Another day, another step closer to re-uniting tourism marketing for Penticton.
Tourism Penticton collected 28 votes in favour of a lengthy resolution that, as chair Diana Stirling put it, boiled down to “are you in favour of us starting discussions for one tourism organization.”
Stirling said that unity — working with the Penticton Hospitality Association — was a major focus for Tourism Penticton in 2015. There was a need to present a single brand, she said, and stop working silos and duplicating efforts.
“Progress may seem slow, but they all have been critical steps,” said Stirling, adding that they needed to plan for the long term and build a stable organization.
There were some concerns expressed in the audience that they were being asked to vote without a presentation on what the discussions had been and what an organization might look like.
“What is in front of us is that first step I was discussing,” said Stirling. “We need the membership to vote yes for us to move into negotiations with the PHA.”
Once that approval had been given, explained Stirling, they would be able to share more detail about the concepts and plans that had been discussed.
Stirling, who invited Barb Haynes of the PHA to the microphone the help answer questions, explained that there is still a lot of work to be done to develop a new organization, setting a target of this fall for it to launch, in time to start planning for the 2017 tourism season.
Stephanie Chambers, Penticton’s Business Development Officer, said they hope to have a stakeholders meeting in early April where they will be able to more fully to discuss governance models, structures and time lines. She also spoke to several opportunities and problems identified in discussions with the two groups, including lack of a cohesive message and the number of brands used by the different groups. She suggested organization should study successful campaigns being run by Portland, Ore. and Portugal for inspiration and structure.
“It’s a big process,” said Chambers, who has been helping facilitate the process. “We will continue to work steadily on this as a group.”
“It’s good,” said Mayor Andrew Jakubeit. “I was hoping for a faster process, but this new structure has to stand the test of time. Let’s make sure the structure is fair and set up properly so there isn’t issues with tourism five, 10 years down the road.”
“We really have a tremendous opportunity, and working as one is going to get us closer to where we need to be and so much faster.”
Tourism Penticton also voted on two seats for their executive which now includes: chair Diana Stirling, Loco Landing; vice-chair Jessica Agur Dolan, Ramada and Coast Hotel; James Shalman, Apex Mountain Resort; Jacquie Carlson, Poplar Grove Winery; Laura Hunt, Spectra Venue Management; Sheila Perepalkin, Sandman; Robert Appleman, Lakeside Villa; Ian MacDonald, Liquidity Wines; Cameron Smith, Joy Road Catering; Eric Sorensen, City of Penticton and Travis Kruger, Penticton Indian Band.)