By Clare Ogilvie
A Tourism Whistler bylaw which would have seen board of director representation based on whether or not a complex is predominantly managed by a single manager rather than on ownership or the presence of a front desk will be reintroduced at next yearÕs annual general meeting.
The bylaw was defeated at this yearÕs meeting, held last month.
But, said Diane Mombourquette, vice-president of revenue and operations for Tourism Whistler, the organization believes it is heading in the right direction with it and will pursue it for the future.
ÒWe are pretty confident that we are moving in the right direction and we need to strategize on how to keep it moving forward,Ó she said.
The new bylaw would have seen the deletion of the definitions of Òhotel lodgingÓ, Òhotel lodging resort lotÓ, Ònon hotel lodgingÓ, Ònon hotel lodging resort lotÓ, Òsingle owner hotel lodgingÓ and Òsingle owner hotel lodging resort lotÓ to Òsingle managed lodgingÓ and Òother lodging.Ó
Mombourquette, who admits to being surprised that the bylaw did not pass, said Tourism Whistler decided to go forward with it for a number of reasons.
The number of single-owner hotel properties has declined, there has been increasing movement between the categories of non-hotel and hotel due to the addition or removal of a front desk, and there is an increasing number of multiple-owner hotels under single managers.
She spoke with representatives of about 3,000 members leading up to the vote and all supported the idea.
Mombourquette believes confusion over the bylaw led to its defeat.
ÒMaybe it seems quite complicated to people and they didnÕt understand all the repercussions so maybe they werenÕt quite comfortable going ahead with it at present,Ó she said. ÒAnd there is still some confusion out there about who is in what categories and what do these categories mean.Ó
ÒSo we are looking to enhance our members understanding of our organization and how they are represented.Ó
ThatÕs important, said Mombourquette, as each set of lodging owners and representatives have different issues which are important to them.
Members did pass a bylaw which will allow the organization to offer an honorarium to the chair.
Mombourquette said the money would compensate the chair for time spent at the many functions the position requires be attended. Rick Clare is the current chair of Tourism WhistlerÕs board of directors.
