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Whistler must pull together in tough times for tourism

Hotels and businesses given the facts in no-holes barred meeting

At a time when many businesses continue to struggle with the downturn in the tourism industry, Tourism Whistler last week hosted a lively three and half hour meeting that grappled with a raft of concerns about business and the tourism industry.

This "value strategy meeting" was a pivotal one for Tourism Whistler because amid the uncertainty in the tourism industry during the past three years it has become one of the most unpopular and misunderstood organizations in Whistler.

But last week’s meeting showed that Tourism Whistler and its board of directors are willing to listen to the concerns of the community and would be endeavouring to make some big changes.

More than 80 business owners, homeowners and civil servants packed a room in the Telus Conference Centre Nov. 5 to hear statistics about what has happened to the tourism industry and to deal, predominantly, with the issues of value and prices in Whistler. Many of Whistler’s decision-makers attended and listened to members vent about issues such as crowding during peak periods, expansion and the need for more family entertainment, as well as "value-added" services like an ice rink near the village.

Tourism Whistler’s managers and some directors then took turns describing what businesses could be doing to reverse the trends.

The general manager of the Delta Village Suites, Diana Lyons, made some particularly salient points when she described what happened when she typed words such as "moderate", "economy", "affordable hotels" and "Whistler" into an Internet search engine. Lyons showed that in these budget categories Whistler had very few hits, compared to most other resorts.

But when Lyons typed in words such as "luxury" or "first class" Whistler had far more options than other resorts.

Lyons’s example showed that Whistler is still focused on attracting customers who have a lot of money, rather than casting a wider net and building relationships with families and younger people.

"The thing is that I know we’ve got three or four levels of accommodation in Whistler, we’re just not doing a very good job of going to the market with it," Lyons said after the meeting.

Lyons, and several of the other presenters, also spoke of the importance of training because "if customers get good service then they will often forget about how much they have to pay. The way you treat your employees is a reflection on how you will treat your guests," said Lyons.

"And the one thing about this town is that we need to pull together to turn it around, and I get frustrated when I see individuals that aren’t focused on the positives because they’re ignoring the issues."

Tourism Whistler’s Manager of Research, Iann Dunn, also presented a myriad of statistics and results to indicate that Whistler’s hotels and businesses needed to do more to reverse the economic downturn in Whistler.

"Thirty five per cent of people (who completed a Tourism Whistler survey) did not come back here because they thought it was too expensive," said Dunn.

"Seventy per cent of the people who had never come to Whistler before, did not come because it was too expensive."

Tourism Whistler’s Communications Director, Michele Comeau Thompson, indicated that news of Whistler’s high prices had also spread through the international media. She spoke of SKI Magazine’s decision to list Whistler-Blackcomb as the No. 5 resort in North America, but she was more interested in highlighting the fact that Whistler had dropped from 13th to 28th in the value category.

One other example she noted was that of the Ski Club of Great Britain who wrote that Whistler-Blackcomb had ridiculously "high prices".

"Whistler is being used as a bench mark but it has been mostly negative," said Comeau Thompson.

In what was a very thorough presentation, Dunn also outlined what kind of an impact the rising Canadian dollar has on the resort. Dunn showed that a five per cent increase in the Canadian dollar equates to a 0.7 per cent decrease in visits from the U.S., and a two-to-seven per cent increase in Canadians travelling to the U.S, according to Canadian Tourism Commission research.

This research is particularly relevant because the Canadian dollar has been hovering around 83 cents US, which is a 12-year high.

Dunn identified a number of complaints that guests had forwarded and among those were "the lack of family-friendly activities" and the "lack of front desk service." These two points generated earnest discussion from the members who suggested that Whistler-Blackcomb had to find a place for families to go tobogganing sooner rather than later. And the municipality and Tourism Whistler have to work with the property managers to ensure that visitors have consistent access to front desk service.

With regards to an area for tobogganing, the Chief Operating Officer of Whistler-Blackcomb, Dave Brownlie, said: "We’re working on it."

"We’ve actually been racking our brains on where we might put a toboggan slope so if anyone has any ideas please feel free to tell us," he said.

Dunn went on to show how some of Whistler’s competitors, such as Hawaii, Mexico and the Colorado ski resorts, were marketing their products.

"Park City (Utah) has been really pushing their air access with their marketing, saying that you could be on the slopes the same day that you left any major U.S. city," he said.

"Mexico has seen a 551 per cent increase in conventions since 2001 because they’ve been offering tax incentives."

The cruise industry featured heavily throughout the strategy meeting because it has shifted its marketing focus to a wider range of people. The result is that the cruise industry, despite all that has happened in the world since 2001, has also experienced growth.

In Hawaii, Dunn said there had been more than a 30 per cent downturn in tourism since 2001 but the state was combating this with a different type of marketing.

"Have you noticed a lot of movies and TV shows set in Hawaii? This has been because of some the changes they’ve made down there and is an example of some of the non-traditional ways you can market your product."

Brownlie was also candid when he said, "Last year was a real crappy year, quite frankly, so we’ve got a long way to go."

He pointed to the $14.2 million worth of improvements Whistler-Blackcomb has made this year, including building the Blackcomb super-pipe, opening Flute Basin and the Peak to Creek trails at Creekside. Brownlie also referred to the $3 million marketing campaign Whistler-Blackcomb launched in the North Eastern U.S. a couple of weeks ago.

And Whistler still compares favourably with U.S. resorts in a number of ways, Brownlie pointed out. He showed that Vail’s standard ticket price this year for a day ski-pass was $75 US, whereas Whistler-Blackcomb’s day ski-pass ranges between $69 and $74 Cdn.

"If we have blue skies here every day then we wouldn’t have to do anything… but we don’t so we have to work together to solve this problem," he said. "We have been at 52 per cent occupancy, so I see 48 per cent opportunity."

Tourism Whistler President Barrett Fisher concluded the meeting by reaffirming that Whistler had been, and will continue to be, an enormous success.

"We just need to make sure we’re going after the right customers at the right price," said Fisher. "And we need to remember to celebrate this amazing place we have and I’m sure our guests will do the same."