Canadian Lodging News - January 2013

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LodgingNews January 2013 Vol. 9 No. 10

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Expedia: Revolutionizing travel Recharging

The Battery

By Elaine Anselmi, Assistant Editor

Hotel chains have been talking about moving guest bookings away from Expedia using rate parity and loyalty programs. But Expedia is not targetting those loyal, knowledgeable customers. They have a totally different demographic in mind. Mobile technology is playing a rapidly expanding role in Expedia’s business. And the company is looking at payment models that will no longer require guests to pay when they book. Rapid change is the name of the game, according to speakers at Expedia’s Partner Conference, held in Las Vegas last month.

Expedia president and CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (above right) and Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive, were among those on hand to discuss these changes and more. See story on page 14.

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152

Delta and Chelsea to part ways

Ken Greene

By Colleen Isherwood, Editor TORONTO—The announcement that Delta Hotels & Resorts would cease

managing the Delta Chelsea, Canada’s largest hotel, at the beginning of July shouldn’t have come as a surprise.

Delta is building what will be its flagship property, a 45-storey fourstar hotel that is part of Toronto’s Southcore Financial Centre. Located at Lower Simcoe Street and Bremner Boulevard, it is projected to open in late 2014. The hotel will fully represent the new Delta with modern design and techno-enabled guest spaces.

The move is part of a pattern that Delta has already established in Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo—divesting itself of properties that don’t fit in with its stated strategy of “repositioning to become the leading four-star, full service hotel chain in Canada”.

In Ottawa and K-W, Delta has

opened or is building new properties that fit that strategy.

“We’re in the throes of becoming the best four-star full service brand in Canada, marketplace by marketplace, all in ‘A’ locations,” the company’s new president Ken Greene told CLN last month.

The owners of the Delta Chelsea, Great Eagle Holdings Limited, decided that they did not want to renovate the property to the new Delta brand standards—so Delta made the difficult decision to part ways with its largest hotel.

The only surprise is the timing— there will be at least an 18-month gap when there is no Delta hotel in Canada’s largest market.

ST. JOHN’S––If all goes according to plan, Memorial University (MUN) will be the proud new owner of a piece of historical property.

The university’s purchase of the Battery Hotel and Conference Centre could be finalized by the end of the year, or early 2013, said David Sorensen, manager of communications, for MUN. The Battery currently encompasses a hotel and conference centre, as well as an 80-seat restaurant with commercial foodservice capabilities to cater functions of up to 300 people, Shawn Oates, chef at the Battery’s restaurant, told CLN. Offering a range of casual dishes, the restaurant serves both guests of the hotel and outside patrons, said Oates.

Staff at The Battery were given official notice for Jan. 5 as their last day of employment, said Oates.

“There will be some renovations,” said Sorensen. “There won’t be any change to the footprint of the building.”

The university announced that it was entering into a purchase and sale agreement with The Battery hotel owners on Nov. 15. Although the deal is still in a preliminary phase, Sorensen told CLN that expanding the existing St. John’s campus further into the city’s downtown area has been of interest to the university since the arrival of MUN president, Dr. Gary Kachanoski, in 2010.

He said that one suggested use for the new facility is public engagement units, such as a centre for corporate training.

A graduate student residence is also a favoured option, taking advantage of the hotel’s existing infrastructure that is conducive to residential boarding, as well as a pretty unbeatable view of St. John’s harbour (below).

Continued on page 3

A college of community

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Vancouver-area hotels cooperate in Tsleil-Waututh Nation school’s First Nation culinary program.

Coast Hotels’ first Yukon property

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High Country Inn in Whitehorse, YK has seen a big surge in travellers who want to see the aurora borealis.

Tired of shopping around?

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Check out CLN’s 2013 Buyers’ Directory for up-to-date listings of available suppliers by category.

Build with the Brand that’s Building.

Days Inn G2 Prototype Hotels are now under construction in Winnipeg, MB and Yorkton, SK Want to be next?

416.966.8387 daysinn@realstarhospitality.com

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A college of community The Tsleil-Waututh students in black uniforms from left to right: Charlene Alec, Jonathon Kiethlah, Desmond Pack and chefs’ assistant Joel Pennay. Front, left to right: Chefs Andrew George, Greg Chang and volunteers for the Super Chefs program in white jackets.

By Veronica Zaretski, Online Editor NORTH VANCOUVER—“Food identifies a person’s culture,” said chef Andrew George, whose Tsleil-Waututh Nation school’s First Nation culinary program celebrated its first graduates in early November. “I try to make sure that I communicate this to our students.”

The program, designed in conjunction with the Industry Training Authority in British Columbia and located in the reserve’s community centre, strives to offer the same level and certified curriculum as offered elsewhere in the province. “Being a chef for 24 years and having gone through the system, I thought I’d lend a hand to increasing the number of aboriginal students in trades,” George told CLN. George explained that due to a high drop out rate in the aboriginal population, it often wasn’t possible for aboriginal students to apply to culinary schools. To help, he created an apprenticeship program, which includes training in essential life skills, food safety and first aid.

Composed of three levels, students start

with a 28-week level one program, with a split between 25 per cent theory and 75 per cent practical hands-on experience, said George.

The curriculum also stresses a strong community involvement, with students taking part in cooking, catering, and event management at large events and festivals.

At Epic Vancouver, in May this year, students served dishes such as seaweed asparagus salad with seared scallops, prawns, salmon, and halibut topped with seaweed vinaigrette to a large crowd.

Students also got to sharpen their knives to work at other events such as an on-stage cooking demonstration with the Super Chefs team and the BC Lions at Eat Vancouver. These types of events, George said, prepare students in public speaking, event set up, teamwork and communication.

In the last two weeks of the level one program, the students’ hands-on experience extends to a placement at one of the school’s partnering hotels or restaurants: Pan Pacific Hotel, The Renaissance Hotel, The Pinnacle,

Executive Inn and Suites, Horizons Restaurant, and Rockford Grill. At the end of the program, students are assessed and given a recommendation for the best fit for them in the industry.

A wide spectrum of Aboriginal cuisine is taught, with students learning to prepare dishes from muskox mipkazola salad wraps (George described muskox as being similar to prosciutto), to traditional seafood chowder with crab.

George has big plans for the school’s future, including a proposed partnership with Vancouver Community College so that level three students can access the specialized equipment that they need. He is currently working on developing a ten-week cooking program, which will be the preliminary step to getting into the level one phase.

In addition to his duties as the lead chef instructor of the program, George will be joining a 25-day tour with 25 other chefs from around the world for the International Visitors Program, based out of Washington. The intent of the program is to gather chefs for diplomacy.

The White House reached out for chefs from around the world, who are called to work with the local White House chef when a delegate from their country visits.

George wants to bring aboriginal cuisine into the international spotlight, and sees the end goal of the culinary program as creating opportunities for aboriginal chefs.

“The chef profession is a profession of honour,” said George. “There’s not a lot of people in the world that have the opportunity to put food and nutrition in people’s bodies, and do it right.”

CORRECTION: HOME SWEET HOTEL

CLN’s article titled Home Sweet Hotel in the November issue gave the wrong release date for Homewood Suites’ study. The study was released in August. The article also referred to Take Flight, which is not a study, but a product optimization program. CLN regrets the errors.

Delta Hotels & Resorts Update—Greene Continued from page 1

“As we looked at the positioning of Delta in the four-star segment, we decided that we would prefer to be dark in Toronto and highlight the contrast between where we are going versus what the Chelsea represents as the old Delta. We have had a 37-year relationship with the hotel and it’s been a fabulous one. But the difference between [the Chelsea] and the new property at Southcore is dramatic,” Greene said.

Chelsea’s new managers Hong Kong-based Great Eagle Group, owner of the Chelsea, will assume management of the 1,590-room property under its subsidiary Langham Hospitality Group. Renamed The Chelsea Toronto, it will be Langham’s first Canadian hotel.

“All the current employees will continue to be retained by the new management at The Chelsea,” said Langham CEO Brett Butcher said in a release.

Delta’s new and renovated hotels will all feature the Delta ModeRoom, which Greene describes as “modern, thoughtfully-designed, techno-enabled spaces.

“It’s frustrating for guests in an unfamiliar guest room to plug in and stay connected,” he added. “The ModeRoom is a consistent guest experience that enables them to do this in just a few steps.

“In our research, customers told us that they wanted a room that adapts to their needs—they don’t want to have to adapt to the room,” Greene said.

Moving from Kitchener to Waterloo Delta sold their Kitchener hotel recently, and announced last month that it would invest $36 million to build the new Delta Waterloo Hotel, part of the Barrelyards development project in uptown Waterloo. The 14-acre former Canbar site at Erb Street and Father David Bauer had remained vacant for a number of years. It is now

Artist’s rendition shows the lobby of the Delta Waterloo

being transformed into a community that will include the nine-storey hotel, a 200,000 sq. ft. office complex, luxury residential buildings, condominium towers, assisted living residences and townhomes.

In Ottawa, Delta moved across the street to the renovated former Crowne Plaza hotel. (See page 16 for story.) The previous Delta Ottawa is now The National Hotel, branded as part of Choice Hotels Canada’s Ascend collection of unique, boutique and historic properties.

In Kingston, Delta is renovating the former Radisson hotel on the waterfront.

Thunder Bay will boast a newly-constructed Delta by the end of 2014 or early 2015, right across from Lake Superior in the Prince Arthur’s Landing waterfront area. Located close to a community ice rink, the clientele will include sports teams and families, as well as business people who want to stay at the most upscale hotel in the city, Greene noted.

Greene is excited about the 45-storey Toronto property, which will be attached to the Convention Centre and a stone’s throw away from the Roger’s Centre. “We’ll have the lightning rod of the Toronto property in two years,” he said, adding that “it will help us close our product quality gap.”

Green added that Delta is looking at other markets throughout Canada, including ‘A’ locations in smaller secondary markets. “We want to be No. 1 in the marketplace and make sure we have a four-star, upscale product, in markets where the demographics can support it.”

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Ali Group buys Scotsman VERNON HILLS, IL—Ice giant Scotsman Industries was acquired by the American subsidiary of Milan-based company Ali Group in a deal finalized in December. David McCulloch (above) will remain the Scotsman chairman and CEO, reporting directly to Filippo Berti, CEO of Ali Group North America, which is based out of Winston-Salem, NC. McCulloch spoke of the increased opportunities into overseas markets that the deal will provide for Scotsman. “To go into new emerging markets like Latin America, China or India is an expensive proposition,” he said. Scotsman has been investing in overseas markets by moving into a larger factory in China (a move that will take them from 20,000 square feet to 72,000 square feet), establishing offices in India and Latin America a year ago, and adding a Russian office in 2013.

Ali Group’s 67 foodservice equipment brands include Moffat, Champion, Moyer Diebel, Beverage Air and ElectroFreeze.

Mother Parkers adopts Marley MISSISSAUGA––Canadian roaster Mother Parkers Tea and Coffee will hold exclusive distribution rights of U.S.based Marley Coffee’s products within Canada, based on a partnership announced in early November.

Mother Parkers provisions will now include the sustainable and ethically farmed gourmet coffee produced

by Marley. This deal will allow Marley products to be distributed in the hotels, cafés, restaurants and convenience stores that Mother Parkers currently services.

“We expect that Marley Coffee will represent up to five per cent of our Canadian foodservice sales,” said Sean Bredt, vice-president of coffee and allied products at Mother Parkers, in a release.

LG offers Pro:Centric platform LINCOLNSHIRE, IL—Already a launching pad for some of the most popular Java- and Flash-based content applications available in the market, the Pro:Centric platform expands the choice of interactive applications available to Canadian and U.S. hoteliers thanks to the HTML5 capability on its new LT770H LED TV series.

LG authorized application providers now offering integrated applications on LG TVs represent a range of leading U.S. and international hospitality content and service provider companies, including Acentic, Guest-Tek, LodgeNet Interactive Corporation, Nevotek, and Swisscom Hospitality Services, Inc. Many of the new applications developed using HTML5 leverage its ability to handle multimedia and graphical content without the need for proprietary plug-ins.

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CANADIAN LODGING NEWS

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www.can-lodgingnews.com Editor Colleen Isherwood ext. 231 cisherwood@can-lodgingnews.com Contributing Editors Marni Andrews marni@trolltales.com Larry Mogelonsky larry@lma.ca Leslie Wu ext. 227 lwu@can-restaurantnews.com Veronica Zaretski ext 238 vzaretski@can-lodgingnews.com Elaine Anselmi ext. 226 eanselmi@can-lodgingnews.com National Sales Manager Dave Bell ext. 230 dbell@can-lodgingnews.com Senior Account Manager Debbie McGilvray ext. 233 dmcgilvray@can-lodgingnews.com Senior Account Manager Joe Couto ext. 229 jcouto@can-lodgingnews.com Production Peggy Weber ext. 0 pweber@can-lodgingnews.com Circulation Manager Don Trimm ext. 228 dtrimm@can-restaurantnews.com Controller Tammy Turgeon ext. 237 tammy@can-lodgingnews.com

Repairing hotels’ soiled image November 9th and 16th, 2012 will not go down in history as the best-ever days for hotel public relations. Those were the days when CBC’s Marketplace aired its two-part series on dirty hotels.

The show looked at 54 different Canadian hotels, from budget to luxury, and found drug-resistant “superbugs” including C. difficile in all of them.

Bed comforters, remote controls, light switches, telephones and door handles were cited, and there was a particularly damaging shot of a housekeeper wiping a toilet and then using the same cloth to wipe a sink.

The program prompted a variety of reactions, with some people praising the show for providing a valuable service, and others claiming it was sensationalist. (“How many people get sick from hotel rooms? What would we discover if we did the same tests on homes?)

For hoteliers, who know that cleanliness is top of mind among travellers, it prompted another look at how rooms are cleaned.

Canada does have training and benchmarking

practices to meet National Occupation Standards for Directors of Housekeeping and Housekeeping Room Attendants.

I spoke with Jon Kiely, vice president, product innovation and marketing at the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC), which provides emerit professional certification to the national standards.

For over a decade, emerit has worked with accommodations businesses to ensure employees have the skills and knowledge they need. More than 16,000 individuals have earned emerit professional certification, a qualification recognized by both consumers and the Canadian government.

“I have shadowed housekeepers ... and found that it is an incredibly physically demanding job.

I don’t think the general public realizes how much goes into cleaning a room,” Kiely said.

“This is the kind of thing that resonates with the travelling public, like bedbugs. Probably, you could do a similar report on any business and get similar results,” he added.

“The program brought to light potential issues regarding training,”Kiely noted. “There’s a potential situation that despite training efforts, quite often hotels don’t follow up that training to make sure results are consistent.” emerit training, developed based on input from the industry, focuses on two main tenets: to improve productivity in terms of numbers of rooms cleaned during a shift, but more importantly to maintain the quality and consistency of the work.

“Now we’ve got game consoles, flat screens and beds that are really deep. Ten years ago rooms had three pillows and now they have ten,” he noted. The standards are revisited as the profession evolves.

“It’s really important in terms of employee professional development to be doing ongoing monitoring to ensure the skills are still there,” said Kiely.

Following the Marketplace series, Kiely worked with the Hotel Association of Canada to ensure its membership knows they have access to the standards for free. CTHRC is also working with HAC to adapt an existing evaluation tool, and make it available. It is a checklist of all the things that need to be done to clean a room properly. The tool helps staff or peers give housekeeping attendants feedback, by shadowing them for one or two rooms every month or so. The tool consists of general occupational standards, and can easily be combined with specific brand standards. Kiely hopes to have the new tool available this month.

—Colleen Isherwood, Editor

How to reach us: Tel (905) 206-0150

Are You An Ostrich or a Llama?

By Larry Mogelonsky, P. Eng.

Publisher Steven Isherwood ext. 236 sisherwood@can-lodgingnews.com

Volume 9 No. 10 Canadian Lodging News is published 10 times a year by Ishcom Publications Ltd. which also publishes Atlantic Restaurant News, Ontario Restaurant News Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News, and Canadian Chains Directory and Canadian Lodging News Buyers’ Directory Address: 2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201 Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2W1 Tel: (905) 206-0150 Fax: (905) 206-9972 In Canada (800) 201-8596 Subscriptions: Canada & USA: 1 year $39.57, 2 years $63.43 (PLUS APPLICABLE TAX) Single copy: $5.00 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Department, 2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201, Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2W1 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Jason Cheskes, Above The Line Solutions Vito Curalli, Hilton Worldwide Justin Friesen, Western Financial Group Philippe Gadbois, Atlific Hotels & Resorts Mark Hope, Coast Hotels & Resorts Elizabeth Hueston, Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc. Dave Kaiser, Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association Brian Leon, Choice Hotels Canada Inc. Chris Lund, Deerhurst Resort Dr. David Martin, Ted Rogers School of Hospitality Christine Pella, Serta Mattress Company Tony Pollard, Hotel Association of Canada Gopal Rao, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Sarah Segal, Informa Canada Andrew Chlebus, LG Electronics Publication Mail Agreement No. 40010152 ISSN 1710-145X GST number R102533890

Are outsourced reservation centres worthwhile?

Internet booking engines can easily be championed as the 21st century’s backbone for hotel revenue. Something lost, however, is the human touch and comfort of parlaying directly with another individual, whether in person or over the phone. Hence, I ask you to consider your reservation centre.

Specifically, when and why does a call go to voicemail? Who answers booking requests during breaks, weekends or nights? For peak hours, do inbound requests roll over to the front desk, where telephone calls interrupt guest service activity? Or, do such calls go on hold where excess waiting might push a customer to hang up and possibly phone a competitor? Contextually, what does a poor reservations centre say about the overall quality of your guest service?

These questions scrutinize your reservation centre’s efficacy, and rightfully so. By the time a consumer picks up the phone and dials your number, the sale is complete—at least in an ideal world. Any mishaps thus warrant your immediate attention. Your reservation centre is a chance to alleviate incoming guests’ concerns, as well as a chance to up-sell.

Time for a change?

Perhaps it’s time for a change. This is why I sought out John Smallwood, CEO of Travel Outlook, to discuss the potential benefits of an outsourced inbound central reservation office (CRO) and see if shuffling this department is worthwhile.

When it comes to phoned-in hotel bookings, a multinational chain can rely on its team’s scale to fill any personnel gap. For independents and small chains, however, an external CRO can work in a similar capacity without incurring additional costs from building internal staff. Mind you, this acumen pertains to most outsourced operations, call centre or not. The measure of true efficacy and value therefore lies in the quality of services provided.

In our talks, Smallwood made the bold promise that Travel Outlook can seamlessly fulfill booking duties on par or better than current

Well, here is a question: Are you an ostrich or a llama? Larry Mogelonsky, president of LMA Communications is our newest contributing editor. His column by that name matches the title of his best selling hospitality text, published just a few months ago. Larry has thirty years’ experience in the hotel industry, having served as a marketing and operations consultant to over 200 properties across the globe. In speaking with him, he gave me these words: “The goal of writing these articles is to provide hoteliers with one or two sparks, ideas they can consider to enhance their operations and importantly deliver superior guest service.” I hope you enjoy his monthly input. You can contact him directly at larry@lma.ca.

—Colleen Isherwood, Editor reservation teams. This starts with a commission structure for consumed rooms only—no reservation, no cost to you. Elevating them above mere cost saver is their rate guarantee, which pledges to achieve the same ADR or higher over internal staff. Moreover, Smallwood purports that for most of Travel Outlook’s clients, the conversion of qualified reservation calls to revenue exceeds 70 per cent.

Saving money and gaining ADR It’s often not economically feasible for a hotel to hire enough in-house reservation agents to answer every single incoming call; to not put anyone on hold; and to spend the time needed to sell each customer using a predefined multi-step sales process unique to the brand. Outsourced CROs don’t suffer from these drawbacks. So, the long-term promise is saving on employee costs while also gaining on increased ADR and occupancy.

To accomplish this lofty feat, Travel Outlook mandates rigorous training and hiring the best

personnel available. Smallwood seeks hotel professionals with prior experience in customer service to train as agents, not the other way around.

As well, this isn’t offshoring, but rather virtual outsourcing. Agents are often in the same cities as their client hotels, a key component in building rapport during a sale and offering further recommendations. Smallwood has even hired reps to answer reservation calls for the hotels they were previously working for.

Hospitality experience and training Hospitality experience ensures that all agents understand what guests want, but this is no proxy for extensive training on a client’s operations and brand positioning. Aside from a proprietary proactive sales system where all trainees must achieve top marks before moving to the phone, Travel Outlook also teaches agents on each hotel’s property management system (PMS), providing extra cost savings on GDS commissions and other pass-through fees. Live call shadowing with a supervisor, constant communication with the property and electronic call recordings to retroactively glean critical marketing data all act as strong quality control buffers.

Now think about how this might directly impact guest service levels. You’re not bogging down the front desk, the hub of your onsite hotel experience, with rolling reservation calls. Hence, clerks can focus entirely on the concerns of present visitors, both those phoning in from their rooms and those physically in the lobby. It’s this dedicationto-task that will improve the overall guest experience, bolstering online reviews, positive word of mouth and customer loyalty.

And this is the bottom line as well as my rationale for such a lauding review for this outsourcing niche. Any operation that helps improve guest service levels in order to develop a foundation of long-term customers merits investigation. Ergo, in a world where every dollar counts, a vetted CRO like Travel Outlook is definitely a viable form of outsourcing for small to midsized hospitality operators. Just food for thought.

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rie. “My fondest memories are picking little suckers out of the vines.”

Pateman founded the company that is now Edible Canada seven years ago. His multi-faceted operation is at the forefront of Canadian cuisine.

“We’re celebrating the stories of what farmers and artisans are doing,” Pateman says.

“I came to B.C. because of its longer growing season and the availability of ocean-wise fish, says Whittaker, who hails from Thunder Bay, ON. “If we’re cooking with blueberries from Peru and serving Hawaiian tuna, does that make any sense?” he asks. Asked what gets him excited about local food, Whittaker replies, “300 pounds of quince preserve—I could get going on this forever.”

What’s the biggest challenge?

The BC Hospitality Foundation presents scholarships and bursaries to the province’s top hospitality students at Host 2012, BC’s Tourism and Hospitality Industry Conference.

—Photo: Vincent L. Chan.

Fresh approach to sourcing locally at BC’s Host 2012

By Colleen Isherwood, Editor

the Listel Hotel on Robson Street.

“Local food doesn’t seem new to me because I’m a farm boy,” says Cur-

VANCOUVER—Is sourcing local food an opportunity or a challenge? Mark von Schellwitz, western vice president of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, posed this question to three BC chefs with diverse backgrounds at the HOST 2012 show held in Vancouver last month.

Pateman notes that the biggest challenge is to get distributors working with local farmers on a consistent basis. He says that many distributors deliver just once a week—three or four times a week is necessary for delivery of fresh produce.

“It’s not necessary to have a 100-mile diet,” he adds. “We aim for 70 per cent BC, 20 per cent Canadian and 10 per cent international” products.

Can chains source local food?

While it’s not easy for a company like White Spot with more than 100 restaurants to source locally, it can be done, Currie says.

“When we imple-

CANADIAN LODGING NEWS

mented our Celebrate BC promotion, we doubled the number of fresh and local ingredients on the menu. I’m the driving force behind that.” When he is asked why White Spot does not put spot prawns on its menu, he replies “because then there wouldn’t be any left for other restaurants.

“There are more opportunities when you’re smaller... but if you’re committed to something, it’s always doable,” Currie says.

The commitment to going local can create some logistical nightmares. For example, one year White Spot decided to use BC blueberries in a promotion during a certain time frame, but the blueberries weren’t ready in time. That meant they had to change their entire advertising campaign—“but we did it,” he says.

How can you make local affordable?

Providing fresh, local food can be expensive.

Pateman advocates smaller meat portions. “The average person doesn’t need a 16-ounce steak; they can have 4- to 6-ounce portions with great vegetables like kale and fingerling potatoes,” he says.

Christy Clark crowns Destination BC at HOST 2012

What excites you about local food?

Chuck Currie is corporate chef at White Spot, a company with over 100 units including many quick service Triple O’s outlets. Eric Pateman is president and founder of Edible Canada, based on Vancouver’s Granville Island, which bills itself as “Canada’s largest culinary tourism and locavore retail company.” And Chris Whittaker is executive chef at forage restaurant, which opened recently at

Left to right, Eric Pateman, Chuck Currie, Chris Whittaker and Mark von Schellwitz.

By Colleen Isherwood, Editor

The choice of EXECUTIVE HOUSEKEEPERS and housekeeping s t a f f f r o m N e w f o u n d a n d t o Va n c o u v e r I s l a n d .

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VANCOUVER––BC Premier Christy Clark announced that the province’s tourism marketing body will once again be a crown corporation, named Destination BC, in her keynote address to Host 2012, B.C.’s Tourism & Hospitality Conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre recently.

In a move that was unpopular among hospitality and tourism operators, Clark scrapped Tourism BC, an industry-led, government funded marketing body, in 2009. Her announcement of a return to the Tourism BC model was greeted with loud applause by her audience.

Clark noted that she had promised “an unbiased strategy to practice tourism in BC,” and that she sought “the best advice from the ground up,” including the three associations involved in the conference, Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia, British Columbia Hotel Association and Alliance of Beverage Licensees British Columbia.

“We are giving you the stable, predictable funding you wanted based on a sales tax from hotel rooms,” the Premier noted.

Clark is bullish about the tourism sector and the Vancouver Convention Centre, noting that the centre hosted 58 conventions in 2012, the best tally yet, and that 51 were booked for 2013.

In 2011, tourism in the province accounted for $13.3 billion in revenue and provided “126,000 good, family-supporting jobs.” She added that the government’s goal is to increase tourism revenue from $4.7 billion to $18 billion by 2016.

Make an Entrance. Make a Statement.

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bestwesterndevelopers.com | 800.847.2429 *Numbers are approximate and may fluctuate. Each Best Western® branded hotel is independently owned and operated. Best Western and Best Western marks are service marks or registered service marks of Best Western International, Inc. ©2012 Best Western International, Inc. All rights reserved.

BEST WESTERN PREMIER® featured hotels: main image Port-au-prince Haiti, left to right British Columbia, Canada; Helena, Montana; Miami, Florida.

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CANADIAN LODGING NEWS

GREEN $$$ Environmental measures can have benefits on many bottom lines—financial, social and more. This month, CLN looks at a number of operations that have benefitted from environmental or energy saving measures.

They include the Best Western Cairn Croft Inn (shown here), a pilot project in a Vancouver hotel restaurant, and an environmentally inspired makeover at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg.

A Green Key update and electric vehicles are also part of the mix.

Hotel feels the power of consuming less

By Elaine Anselmi NIAGARA FALLS, ON—Best Western Plus Cairn Croft Hotel is turning on its lights, heat and environmental conscience. The Niagara Falls hotel announced in a Dec. 3 release that it has officially switched to 100 per cent renewable, green energy.

“Meaningful and effective” “It’s a meaningful and effective way of demonstrating our concern for the environment,” Fred Cade, coowner of the hotel, said in the release.

Planet Energy, a Canadian renewable

an average day, “a On 150-room hotel in Canada produces three tonnes of greenhouse gases. This is comparable to driving 200 cars or heating 100 homes.

”

energy provider, is moving the Best Western Plus Cairn Croft Hotel’s electrical requirements to be filled by EcoLogo’s fully renewable, certified low-impact hydro–power.

On an average day, a 150-room hotel in Canada produces three tonnes

of greenhouse gases, said the release.

This is comparable to driving 200 cars or heating 100 homes. Through small environmental fees, the Best Western Plus Cairn Croft Hotel will fund its environmental program as well as investing in other emission reducing options throughout the hotel, reducing its overall carbon footprint.

“We’re seeing both leisure and business travellers these days that are seriously concerned about their environmental impact,” said Cade. “This is our way of letting guests know that we share those concerns and we’re doing something about it.”

Green Key: 3,000 members and still growing As of November 20, 2012, the Green Key Eco-Rating Program membership is 3002 hotel properties. Canada – 1315 United States – 1635 International – 52 The Canadian breakdown by province follows, listing the number of participating hotels in each province, and the number of cities represented.

Prov.

Total # of Hotels Cities _____________________________________________________ BC: AB: SK: MB: ON: QC: NB: NS: PE: NL: TERR:

320 244 51 50 360 171 39 51 10 10 9

75 58 12 13 78 51 13 18 2 5 4

LEADING THE CHARGE Pemberton Valley Lodge near Whistler is one of a growing number of Canadian hotels that have installed charging stations for electric vehicles.

Minto Suite’s 5 Green Keys OTTAWA—Minto Suite Hotel, a four-diamond all suites hotel in Ottawa, recently received the 5 Green Key Eco-Rating from the Hotel Association of Canada.

Following a comprehensive review of it’s environmental practices, Minto Suite Hotel received the top rating from the HAC program. The rating is given to a hotel that exemplifies the highest standards of environmental and social responsibility throughout all areas of operations—employing cutting edge technologies, policies and

programs that set the international standard for sustainable hotel operations.

Only five other hotels in Ontario have achieved a 5 Key EcoRating, while only 55 other hotels in North America have received it out of the more than 3,000 hotels participating in the program. Minto Suite Hotel has also achieved BOMA BEST level 3, a Canadian industry standard for green building certification from the Building Owners and Managers Association of Canada.

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Foraging for energy savings on Robson St., Vancouver up to 40 per cent of their energy by retrofitting.

They want forage to be “best in class,” a showpiece for other restaurants, Whittaker said.

Green Table, Prism Engineering energy consultants and Don Fisher of the Californiabased Food Service Technology Centre looked at operations, processes and equipment, making recommendations on ways to achieve 30 per cent savings [compared to the former O’Doul’s operation].

Recommendations included lighting choices, improvements to heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and front-of-the house as well. New refrigeration units and glass washers were on the list of improvements. “We really see savings in the back of the house regarding energy consumption,” said Whittaker, noting that the exhaust system will produce the greatest savings. forage is not just about energy savings—executive chef Whittaker has made a name for himself on the Vancouver restaurant scene. Just 24 hours after he opened the restaurant, Whittaker and his team took both Peoples’ Choice and Critic’s Choice for their wild B.C. spot prawn chowder at the Vancouver Aquarium’s Chowder Chowdown.

This was the 5th annual competition, with 12 Ocean Wise restaurants serving their best chow-

der to 550 guests. Other competitors included Edible Canada, Wild Rice, Coast Restaurant and the Eldorado Hotel from Kelowna.

The menu at the 80-seat forage restaurant is locally focused in both food and beverage. It’s open for breakfast seven days a week, brunch on weekends and nightly for dinner. “forage represents everything I care about: respect for our food sources, using what we need without excess waste and bringing a community together around good food,” said Whittaker.

“This is the restaurant I have dreamed of since starting my career as a chef.”

Dishes are unpretentious and include snacks such as crackling & popcorn; a variety of creative boards and irons to share; tasty plates to divvy up with friends or enjoy solo as a main; and desserts for a sweet (and a bit savoury) finish.

Arctic-inspired restaurant gets a close up of nature

By Colleen Isherwood, Editor VANCOUVER—Early in November, during a construction tour of the new forage restaurant at the Listel Hotel on Robson Street, the “bones” of the restaurant were visible, but the space was far from finished. But on November 20, everything was in place as executive chef Chris Whittaker officially opened the new restaurant in the space formerly occupied by O’Doul’s.

“Eight months ago, we considered renovating O’Doul’s and rebranding,” Whittaker told CLN on that construction tour. “Then opportunities came up with the Green Table Network and a BC Hydro partnership.” Both of these opportunities have helped shape the new restaurant.

The Green Table Network, started five years ago in Vancouver by André LaRivière, is a regional and national network of restaurants, equipment manufacturers, governments, distributors, suppliers, public utilities, service providers, growers, artisan producers, and trade and professional culinary associations that want to become more sustainable. Their goal is to create a reliable, measurable framework that supports solutions for operators and their supply-chain partners.

BC Hydro is using the restaurant to showcase ways in which an existing establishment can save

Left: Construction is underway for the new restaurant, playground and interactive park at Assiniboine Park. Right, top: Diners will be able to look out over a polar bear cave and exhibit. Right, bottom: The Tundra Grill restaurant will feature large windows stretching across its width.

By Veronica Zaretski, Online Editor WINNIPEG—Food, education, and the exploration of nature will be merging at Assiniboine Park, with major changes underway to the park’s zoo and restaurant.

Additions will include a new restaurant with an interactive playground overseeing a polar bear exhibit, set to open this month, and the Aurora Borealis theatre, which will open in 2014. The renovations are part of larger expansion plans that will result in to the Journey to Churchill project, a tribute the polar bear capital of the world. Journey to Churchill stretches over ten acres of land.

The Aurora Borealis Theatre will be located in the Gateway to the Arctic, an underwater tunnel, where visitors can visit and observe swimming polar bears and seals moving

around and above them. The theatre will involve videos and images projected on the domed ceiling and walls. “It’s really quite dramatic. It’s a planetarium style viewing space,” says Travis Clearwater, director of Park Services at Assiniboine Park.

The Tundra Grill restaurant will overlook an 863 square foot polar bear exhibit, and will replace the previous Animal Track Café.

With a sitting capacity of about 150, the 1099 square foot restaurant will feature a 100 foot high window stretching across its width that will showcase the polar bears in their habitat.

Clearwater says that the new space will be used for banquet operations.

The theatre accommodates about 90 people and the entire building will accommodate about 200, creating new opportunities for larger scale functions.

At 213 square feet, Arctic Treasures will serve as the retail space and will be easily accessible through the restaurant. Clearwater says that customers can expect artisan items from the North as well as other items commonly found in zoo retail.

The Tundra Grill will have a focus on volume and speed with familiar dishes such as burgers, fries, and chicken fingers on the menu, says Clearwater.

However, the executive chef, Heiko Duehrsen, alongside F&B operations manager Robert Braun, also worked on the addition of fresh vegetables, fruits, yogurt, and milk products.

“We do plan on presenting a lot of grab and go items. We’re delving into a lot of territory here that we couldn’t explore with the old café,” says Clearwater.

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STOP OVER IN TORONTO THIS FEBRUARY

Canada’s Hotel & Tourism Marketing Conferences

HOT E L A S SOC I AT ION ON OF CANA DA

CONFERENCE &

C E N T E N N I A L C E L E B R AT I O N

FEBRUARY 4&5, 2013

HILTON ON TORONTO HOTEL DON’T MISS: A World View Of Travel & Tourism... ➽ A And Canada’s Place In It ➽ Google, Expedia And Travelzoo —Can’t Live Without ‘Em ➽ The Role Of Hotel Marketing & Can It Be Replaced By Revenue Management?

H ACCO N F EREN C E . CA

Join us as Colin Mochrie hosts a hilarious evening celebrating 100 years of HaC on feb 4th!

Cocktail Party

AT T E N T I O N

CANADIAN

HOTEL GMs Check out the new online time capsule for Canadian Hotel General Managers!

E N I L NT

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FeBrUarY 5+6, 2013 hIlton toronto hotel JUST ANNOUNCED!

DEMYSTIFYING

FACEBOOK & SOCIAL’S ROLE FOR THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY

cktail Party!

Terry O’reilly speaks about the value of branding, how you can use it to attract business, create goodwill and loyalty.

How many times have you: ➽ renovated a hotel? ➽ removed a dead body? ➽ escorted a guest off the property? ➽ driven a guest to the hospital? ➽ performed housekeeping duties? ➽ taken a sick day? ➽ met a celebrity? ➽ kept it ‘confidential’?

Lee McCabe Head of Travel aT facebook

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TAKE THE

SURVEY

reaD the Blog

hotel managers .ca

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CANADIAN LODGING NEWS Southern Aluminum Specialty Beverage Solutions The Robert Allen Group The Table & Chair Co

Guest Room Furniture (including Case Goods)

COMPANy LISTINGS By CATEGORy See www.lodgingbuyersguide.ca for alphabetical listings

Amenities Appliances (Hair dryers, Irons, Clocks, Radios & Docking Stations AFM Preferred Alliance Group Andis Company B.H.G. (Brick Hospitality Group) Calmek Equipment Inc. Classic Coffee Concepts Inc. Conair Hospitality/Cuisinart Canada Dynamic Digital Technologies Hamilton Beach Commercial Hunter Amenities Int. Ltd. Jarden Consumer Solutions/ Sunbeam Jerdon First Class/Focus Products Group, LLC KBC Specialty Products Inc. Minibar North America Inc. Morgan Scott North American Hospitality Supply Sharp Electronics of Canada Ltd. Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc. TAG Umbrellas True North Hospitality Unisource Canada Inc. Water Pik Canada Whirlpool Canada Winsham Fabrik Canada Ltd.

Coffee/Tea Equipment & Accessories BBC Sales & Service Boyds Coffee Company Bunn-O-Matic Corporation of Canada Canterbury Coffee Corporation Classic Coffee Concepts Inc. Faema Canada Kraft Foodservice Inc. Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee Inc. Recoplast Ltd. Sara Lee Foodservice Seattle’s Best Starbuck’s Coffee Canada Stir Sticks & Picks International Inc. Van Houtte Inc.

Bathroom Bathroom Amenities Cannon Hygiene Custom Amenities Deb Canada Hunter Amenities Int. Ltd. Kruger Products Lather Inc. Marietta Corp.

Olivier Soaps Orkin Canada Purely Saltspring SCA Tissue North America Swisssol Creative Body Care Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc. Unisource Canada Inc. Winning Brands Corporation

Bathroom Fixtures (including Shower Heads & Faucets) Bradley Corporation BrassCraft Canada Ltd. Cannon Hygiene Delta Faucet Canada Dessco Design Solid Surface Counters Hansgrohe Inc. Kohler Co. (Destination Kohler) Masco Canada Limited, Plumbing Group Moen Faucets Inc. RONA Inc.

Tissues & Paper Products Cascades Tissue Group Kruger Products Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc.

Towels, Bathmats & Robes American Hotel Register D.B.A. Canadian Hotel Supply

Chef Works Canada Inc. George Courey Inc. Great Lakes Design Image Distributors (Canada) Ltd. Jani-King Canada JohnsonDiversey Canada Inc. JRS Amenities Ltd. Lieberman Tranchemontagne Inc. Lubertex Inc. Nilfisk-Advance Canada Company Oreck Hospitality Canada Otelia inc.

Robe Works (The) Swisssol Creative Body Care Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc. Table Top Resources - Frette Tex-Pro Western Limited The Mansfield Robe Co. True North Hospitality Unisource Canada Inc. Winsham Fabrik Canada Ltd.

Bedrooms Beds, Bedding & Drapery American Hotel Register D.B.A. Caber Surefit Inc. Canadian Hotel Supply B.C. Murphy Wall-Bed Ltd. B.H.G. (Brick Hospitality Group) Caber Surefit Daniadown Quilts Ltd. Eden Textile Essential Amenities Inc. Famous Swiss Bedspreads & Drapery Foundations FR Systems International H.W. Baker Linen Co. Inc./Best Manufacturing Group LLC Hamida Textiles Havana Tex & Sam Roachman Sales Hospitality Contract Drapery Inc Instant Bedrooms Lieberman Tranchemontagne Inc. Lubertex Inc. Marina Textiles Marshall Mattress Co. Ltd. Memory Foam Mattress Morgan Scott North Star Bedding Ltd. Northern Feather Ltd. Park Avenue Furniture Posture Beauty Sleep Products/ Park Avenue Furniture (Mfg.) Corporation Primo Hospitality Pure Solutions, N.A. Restwell Sleep Products/Restwell Mattress Co. Sealy Canada Ltd. Serta Mattress Co.

_____________________________________________________

Les Textiles Patlin Inc. Northern Feather Ltd. Otelia inc.

Standard Textile Sysco Guest Supply Canada Inc. Table Top Resources - Frette True North Hospitality Viva Fine Linens Winsham Fabrik Canada Ltd.

Mattresses Sealy Canada Ltd. Serta Mattress Co. Simmons Canada Inc.

Energy Energy Management BC Hydro/Power Smart Carrier Canada Inc. CuraFlo of BC Ltd. Direct Energy Enbridge Consumers Gas Energex Inc. Enerplace Inc. Gordon R. Williams Corporation _____________________________________________________

Simmons Canada Inc.

_____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Standard Textile Sysco Guest Supply T.S.I. Textiles Tempur-Canada Therapedic/Sleepking/Crown Design

Blankets, & Comforters, Duvets & Pillows George Courey Inc.

Exercise Equipment Fitness Source (The) HFG International Hotel Fitness HydroTher Commercial Spa & Wellness Equipment Keystone Everything Sports Medical Inc Life Fitness True Fitness Technology

Ice Machines / Makers / Refrigeration Coldmatic Refrigeration Products Corp.

Cool King Refrigeration Ltd. Diamond Ice Systems Inc Distex M&M Inc. Garland Canada Hoshizaki America Inc. Ice-O-Matic/Mile High Equipment Co. Ltd. Kolpak Walk-in Refrigeration, a Manitowoc Company Manitowoc Ice Inc. Master-Bilt McCall Refrigeration

Spa Supplies & Services HydroTher Commercial Spa & Wellness Equipment

Storage & Racking

_____________________________________________________

HTS Engineering Ltd. Lodging Technology Natural Resources Canada/Office of Energy Efficiency NRG Equipment Inc. Power Save Solutions Inc. SAFLOK Superior Energy Management Swiss Solar Tech. Ltd. Takagi Canada Inc. Telkonet Inc. Union Gas York International Ltd.

HVAC AJM Solutions Group Inc Belimo Aircontrols (Canada) Ltd. Gordon R. Williams Corporation LG Electronics Canada NRG Equipment Inc.

Equipment, Supplies/Uniforms ATMs ABM Canadian Automated Bank Machines Inc. Cash N Go Cashline ABM Inc. Direct Cash Frisco ATMs Threshold Financial Technologies Inc.

Carts _____________________________________________________

SupraMatic Inc.

Aladdin Temp-Rite Architectural Brass Co. Brute Kitchen Equipment Inc. Calmek Equipment Inc. Cambro Manufacturing Company Cari-All Products Inc. Forbes Industries Hanson Brass Image Distributors (Canada) Ltd. Rubbermaid Canada Shelby Williams Industries Inc. Techstar Plastics Inc.

Dishwashers / Warewashers Champion Industries Champion/ Moyer Diebel Haddon Holdings Limited

Dispensers - Beverage Dispense Rite Distex M&M Inc. Johnson-Rose Inc. KGB Marketing, Inc. Precision Pours Inc. Specialty Beverage Solutions

Carter- Hoffmann Lockwood Manufacturing Inc. MKE Industries Rubbermaid Canada Specialty Beverage Solutions

Swimming Pools & Accessories Hayward Commercial Pool Products Superior Safe Spa & Pool Swimeeze Swim Suits Western Recreation & Development Inc. Westwind Leisure Group Ltd

Uniforms & Protective Apparel Best Glove Manufacturing Ltd. (a Showa Glove Company) Blackwood Career Apparel & Essentials BVT -Chef Revival Inc. Canadian Linen and Uniform Service Chef Works Canada Inc. Chef’s Hat Inc. - La Toque Demagny Cintas - The Uniform People Executive Mat Service Hospitality Uniforms and Supplies Imagewear/Mark’s Work Wearhouse Landis International Inc. Lieberman Tranchemontagne Inc. Noel Asmar / Spa Uniforms Inc. Shoes For Crews Inc. Skechers Town & Country Uniforms Inc. _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

VF Imagewear

Vending Machines Atlantic Mini-Fridge Co. Ltd. Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd. Davis Skill Games

Food & Beverage Products Beverages - Non-Alcoholic Fisher Distributing Icelandic Glacial Inc. Kinetico Canada

Nestle Canada Inc. Pepsi QTG Vitality Foodservice Canada Ltd.

Breakfast Foods Basic American Foods Burnbrae Farms Ltd. Cavendish Farms Danone Inc. Egg Solutions Inc. General Mills Bakeries and Foodservice Godiva Chocolatier Inc. Heartland Food Products Inc Kellogg Canada Inc. Kraft Foodservice Inc. Lamb Weston Inc. Maple Leaf Foodservice McCain Foods Canada Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee Inc. Natrel Inc. Rich Products of Canada Ltd. Sara Lee Foodservice Smucker Foods of Canada TMF - The Meat Factory

Furnishings/Décor Art & Wall Coverings Crown Wallpaper & Fabrics Metro Wall Coverings PI Creative Art Tech Stone FIoor & Wall Coatings Inc.

Banquet Tables & Chairs Bermex - Division of BDM + Furniture Inc. Contract Supply Corp.

Davidson Furniture Specialties Ltd. Dor-Val Mfg. Ltd. Holsag Canada Jamco Wood Products Ltd. Maywood Furniture Corp.

School House Products Sico America Southern Aluminum The Table & Chair Co

Carpets & Flooring 4M Trading Company Altro Floors North America B.H.G. (Brick Hospitality Group) Bethel International Creative Mat Inc Durkan Pattern Carpeting Famous Swiss Bedspreads & Drapery Home Depot Commercial Direct Division Intarsia Inlaid Inc. Milliken Carpet Odyssey Wallcoverings Unilight Universal Draperies Inc.

Chairs Architectural Brass Co. B.H.G. (Brick Hospitality Group) Bermex - Division of BDM + Furniture Inc. Bethel International Contract Supply Corp.

CPNA Contract Partners of North America Davidson Furniture Specialties Ltd. Decor-Resto Inc. Dor-Val Mfg. Ltd. Firma Bath Furniture, Div. of Carpano Int. Foliot Furniture Global Upholstery Co. Inc. Gozmo Enterprises Holsag Canada Homecrest Outdoor Living Hotel Concepts Ltd. Hotel Fun 4 Kids/Hotel & Leisure Living Iron Furniture Ltd. Jamco Wood Products Ltd. Jetco Mfg. Ltd. JSP Industries Keca International Inc. Maywood Furniture Corp.

Noram Interiors Primo Hospitality Schoolhouse Products Inc. Shelby Williams Industries Inc. Sita Enterprises Ltd.

Advance Hotel Liquidators B.H.G. (Brick Hospitality Group) Bermex - Division of BDM + Furniture Inc. Best Buy Bidulart BSG Furniture C & C Custom and Contract Hospitality Resource Group Credible Upholstery Crestmark International Dalfen Sales Agency Decor-Rest Furniture Ltd. Dumyat Fine Furniture Emond Enterprises Gozmo Enterprises Hospitality Designs I.S.A.C. Hotelier Jamco Wood Products Ltd. JSP Industries Inc. Luxe Contract Furniture Park Avenue Furniture Posture Beauty Sleep Products/ Park Avenue Furniture (Mfg.) Corporation RHB Enterprises Inc St-Damase Furniture The Robert Allen Group

Lamps 4M Trading Company Altro Floors North America B.H.G. (Brick Hospitality Group) Best Buy Bethel International Brite Lite Wholesale Lighting Distributors C & C Custom and Contract Hospitality Resource Group Decor-Rest Furniture Ltd. Famous Swiss Bedspreads & Drapery GE Lighting Hotelite Inc. Ideal Electric Mfg Co Intarsia Inlaid Inc. JSP Industries Lion Industries Litemode Limited Osram Sylvania Ltd. Panasonic Canada Inc. RHB Enterprises Inc Tai Pan Lighting Co. True North Hospitality Unilight Universal Draperies Inc.

Outdoor Furniture American of Martinsville Andrew Richards Designs Architectural Brass Co. B.H.G. (Brick Hospitality Group) Bekke Systems Bethel International Contract Supply Corp.

Crestmark International Davidson Furniture Specialties Ltd. Dor-Val Mfg. Ltd. Eliason Corporation Firma Bath Furniture, Div. of Carpano Int. Grosfillex Iron Furniture Ltd. Jamco Wood Products Ltd. Schoolhouse Products Inc. Shelby Williams Industries Inc.

Sofas American of Martinsville Architectural Brass Co. Bethel International Contract Supply Corp.

Credible Upholstery Dalfen Sales Agency Dor-Val Mfg. Ltd. Firma Bath Furniture, Div. of Carpano Int. Iron Furniture Ltd. Jamco Wood Products Ltd. Park Avenue Furniture Primo Hospitality Schoolhouse Products Inc. Shelby Williams Industries Inc. Stylus Furniture Ltd. The Robert Allen Group

Laundry / Cleaning Products Chemicals & Disinfectants Abell Pest Control Avmor Ltd Cannon Hygiene Chix/Polymer Group Inc. (PGI) Ecolab Co. Enerplace Inc. Hoover Canada Host/Racine Industries Jani-King Canada JohnsonDiversey Canada Inc. Nilfisk-Advance Canada Company Oreck Hospitality Canada

JA N U A RY 2 013 Procter & Gamble Inc. _____________________________________________________

Karcher Canada _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

Rochester Midland Ltd Source 1 Distributors Sparkle Solutions Swissh Commercial Equipment Unisource Canada Inc.

Dryers & Washers Alberta Laundry Systems Alliance Laundry Systems LLC Automated Laundry Systems Blakeslee Foodservice Equipment Coinamatic Commercial Laundry Inc Coldstream Commercial Sales Inc. Continental Girbau Inc. Electrolux Professional Laundry / Distributed by LaundryLux _____________________________________________________

Nilfisk-Advance Canada Company Oreck Hospitality Canada Swissh Commercial Equipment TTI Canada (Hoover) Unisource Canada Inc. Windsor Industries

Safety/Security Alarms ADT Security Services Canada Ltd. Apple Security ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Ltd./ VingCard Elsafe Dometic Canada Guardian Safe Company Identicam Systems Knox Electronic Ltd. LOC International Inc. Onity Select Hospitality Systems

Key Cards / Locks Electrolux Professional Laundry/ Distributed by Laundrylux 461 Doughty Blvd Inwood, NY 11096 USA 800-645-2204 516-371-4204 info@laundrylux.com www.laundrylux.com _____________________________________________________

G. A. Braun Inc. Haddon Holdings Limited Harco Co. Ltd. _____________________________________________________

ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Ltd./ VingCard Elsafe Dometic Canada Guardian Safe Company Humans.ca Identicam Systems Ilco, a member of the KABA Group Impark Wireless Inncom International, Inc. Knox Electronic Ltd. LOC International Inc. Onity Precise Parklink Salto Inspired Access Select Hospitality Systems

Occupancy Sensors

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Hobart Food Equipment Group Canada Image Distributors (Canada) Ltd. Laundrylux Maytag Commercial Laundry Miele Limited Milnor Laundry Systems/Pellerin Milnor Corporation Ontario Laundry Systems Inc. Stalwart Machinery & Supplies Unimac _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Wascomat Laundry Equipment / Distributed by LaundryLux

Ironing Equipment Coinamatic Commercial Laundry Inc Electrolux Professional Laundry / Distributed by LaundryLux Harco Co. Ltd. Image Distributors (Canada) Ltd. Wascomat Laundry Equipment / Distributed by LaundryLux Whirlpool Canada

Pest & Odour Control Abell Pest Control Baked Bed Bugs Bed Bug Bureau (BB), a div. of Q-Based Solutions Canadian Pest Control Ltd Caber Surefit Inc. Hoover Canada Jani-King Canada JohnsonDiversey Canada Inc. Nilfisk-Advance Canada Company Oreck Hospitality Canada Orkin Canada Poulin’s Professional Pest Control Services Procter & Gamble Inc. Reckitt Benckiser Canada Inc. Rentokil Canada Inc Unisource Canada Inc.

Vacuum Cleaners Dyson Canada Hoover Canada Host/Racine Industries Jani-King Canada JohnsonDiversey Canada Inc.

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ADT Security Services Canada Ltd. Apple Security ASSA ABLOY Hospitality Ltd./ VingCard Elsafe Dometic Canada Guardian Safe Company Identicam Systems Ilco, a member of the KABA Group Inncom International, Inc. Knox Electronic Ltd. LOC International Inc. Onity Optima Systems Inc. SAFLOK Select Hospitality Systems

Vaults and Safes Guardian Safe Company Ilco, a member of the KABA Group Safemark Systems Select Hospitality Systems Visual Planning Corp.

Services & Associations Accounting Services & Equipment Grant Thornton LLP KPMG PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP The CFO Group LLC

Architectural & Design Chamberlain Architect Services Limited Hager Associates Hirschberg Design Group Inc. HOK Design Royal Design Inc Patricia McClintock Associes Inc.

New Brunswick Hotel Association Ontario Accommodation Association Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association Ontario’s Finest Inns & Spas OTEC, Ontario Tourism Education Corporation Resorts of Ontario Tourism Industry Association of Canada Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island

Consultants Above the Line Solutions Altus Group Avendra Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council Chemistry Business & Human Resources Consultants CHIC Hospitality Consulting Services Flynn Canada Ltd. Grant Thornton LLP Greenfield Services Inc. HVS International Image Distributors (Canada) Ltd. KPMG Malpass Management Services PKF Hotel Realty Inc. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Renard International Hospitality Search Consultants Rescue 7 Sensors Quality Management Inc Smart Serve Ontario STEM Consulting & Marketing Inc. Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) - specialized safety services Thindata Inc. Tyne Hospitality Services Ltd. Vizergy

Credit Cards, Processing & Money Handling Cummins Allison ULC Diners Club International Discover Financial Services Interac Newmarket International/Newmarket Daylight VersaPay Corporation Visa

Financial & Leasing GE Capital Solutions Synergy Merchant Services

Insurance Group Lockhart Inc Western Financial Group

Laundry Services Alsco Canada Corp Apex Upholstery Coinamatic Commercial Laundry Inc Executive Mat Service Source 1 Distributors Sparkle Solutions

Parking ParkSmart Inc, a Coinamatic Company

Real Estate CB Richard Ellis Limited/CBRE Hotels Colliers International Hotels DTZ, formerly J.J. Barnicke Limited IHA Inc.International Hotel Appraisers Interval International Marsh Realty & Business Brokers Inc. NAI Global PKF Hotel Realty Inc. Royal LePage Tyne Hospitality Services Ltd.

Associations - Hotel Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association British Columbia Hotel Association Canadian Hotel & Sales Marketing Executives Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association Canadian Tourism Commission Greater Toronto Hotel Association Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador Hotel Association of Canada Hotel Association of Nova Scotia Hotel Association of PEI Hotel Association of Saskatchewan L’Association des Hoteliers du Quebec Manitoba Hotel Association

Table Top China Browne + Co. Dudson (North America) Fortessa of Canada Globe Hotelware Agency Inc. H.W. Baker Linen Co. Inc./Best Manufacturing Group LLC Hall China Company (The) Homer Laughlin China Co. (The) Libbey Canada Inc. Mikasa Hotel & Restaurant Morton-Parker Ltd. Noritake Canada Limited Oneida Canada Ltd. Puddifoot Russell Food Equipment Ltd. Steelite International Canada Ltd. Syracuse China Company, A Lib-

bey Foodservice Company Tableware Solutions Ltd. Trudeau Corporation Villeroy & Boch Tableware World Tableware Inc., A Libbey Foodservice Company WWRD Canada Inc

Glassware Browne + Co. Dudson (North America) Fortessa of Canada Globe Hotelware Agency Inc. Hall China Company (The) Mikasa Hotel & Restaurant Puddifoot Steelite International Canada Ltd. Syracuse China Company, A Libbey Foodservice Company Tableware Solutions Ltd. World Tableware Inc., A Libbey Foodservice Company WWRD Canada Inc

Holloware Fortessa of Canada Globe Hotelware Agency Inc. Mikasa Hotel & Restaurant Morton-Parker Ltd. Oneida Canada Ltd. Puddifoot Syracuse China Company, A Libbey Foodservice Company Tableware Solutions Ltd. WWRD Canada Inc

Tablecloths, Placemats & Napkins Canadian Linen and Uniform Service Creative Impressions Inc. Dolly Worldwide Trades Inc. H.W. Baker Linen Co. Inc./Best Manufacturing Group LLC Hamida Textiles Havana Tex & Sam Roachman Sales Hospitality Uniforms and Supplies Kidzsmart North America Leader Laminators Limited Mikasa Hotel & Restaurant Milliken & Co. Napery Division Mor’s Menu Cover Mfg. Tricific Enterprises Inc.

Systems Bell Canada Best Buy Captivate Network CES Distribution of Samsung Distram Distribution DMX Canada InnVue LG Electronics Canada _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Lodgenet LodgeNet Entertainment Corp.

National Entertainment Group PC Music Philips Electronics Ltd. Rogers Comunications Inc. Saint Technology Corp. (STEC) Samsung Electronics Canada Sanyo Canada Inc. Shaw Communications Inc. Shaw Direct Television Technicolor Inc

Property Management Systems Agilysys, Inc. InnQuest Canada InnSource Solutions Inc. IQWare Maestro Property Management Solutions Micros Systems Inc. MSI Solutions RSI International Smart Hotel Software Tier One Hospitality Solutions UniResMan WebRezPro _____________________________________________________

Technology Cash Registers & POS Agilysys Inc. Aloha POS/Radiant Systems Britec Computer Systems / H&L Canada Casio Inc. Diya Enterprises Ltd. (ACS Division) Dynamic Digital Technologies East Coast POS Global Payments Canada Inc. Hospitality Solutions International, Division of MICROS Systems Inc. Hyphen Information Systems Management iBarControl Inc. Maestro Property Management Solutions MAI Canada Ltd. Hotel Information Micros - Fidelio Systems Inc. Micros Systems Inc. Moneris Solutions MSI Solutions Newtrade Technologies Inc. Optima Systems Inc. Panasonic Canada Inc. Passkey International INc. PixelPoint POSERA Inc./ Maitre’D Resortsuite Sabrepoint Inc. Scannabar Silverware POS Inc. Soft Brands, an Infor Affiliate Squirrel Systems Technic POS Travel Click

Electronic Games & Internet Access Allstream Inc. Canopco, A Division of Globalive Communications, Corp.

Delphi Solutions Corp.

Guest-Tek Horizon Networks Group Instacomm Canada Lodgenet Mitel Networks Corp.

Motorola Canada Ltd. Navigata Communications Inc. Panasonic Canada Inc. Rogers Comunications Inc. Sasktel Shaw Communications Inc. Teledex TravelNet Technologies Inc./ DataValet Williams Telecommunications Corp.

In-Room Entertainment

Global Payments Canada Inc. Hospitality Solutions International, Division of MICROS Systems Inc. Hyphen Information Systems Management iBarControl Inc. LOC International Inc. MAI Canada Ltd. Hotel Information Micros - Fidelio Systems Inc. Newtrade Technologies Inc. Passkey International INc. PixelPoint POSERA Inc./ Maitre’D Resortsuite RSI International Sabrepoint Inc. Scannabar Silverware POS Inc. Soft Brands, an Infor Affiliate Squirrel Systems Tier One Hospitality Solutions Travel Click Virtual Visit Presentations Inc.

Telecommunications, A/V, Video Conferencing & VOIP Advanced Products Group Allstream Inc. Avaya Canada Corp.

Bell Canada Canopco, A Division of Globalive Communications, Corp.

Connex Telecommunications cStar Technologies Inc. Delphi Solutions Corp.

Dvise Telecom Solutions Guest-Tek Hanson Software Development Corporation Horizon Networks Group Instacomm Canada Lenbrook Industries Inc. Lodgenet Logiverbe Inc. Mitel Networks Corp.

Motorola Canada Ltd. Navigata Communications Inc. PhoneSuite Promoware Corp.

Rogers Comunications Inc. Sasktel Scitec Inc. / Cetis Group Shaw Communications Inc. Sound Products Ltd. Teledex Telus Corporation TravelNet Technologies Inc./ DataValet Virtual Visit Presentations Inc. Visual Planning Corp.

Williams Telecommunications Corp.

Wired & Wireless Networks _____________________________________________________

Software - Front & Back of the House Cheftec / Culinary Software Services Dynamic Digital Technologies East Coast POS

FatPort, Div of Skyboard Corp Liveport _____________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Nova Scotia names 2012 TIANS Pineapple award winners HALIFAX—The Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) held the 2012 Pineapple Awards on Nov. 28 to highlight tourism and hospitality professionals in Nova Scotia.

This year, the winners were Archie MacInnis from Port Hawesbury, Gary and Margaret Mailman from Upper Clements Park, Marcella Phillips from Inverness County, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 39.

Awards were presented at the 2012 Crystal Tourism Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner. At the dinner, nine Crystal Tourism Awards of Excellence were given out. o Human Resource Leadership Award: Luis Clavel; o Tourism Innovator Award: Cabot Links; o Tourism Atlantic Technology Award: Maritimes Inns and Resorts; o Tourism Champion Award: Gerry Mailloux; o Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Award: Nova Scotia Nature Trust; o Ambassador Award: Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo; o Sustainable Tourism Award: Nomination Grand Pré Committee; o Tourism Business of the Year Award: Murphy’s the Cable Wharf; o Alastair and Frances Campbell Award: Harry DeLong.

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14 |

Expedia: We’re not the bad guys EXPEDIA INC. NUMBERS FOR 2011 $29 billion

$3.45 billion

55 million +

72.8 million

94.2 million

2.6 million

Gross Bookings Transactions

Revenue

Room Nights Sold

[online] experience not only on their PC, but also on their iPad, Nook or Kindle. And there are 50 to 70 different versions of hotels.com every single day.”

But mobile is by far the fastest growing platform.

Two statistics stand out.

Khosrowshahi noted that 70 per cent of mobile stays were booked within 24 hours of travel—making them fundamentally different from stays booked by desktop travellers.

David Roche of Expedia at the Expedia Partners Conference in Las Vegas last month.

Noting that both last minute and 90-day-plus bookings have increased dramatically, Laurens

By Colleen Isherwood, Editor Leurink, president, Lodging Partner LAS VEGAS—Mobile is king—espe- Services, said that 81 per cent of those cially when it comes to last minute who booked on their mobile at the last bookings. The company is looking at minute, booked from within 10 miles payment models that will no longer of the hotel. require guests to pay when they book.

Expedia has identified its target cusThe Expedia customer tomers, and insists that they are quite “We’re not the bad guys,” David different from the ones the brands are Roche, president, Global Lodging trying to attract. And, most imporGroup, told CLN in an interview at the tantly, rapid change is the name of the end of the conference. “Our position is game, according to speakers at Expedead centre between the customer and dia’s Partner Conference, held in Las our hotel partners.”

Vegas last month.

He also pointed out that the core Mobile growing the fastest online travel agency (OTA) customer Expedia president and CEO Dara is not necessarily the same person the Khosrowshahi told the audience that hotels are trying to lure with promises the company is now moving from older of rate parity and loyalty programs. technology to a time of rapid innova“Economically it makes sense to tion in which platforms are changing chase the genuine transient,” he said. and expanding.

The core OTA customer is one who “Now people can get that great doesn’t know brands and doesn’t know

High Country is Coast Hotels & Resorts’ first Yukon hotel WHITEHORSE, YK—Vancouver based Coast Hotels recently welcomed its first property in the Yukon capital city of Whitehorse. The addition of the Coast High Country Inn continues the brand’s growth adding to its more than 40 properties in Western North America.

The branding of the hotel was done in conjunction with Northern Vision Development LP (NVD) who acquire income producing property and raw lands in Canada’s Yukon Territory. NVD’s portfolio includes the Yukon Convention Centre adjacent to the Coast High Country Inn. The Coast High Country Inn has 82 guest rooms including 22 suites, 5,500 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant, pub, exercise room

Unique Visitors Packages Sold

the city.

People who are familiar with a hotel chain and a destination will use a booking path that leads straight to the brands’ sites. If they use Expedia, they do it to compare rates and then they book on the brand site and get their loyalty points. “If you’re a chain loyalist, I’d like to filter you out. You’re ruining me financially,” he noted.

Payment options changing Expedia found that it was experiencing a lot of conversion loss in the checkout phase, since customers are used to sites like Amazon, eBay and PayPal where they have the option to pay later. It is now introducing the Expedia Travel Preference Program.

Customers can still pay at the time of booking, but there will be the option of paying at the hotel.

International travellers For the first time during the first quarter of 2012, more than 50 per cent of Expedia’s 9 billion travellers came from outside the U.S.—a sea change in the ratio of domestic to global travellers, Khosrowshahi told the group. Expedia Inc. is well-equipped to deal with these global travellers, especially since it has eLong, the second largest booking engine in China, as part of its portfolio.

International travellers are a high growth area, Leurink said. They spent $25 billion in 2012, an amount expected to grow to $164 billion in 2016. eLong bookings are expected to increase by 941 per cent during that period.

and a further 9,000 square feet of meeting space in the adjacent Yukon Convention Centre.

NVD has invested $1 million on renovations over the past year with further improvements slated for the coming year.

Whitehorse is a well diversified market, according to John Robertson, general manager, who has been with the hotel for four years. In recent years, there has been a big surge in winter tourism with Asian, Japanese and Chinese tourism coming to view the aurora borealis.

In addition to the Coast High Country Inn, Robertson manages the 100-room Best Western Gold Rush Inn. “The two complement each other quite well. Between the two hotels we have 182 rooms, or one third of the market in Whitehorse.”

Robertson said that the hotel is 40 years old. It was built in 1972 as a YWCA hostel, and was converted to studio-style apartments for a time, becoming a full family hotel in the mid 1990s.

He had talked to Coast last summer, and recently decided that it made sense to join Coast.

“The hotel has been converted into a boutique-style property.

Coast is a regional brand with a number of different hotel types, and we thought we fit in better” than some with of the other brands.

Coast is also well-known in Whitehorse’s gateway markets of Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

CANADIAN LODGING NEWS

Expedia Inc. o Expedia states that it is the world’s leading online travel company, whose mission is to revolutionize travel through the power of technology o A global company, it operates more than 140 leisure and corporate travel sites in nearly 70 countries across nearly a dozen notable travel brands—reaching 55+ million consumers each month. o It is a partner to more than 160,000 hotels and hundreds of airlines, rental car, cruise, rail and tour operators and in-destination activity providers. o It is an innovator in new channels. Collectively, Expedia, Inc. offers 130+ mobile web sites, and its mobile apps have been downloaded more than 15 million times in 200+ countries at a rate of 35 downloads per minute.

The Expedia Family o Expedia Lodging Partner Services is the central point of contact for hotels to access the global Expedia marketplace. It is a team of more than 500 travel industry experts and revenue management specialists located in cities around the world. o Expedia.com is a leading online travel site, helping millions of travellers per month plan and book travel. Established in 1996, it has 30 sites in 30 countries. o Hotels.com offers a wide selection of more than 160,000 properties and an award-winning customer loyalty program, Welcome Rewards. Established in 1991, it has 75+ ties in 60+ countries, and deals with hotels only. o Hotwire is a leading discount travel site. When travel providers have unsold rooms, cars and airline seats, they use Hotwire to fill them. Established in 2000, it has nine sites in eight countries. Primarily opaque, it deals with air, hotel, car rentals, cruise activities and attractions. o Egencia is a full-service travel management company with over 10,000 clients around the world. Founded in 2002 as Expedia Corporate Travel, it was renamed Egencia in 2008, and deals with air, hotel, cars, corporate travel, meetings and events. o eLong.com is the second largest provider of online travel booking services in China. Acquired in 2005, it has one site in China and deals with air, hotel, activities and attractions. o venere.com is a European online hotel reservations specialist featuring more than 120,000 hotels, beds and breakfasts and vacation rentals in 30,000 destinations worldwide. Acquired in 2008, it has seven sites in eight countries. o Expedia Affiliate Network creates private-label technology platforms and services that power some of the biggest brands in travel, by working with airlines, OTAs and search partners. o Expedia Media Solutions, the advertising sales division of Expedia Inc., is dedicated to building online and offline media partnerships for travel and non-travel brand advertisers.

Staybridge Suites Reno MARKHAM, ON––The Staybridge Suites hotel recently saw a massive renovation come to completion, and celebrated with an open house for past and future guests. “We spent $5 million on this hotel and it’s a 120 room hotel—we want people to know that,” said Charlie Cahill, vice-president full service operations, InterContinental Hotels Group.

The hotel’s business model is based on guests staying for seven days or longer, said Cahill, so a great deal of the renovation was focused on creating a home-like atmosphere in the hotel.

Staybridge hosts social events every Tues-

day through Thursday evenings, where guests can mingle with each other as well as hotel management. “It’s like welcoming friends home,” said Cahill.

A part of the renovation involved a collaboration with the Savannah College of Art and Design to create a new colour palette for the rooms. “The themes were meant to be softer palettes and fresher looks,” said Cahill.

The Markham location is number 17 of 19 Staybridge Suites set for renovation. Construction began in November 2011 and is set to be complete this December.

“We’ve always done well as a business because our people are so good. Now, we’re a great hotel too.”

1

00 years

JA N U A RY 2 013

HAC celebrates its centennial

David McMillan and Nicholas Carson

OTTAWA, ON—It’s hard to believe that it’s been 100 years since the Hotel Keepers Association of the Dominion of Canada was created. Their first Annual Convention was held in Winnipeg in September of the same year. A photo showing that meeting hangs on the wall of the Hotel Association of Canada in Ottawa.

“While much has changed, much remains the same,” said HAC president Tony Pollard in his introduction to the 100th Anniversary commemorative booklet prepared by Canadian Lodging News. “Some of the hot issues of the ‘10s, ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s still continue today: high taxes, labour issues and declining tourism revenues.

“However the characters have changed and accommodation trends are radically different.

Most of the hotels of those early days are now gone and the industry is far larger than it was when the railways were being built.

“It has been a turbulent and yet exciting 100 years; the emergence of an organized industry in the ‘10s, a roller-coaster ride through the Roaring ‘20s, the Great Depression, Prohibition, the economic boom of WWII, the Fat ‘50s, the Swinging ‘60s, the baby boomers, the recessions of the ‘80s and ‘90s, technology and the economy as we travel through the 2000s.”

Biggest change was Ottawa office The biggest transformation of the HAC came in 1991, with the establishment of a central office in Ottawa. David McMillan and Nicholas Carson, both former HAC chairs, talked to CLN about that transition.

Nicholas Carson, general manager of the Prince George Hotel in Halifax, was instrumental in founding the Hotel Association of Nova Scotia.

“In 1989, I went to Toronto to attend my first Hotel Association of Canada board meeting,” Carson recalled. “There were six or seven people there—nobody but me was from east of Toronto.

The chair at the time was Bob Sparrow, who was trying to get an association off the ground and had contacted associations from across the country.

“We needed a big name to help lead us forward. Reg Groome, head of Hilton at the time, was one of the best known faces in the hotel industry in North America. We chose him to be our first chair.”

The next step was to set up an office in Ottawa and find someone to run it. “Tony Pollard was the perfect combination of ambassador and entrepreneur,” said David McMillan, who followed Groome as HAC chair.

Today, the HAC represents more than 8,400 hotels, motels and resorts that encompass the $16 billion Canadian hotel industry, which employs 284,000 people across Canada.

Happy 100th Anniversary wishes to the Hotel Association of Canada.

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HAC and CTMS meets set for February TORONTO—The Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) annual conference will be taking place Feb. 4-5, 2013 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Toronto.

This must attend conference will feature a celebration dinner marking the Centennial celebration for HAC. There will be two days of conference FEBRUARY 4+5, 2013 activities which include an impres- HILTON sive line-up of speakers and subjects TORONTO HOTEL all designed to support and comple4. The hosts at the dinner will be comedy legment HAC’s strategic plan. end and improv king, Colin Mochrie, and his Featured speakers in attendance include: o Helen Marano from the World Travel and wife, television star and Canadian icon, Debra Tourism Council, who will address the com- McGrath.

The event will go well into the night with plexity of change in global tourism; o Claire Bishop, vice president digital strategy awards and Hall of Fame presentations and and online media at MMGY Global, who speeches.

Other highlights include the HAC annual will address Online Travel Agents with Exgeneral meeting, a networking breakfast with pedia and Google; o Terry O’Reilly, CBC’s resident marketing the sponsors, as well as numerous breakout sesguru and host of The Age of Persuasion, who sions at the Hilton Downtown hotel. Tickets will inform and entertain on all that is new for the 2013 HAC Centennial Celebration and Conference can be purchased at www.hacconin marketing; o Chris Thompson, newly-installed CEO of ference.ca.

Brand USA and Canadian Tourism Commission president Michele McKenzie, will Marketing conference to follow The Canadian Tourism Marketing Summit examine marketing within North America and promoting North America to interna- (CTMS) to be held Feb. 5-6, 2013 at the Hilton Toronto Hotel, will bring together individuals tional visitors.

In addition, the LMA Communications’ from a broad cross section of disciplines and founder, president and chief llama, Larry Mo- professional associations.

CTMS is being held in conjunction with the gelonsky (see page 4), will be giving a speech at the 2013 HAC Conference. He will be discussing Hotel Association of Canada’s Annual Conferthe contemporary relationship between hotel ence.

At the conference, industry leaders share marketing and revenue management.

The Centennial Celebration culminates with their insight on marketing Canadian tourism a celebration dinner beginning at 6 p.m. on Feb. products. The primary objective of the confer-

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ence is to provide a learning experience and a networking forum for representatives of Canadian lodging, attraction, convention, transportation and other related travel marketing industries.

This year’s panel of keynote speakers includes Lee McCabe, head of travel at Facebook. McCabe will demystify Facebook and provide insight on social media’s role in the travel industry.

“Our partners are seeing a lot of success in the travel vertical,” McCabe says. “More and more, social is becoming an integral part of the marketing mix. So far, our partners that have the most clear objectives and focus on core solutions are seeing the most success.”

Other presenters include: o Terry O’Reilly, co-founder, Pirate Radio and Television; o Howard Blank, VP, media and entertainment, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation; o Noel Buckley, president and CEO, Ottawa Tourism; Peter Doyle, general manager Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada; o Mike Gamble, president & CEO, Searchwide; o Kathy Henderson, senior VP, marketing and revenue, Toronto 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games; o Michele McKenzie, president & CEO, Canadian Tourism Commission; o Aaron Nissen, problem solver, Think! Social Media; o Rob Scarpelli, managing director, HLT Advisory Inc.; o Wayne St. John, president, Publicitas Canada; and o Christopher Thompson, president & CEO, Brand USA.

GTA Casino: downtown, on the waterfront or anywhere but Toronto?

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Left to right: Paul Godfrey, Anne Golden and Tony Elenis

TORONTO—What impact would a proposed Greater Toronto Area Casino have on the restaurant industry? That was the question posed to Ontario Lottery and Gaming commission (OLG) chair Paul Godfrey and Anne Golden, former president and CEO of The Conference Board of Canada. The two Order of Canada recipients faced off at a recent event hosted by the Ontario Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Association (ORHMA) at the Toronto Convention Centre.

Godfrey came out firmly in support of a facility on the waterfront or in downtown Toronto. He pointed to the success of the Windsor, Niagara, Woodbine and Brantford casinos. And he prefers a downtown location to one in suburban Markham or Vaughan.

A downtown casino would create 12,000 full and part time jobs, plus 6,000 in construction. There would be $2 billion in private capital involved: “We’re making the private sector take all the risk,” he said. There would be $20

million in additional property tax revenue, and annual convention traffic would grow from 372,000 visitors at present to 800,000.

He said a facility in Markham or Vaughan would not be as profitable with 9,500 full and part time jobs, 3,000 construction jobs, and $1 billion in private sector investment.

Golden countered that most casino complexes are designed to keep people within the complex with no benefit to tourism. “There’s no doubt it’s been good for Brantford or Windsor, and possibly Vaughan or Markham... but why would we put it [downtown] in an already developed area? Toronto is already a tourist mecca, and I don’t see a casino being an attraction in the same way as our diversity or cultural attractions.”

At the meeting, ORHMA president Tony Elenis announced that the association will be working with Ryerson University to conduct a study of its members to determine the impact of a casino, with results expected in April 2013.

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Ope nings ,

s a l e s

a n d

r e nO vat iOns

Delta Ottawa gets a new look

Rendition of the future Marriott Halifax dining space.

Social spaces rule in the Halifax Marriott’s lobby

By Veronica Zaretski, Online Editor HALIFAX—Interior design will serve a social function at a Halifax hotel. The Halifax Marriott is undergoing renovations that are meant to not only change the interior décor, but also the way visitors interact with each other and experience the space.

“We wanted to activate our lobby space.

Lobbies used to be places where people entered, checked in, and migrated to their own room,” said Jeff Ransome, general manager.

“We’re hoping that people will say ‘I’m not going to go up to my room, when I can do my work in a social lobby space’.”

Visitors will note the changes quickly, with main renovations taking place in the lobby and dining area on the first floor. The renovations will add 4,600 square feet, with windows to the harbourfront or the historic property adjacent to the hotel. “These are nice views,” said Ransome. “We want as much natural light as possible with these renovations.”

The new restaurant, the Harbour Stone, Sea Grill and Pour House, will replace two prior dining spaces, 44 North and The Fife and Drum, which will become meeting spaces.

Menu options will be broken down into three categories, said Ransome. The five minute op-

Days Inns & Suites open in Lloydminster and Miramichi LLOYDMINSTER, AB & MIRAMICHI, NB— Days Hotel & Suites—Lloydminster celebrated its official grand opening last month with a reception and ribbon cutting ceremony and cake (above). The hotel offers a full range of facilities and services including an on-site restaurant and lounge, free high-speed wireless Internet.

Special guests in attendance included Arlene Wray, national director of sales, Western Canada, Atlific Hotels; Jeff Mulligan, mayor of Lloydminster and Irwin Prince, president & COO, Realstar Hospitality. Located on Highway 16 at 5411 - 44th Street, the 128-room six-storey hotel features a variety of spacious rooms and suites. Guests will enjoy convenient access to restaurants, shopping, golf courses and area at-

CANADIAN LODGING NEWS

tions will allow for a variety of items that can be quickly made, the ten minute option will include basic entrees, and the 20 minute menu will have more elaborate entrees. The 4,380 square foot restaurant will house 177 seats, 17 of which will be bar seats. “It’s casual dining in a contemporary setting. I want people to come in, wearing their jeans and feeling as comfortable as they would in their own home,” said Ransome.

The 352-room hotel will be operational during the renovations, which are ongoing, said Ransome. Some areas of the hotel have temporary walls set up while work on the building continues, with the first phase set to be complete by February, and the final phase to be done by April 15.

The materials used for the décor should help with constructing the warm, welcoming space that Ransome described. Wood will be a significant feature in the pods, with hard wood flooring and wood finishes. The design, from Toronto-based Moncur Designs, also incorporates large archway constructions and a complete tiling of the lobby space.

“When I walk into a hotel and I see someone comfortably sitting in a chair, I feel like I can sit and do that as well. And so does the next person, and the next person. It attracts people,” said Ransome. It’s that sort of chain effect that can make a difference between a standard lobby area and a dynamic space with engaged visitors. tractions. Free parking is available for all hotel guests.

Days Inn—Miramichi celebrated its official grand opening recently with a reception and ribbon cutting ceremony. Just off the King George Highway the hotel features on-site amenities such as free Daybreak Café breakfast, free wireless Internet, meeting facilities and free parking. It is the third Days Inn in the province.

Shown below, left to right are: Stephanie LeGresley, general manager, Days Inn—Miramichi; Peder Berggren, director, Miramichi Great River Inn Ltd.; Irwin Prince, president & COO, Realstar Hospitality; Brent McCarthy, director, Miramichi Great River Inn Ltd.; Stephen McCarthy, director, Miramichi Great River Inn Ltd.; Joanne McCarthy, director, Miramichi Great River Inn Ltd.; and Gerry Cormier, mayor of Miramichi.

OTTAWA––The Delta Ottawa City Centre announced the completion of its multi-million dollar renovation to the former Crowne Plaza hotel. The revitalization includes redesigned guestrooms and a new configuration for the hotel’s public spaces (shown above).

The new design offers more open and naturally lit space as well as modern fixtures and elements. A part of the renovation included a 26,000 square foot conference space that offers one of the largest ballrooms in the city, at 10,000 square feet.

The hotel redesign also made room for an all-new restaurant, LIFT. The full-service, interactive restaurant offers open space between executive chef Christopher Marz and guests at the bar, for whom he will be preparing bite-size dishes.

Delta Hotels and Resorts operates 43 fullservice hotels across Canada.

wider variety of corporate and social events.

The lobby area (shown below) features a stone wall with fireplace and flat screen TV, a business area with harvest table, upholstered chairs and bookshelves. The curved front desk has an attractive walnut finish and chrome trim.

A second floor mezzanine surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows has a wide balcony that overlooks the lobby foyer. A large curved glass staircase leads up from the lobby to the 2nd floor mezzanine.

The new Balmoral Ballroom adds 4,000 square feet of meeting space, and features a draped floor-to-ceiling window treatment and brown and black appointed textiles, which offer an elegant backdrop for themed events.

Four Points London’s reno both elegant and dramatic LONDON, ON—The Four Points London in southwestern Ontario has completed a dramatic and elegant renovation of its three-storey lobby and public space, while expanding its convention centre footprint to be more appealing to a

Going uptempo at Delta Halifax

By Veronica Zaretski, Online Editor HALIFAX—The Delta Barrington’s got a brand new beat with the addition of Tempo restaurant on Nov. 6. Tempo adds a deli, a sit-down dining section, and an after-hours cocktail lounge to the main floor.

Peter Bayliff, the restaurant manager, has been in the restaurant business for 30 years. He described the open kitchen concept Tempo chef Leslie Ann Hull, shown here competing and atmosphere of the place as at the Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia (RANS) awards. Photo courtesy of RANS. playful and fun.

“You’re going to feel, taste and lunch costs between $9 to $14, and dinner is smell it,” said Bayliff. “[Chef] Leslie Ann Hull $19 to $26 per person. “It’s comfort food with delivers comfort food with flare.” modern choices. There’s something for every“We don’t want it to be too uptight. We one here,” said Hull. want to keep good food, provide good service The addition of the 120-seat, 6,000 square and just have people really enjoy themselves,” foot restaurant is part of a restyling of the main said Hull. The chef worked as the executive floor of the hotel. The modern space was desous chef in the Atlantica hotel for two years signed to look chic and fun. Hull described it before taking on the role of executive chef at as “funky” with a red and green colour palette.

Tempo. She said that the chalkboard-style “It has a new-age look,” she said. The interior menu includes daily options and regular items also includes wooden chairs, marble countersuch as cod burger, seafood chowder, and tops, and an oak finish for the bar area. Hull tagliatelle pasta with chicken. Gluten-free opsays that the central location in the downtown tions and organic food are also available for business core helps them stay connected to the customers. area.

And how about the chef ’s favourite dishes?

Tempo Food+Drink Restaurant 1875 BarThese include the french fries with the special rington Street, Halifax (902) 428-3676. tempoTempo spice, and the holy cow burger with fooddrink.com/ @TempoFoodDrink sweet potatoes. Breakfast runs from $7 to $12,

JA N U A RY 2 013

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PRO V INCI A L

HNL highlights for 2013 show ST. JOHN’S—The Delta St. John’s Hotel and Conference Centre will host the Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador (HNL) Annual Conference and Trade Show from Feb. 20 to 22.

The 2013 conference will celebrate the 30th anniversary of HNL. About 400 participants from private, nonprofit, government and other tourism organizations are expected to attend. The learning and networking event will also include a trade show that will feature 44 operators and suppliers.

“HNL is facing forward and will focus on providing many learning and partnership opportunities to improve the competitiveness of the tourism industry for the future,” said CarolAnn Gilliard, CEO of HNL. For more information, visit hnl.ca.

Saskatchewan government proposes 70 liquor changes REGINA—Bring your own wine service in restaurants in Saskatchewan was one of 70 changes proposed to the provincial government’s liquor regulations in late November.

“Saskatchewan has many liquor regulations that haven’t undergone a comprehensive review for decades,” the minister responsible for Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority, Donna Harpauer, said on the government of Saskatchewan website.

Along with the BYOW rule, other changes include special use liquor permits for salons, spas and movie theatres, expansion of eligibility for off-sale endorsements and more flexibility for golf courses and sports stadiums.

Some of the changes, designed to minimize red tape, will require legislative and regulatory amendments while others will occur through SLGA policy changes, according to the government website.

The necessary legislative amendments were expected to be introduced during the fall legislative session and be passed in the spring along with necessary regulatory amendments.

SLGA’s policy changes will occur in the coming months. All liquor permittees will be notified of the various changes, according to the government website.

Manitoba Liquor Control Commission and Manitoba Lotteries combine WINNIPEG––Two independent bodies, the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission and Manitoba Lotteries have combined forces to create the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation.

According to the Corporation’s final report, the intended merger was announced in April with hopes of increasing efficiencies, reducing red tape, and cutting costs without sacrificing service.

The two offices employ more than 3,000 full and part-time workers collectively.

Newfoundland and Labrador inspections available online NEWFOUNDLAND––The provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced in late November that the public would have access to restaurant inspections online. Details including health and sanitation inspections of all restaurants throughout the province will be posted on the Service NL website.

Prior to the release of this information, applications for these inspection results were required and could take up to five days to obtain, said Service minister Nick McGrath to the St. John’s

N E W S

Telegram.

“The general public has the right to know that the establishment in which they choose to dine is complying with all food safety standards,” he said.

Technomic’s restaurant trend report for Canada in 2013 CHICAGO––Technomic released its forecast of five trends in the restaurant industry for 2013.

Here’s what they said is in store: 1. Snacking and sharing. Changes in eating habits as well as changes in social behaviour suggests that diners are seeking out snack-size portions or offerings of multiple small portions that can be shared amongst a group.

2. Playing chicken. Following what Technomic called the better-burger trend, an upgrade in chicken provisions is the next logical step. Local, naturally-fed, high quality birds will be the next order of business cooked to perfection.

3. Finish your vegetables. And, sometimes start with them. Technomic said more local and seasonal vegetables will be hitting the plates, complementing proteins. They will become the focus of meals as well, straying away from the meat and potato serving structure.

4. Asian influence. This cuisine has been readily available in North America for years, but Technomic said different dishes are increasing in popularity than before. People are now seeking out ramen, banh mi and other gems of these regions.

5. Drink it in. Innovation is on the rise in beverages as well as food. Specialty beverages in the form of fountain drinks and sodas, and exotic drinks are adding unique flavours to menus.

As well, food and beverage pairings are a holistic success in the restaurant industry.

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18 |

CANADIAN LODGING NEWS

PE OPLE

Veronica Zaretski, online editor, Canadian Lodging News

Frederic Hoffman, executive chef, Westin Calgary

Allison Collins, account director, Westin & Sheraton Wall Centre

IN C O N V E r S AT I O N wITH G OPA L r A O

Suzanne Riesterer, chief commercial officer, Carlton Rezidor

Gopal Rao addresses the Tourism Industry Association of Canada in 2010

Dan Piggott, VP development, Skyline Destination Communities

Amrit Sandhu, general manager, Delta Edmonton South

Josh Bentley, Food & Beverage Specialist, G7 Hospitality Group

Goran Pospisil, exec. chef, Hilton Garden Inn Niagara-on-the-Lake

Veronica Zaretski is the new online editor, at Ishcom Publications, working on both print and digital Restaurant News and Canadian Lodging News products, which are currently being upgraded. She holds a Master of Arts in Media Production from Ryerson and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Rhetoric and Professional Writing from Waterloo.

Her professional experience includes social media and content management work with private and non-profit organizations.

handling the corporate and third party markets in both Eastern U.S. and Canada for the Westin and Sheraton Wall Centre hotels in Vancouver.

She was most recently part of the Starwood Toronto metro market team, and will remain based in Toronto.

Allison Collins is the newly appointed account director handling the eastern Canadian and U.S. association market for the Westin and Wall Centre properties. She will work from Wall Centre’s Ottawa office.

Sheana Cool, who has many years of experience in the sales arena, returns to the Vancouver area as senior sales manager covering the Western United States market for the Westin Vancouver and Sheraton Wall Centre.

global commercial strategy and direct its implementation within the Americas. Riesterer will continue to report to Thorsten Kirschke, president, Americas and chief operating officer.

food and beverage operations specialist at G7 Hospitality Group, a leading hospitality advisory firm for independent hotels. With over 18 years experience in the hospitality industry, Bentley recently served as VP for Viaggio Hospitality, and spent 15 years with Vancouverbased casual fine dining chain, Cactus Club Café.

Frederic Hoffman is the Westin Calgary’s new executive chef. Previously at Toronto’s King Edward Hotel, Hoffman’s resume includes working for Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Hilton Toronto, as well as Toronto restaurants Rosewater Supper Club and Auberge du Pommier.

Jacqueline Lafayette has been named account director

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has promoted Suzanne Riesterer to chief commercial officer. In this newly created position, Riesterer will lead the development of the group’s

C OM ING Jan. 29-31: Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Supply Show.

Myrtle Beach Convention Centre, Myrtle Beach, SC. For information go to: www. hmrsss.com Feb. 4-5: Hotel Association of Canada Conference (HAC), Hilton Toronto Hotel—2013 marks the 100th Anniversary for the Hotel Association of Canada. Contact: Orie Berlasso. Phone: 416924-2002 or 866-887-4453.

E-mail: orieberlasso@bigpictureconferences.ca. Website: www.hacconference.ca Feb. 5-6: Canadian Tourism Marketing Summit (CTMS), Hilton Toronto Hotel, Toronto. Contact: Orie Berlasso. Phone: 416924-2002 or 866-887-4453.

E-mail: orieberlasso@bigpic-

Dan Piggott has been appointed vice-president development for Skyline Destination Communities in Toronto, reporting to Skyline International Development Inc. CEO Michael Sneyd. He will oversee development projects at Horseshoe Resort, Deerhurst Resort and Port McNicoll. Piggott joins Skyline after 12 years with Intrawest ULC where he most recently was vice-president, development.

Amrit Sandhu is the new general manager of Delta Edmonton South hotel. He has over 15 years of hotel experience, most recently as hotel manager at the Delta Vancouver Airport.

Josh Bentley is the new

E V E N T S

tureconferences.ca. Website: www.cdntourismmarketing. ca Feb. 7-9: NAFEM Annual General Meeting. Orange County Convention Centre, Orlando, FL. For information go to: http://www.nafem.org/ education-certification/annualmeeting.aspx Feb. 20-22: Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador 2013 Annual Conference and Trade Show, The Delta St. John’s Hotel and Conference Centre. Contact: Michelle Burke. Phone: 709-722-2000, ext. 230 or 800-563-0700, ext.

230. E-mail: mburke@hnl.ca.

Website: www.hnl.ca/conference Feb. 23-24: Franchise Show. Toronto Congress Centre, Toronto, ON. For in-

formation go to: www.cfa.ca/ thefranchiseshow Mar. 3-5: The CRFA Show, Direct Energy Centre, Toronto. Tel: 416-923-8416 or 800387-5649. E-mail: info@crfa. ca. Website: www.crfa.ca April 2-4: Online Revealed, Caesar’s Windsor, Windsor Ontario. Contact: Patricia Brusha. Phone: 905-990-0079 ext. 103 or 888.235.6009 ext. 103. Email: pbrusha@acoupleofchicks.com. Website: www. onlinerevealed.com April 14-15: ApEx 2013, Exhibition Park, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Contact: Ellen Scanlan. Phone: 1-877-7551938 ext. 102 or 902-4250061 ext. 102. E-mail: escanlan@eastlink.ca. Website: www.apextradeshow.ca

“Fortunate, excited, unbelievable opportunity.” Those are some of the words IHG’s Gopal Rao uses to describe his feelings as he moves from heading up the company’s Canadian team to a new position in Delhi, India as regional general manager South West Asia, effective Jan. 1.

“It’s the best of both worlds—I have roots there and grew up there,” he told CLN, noting that he has not lived in India for 34 years.

“I’m excited about the possibilities and prospects of working in a growth market like India.”

He is proud of his team’s success in growing the profile of IHG over his five-year tenure—so that there are now 163 IHG Canadian hotels with 30 in the pipeline.

Rao added that IHG Canada has three new hires (below, left to right): Jaime Shulman, marketing manager, services segment; Erica Blain, marketing manager, alliances and loyalty segment; and Lina Thompson, key account director.

(See www.can-lodgingnews.com for their biographies).

Executive chef Goran Pospisil is the latest addition to the Hilton Garden Inn Niagara-onthe-Lake team. Professionally trained in Belgrade, Serbia, he has years of international experience with Mediterranean cuisine and with fine dining and large banquet functions.

NE w S City Councillor Gord Perks keeps Parkdale’s bar scene at bay TORONTO––Councillor Gord Perks is putting the brakes on the bar and restaurant development he sees as negatively impacting his constituency in Toronto’s Parkdale neighbourhood.

Perks is the councillor for Ward 14, which encompasses the neighbourhoods of Parkdale, Roncesvalles, High Park and Sunnyside.

On Oct. 30, 2012, Perks introduced a motion to City Council to put a moratorium on the establishment of bars and restaurants along Queen St. West, between Dufferin St. and Roncesvalles Ave. According to the city of Toronto Item notice, Perks recommended that council adopt an interim control by-law.

The by-law would halt the opening and renovation of bars in the area following the city planning department’s study of the effects of the high concentration of bars and restaurants in the area, which was conducted from Aug. 2010 to Jan. 2013, according to the Item.

The ban extends to the prohibition of rear and rooftop patios, as well as the use of upper floors within bars and restaurants.

A similar movement was put forward in 2009 by former deputy mayor Joe Pantalone,

br I E fS with regards to the Ossington strip.

That ban also saw the controversial blockage of new restaurant and bar openings and the eventual outcome was a zoning bylaw that restricts the physical size of restaurants and limits such businesses to operate on main floors only.

Exhibition Place Hotel to be built on site of old Stanley Barracks TORONTO—Toronto’s Exhibition place is finally getting its long awaited hotel, and a little piece of history is coming up with it.

New York–based HK Hotels’ proposal of a 26-storey boutique hotel was approved by city council and will likely open in 2015, according to a Dec. 2 press release.

The hotel will sit just south of the Direct Energy Centre on what was once the Stanley Barracks, a military garrison built to alleviate overflow from Fort York in the 1800s.

Following use for various military operations, as well as the RCMP, the barracks were mostly torn down to create parking lots for the expanding Exhibition Place.

HK’s plans for the site will address the heritage site and include linkages to the renovated Stanley Barracks.

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