in the tourism industry is similar to other business sectors; businesses must report accurately in order to be in good standing with creditors and communicate the status of the business to shareholders. The major hurdles that small businesses have in any sector is fraud by related parties, and bankruptcy or hardship due to lack of positive cash flows. By instituting internal controls and monitoring cash flows, businesses of any size can significantly reduce these difficulties.

Internal Controls are important to prevent fraud and human error when performing duties. Listed below are a couple of internal controls which will enhance the efficiency and reduce the losses of your business:

• Separation of duties - A separate person should perform each of the following: the verification of bills, receiving of items from vendors, the entering and creation of bills, and the verification and signing of the cheque. By separation of duties, many mistakes can be avoided, and attempts at fraud will be reduced or eliminated.
• Actual counts, not check lists - When receiving supplies and inventory, all items should be counted and verified without the assistance of a check list or bill of lading. In this way, the actually received items are recorded as received, preventing recording of goods which have not actually been received. This as well as frequent physical inventory counts will reduce inventory shrinkage.

Monitoring cash flows is important to ensure that your business will have a future. Poor cash inflow can result in frequent calls by creditors, bounced cheques, and can result in violation of covenants and even bankruptcy. Below are some tips on monitoring cash flows:

• Future project’s estimated profits should exceed the cost of attaining future funding - Do not decide on a new project if its profits cannot reasonably cover the cost of funding for the project.
• Collections should be effective on receivables - By collecting all receivables in a timely fashion, a business can avoid cash shortages when paying bills.

Other Tips

Records should be kept in an orderly fashion such that the information can be retrieved quickly, revealing accurately the events resulting in invoices and bills. This means keeping records in clearly labelled file folders and binders filed in an order which is easy to remember.

Paying invoices on time is important. If your company is reputed to pay bills late, it is likely that creditors and vendors will reduce or cease to extend credit.

Hopefully, by following the tips above, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains’ marketing partners will continue to profitably serve our region.

Bernie Batt
Accounting Department
Vancouver, Coast & Mountains

Conquering the world of e-business

A new guide from the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC), Learning About Computers, the Internet and E-business: Guide to Federal Government Courses and Services for SMEs, provides small- and medium-size business enterprises (SMEs) with tips and contacts to help business owners conquer the world of e-business and, in the process, boost profitability. Click here to download the guide!