Fall into Fall's Canadian Tourism events and conferences

Fall is a beautiful season in Canada with all the autumn colours and crisp cool air around us. It is also a time when the industry re-evaluates where it is and where it is going. There are several important Canadian Tourism conferences in the Fall. In the past week I have been reminded of two interesting conferences taking place in November (in addition to the national Tourism Summit): HR Forum 2010 (Nov 15 to 17), The BC Tourism Industry Conference (which starts tomorrow) and almost brand new TOTA (Thompson Okanagan) 2010 Tourism Summit (second annual Nov 3 to 5). In this post I will comment on the HR Forum.

The HR Forum is an important conference because it focuses exclusively on human resources issues in the industry. For years we have been hearing about the impending hr crisis in tourism because of the aging of our population and the need for qualified workers (not to mention the critical need for excellence in guest services). This issue has taken a back seat in the last couple of years on account of the global economic downturn. But make no mistake, if Canada is to remain competitive in tourism, the industry has to continually work on solving our human resources challenges. These are some of the sessions the HR Forum will have this year which I think any tourism business in Canada may find very helpful:

Excelling In the Tourism Sector and Learning from the 2010 Olympics - Nancy Greene Raine- Canada’s Female Athlete of the 20th Century, Entrepreneur and Senator

Using Technology for Recruitment & Retention

Foreign Workers – Clarifying the Processes

Diversity and Creating a Cohesive Workplace: Attracting and Retaining Internationally Trained Workers

Performance That Rocks - Jim Knight- Senior Director of Training, Hard Rock International

The Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council (CTHRC)’s 9^th Annual HR Forum will be taking place from November 15 – 17 at the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort in Edmonton. With the theme, “FRESH Ideas: New Opportunities - Developing a Dynamic Workforce."

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Jaime

Canadian Tourism Blog

www.cactusrock.com

Canadian Tourism Summit - "refreshed, renewed, reenergized" Nov 1 to 3

The Tourism Industry Association of Canada will host its annual Tourism Summit conference from November 1 to 3 in Ottawa Gatineau. This will be new President and CEO, David F. Goldstein's first TIAC conference. One small, but notable, change about the conference is that the name has been changed from "Tourism Leadership Summit" to "Tourism Summit." This reflects an effort on TIAC's part to become more inclusive perhaps as the former name implied somewhat of an elitist approach to the event. I do not speak for the association, of course, but it seems to me that the idea is to bring in more tourism stakeholders to the lobbying table. TIAC is a lobbying organization, the official voice of the industry vis a vis government. Interestingly enough, this year's conference includes a session called "The View from Parliament Hill" with the participation of 3 members of Parliament as panelists. Should be an interesting panel, e.g. "what does the Federal Government think of the tourism industry?" "Should there be a Tourism Ministry?" "Should the CTC be closed down?" "Should the CTC be expanded with more support?" "Should Canada impose a fee on overseas visitors like the US and Mexico do?"

In addition to the "View from Parliament Hill" this year's conference includes several, in my view, important sessions, such as "Green Tourism: A National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism," "Cultural Events and Festivals," and "Future of the US Market." These three sessions encapsulate in my view three key success factors for Canadian tourism going forward. First, there will be no tourism industry in the future, if our practices do not include a sustainable tourism strategy. Second, Cultural Events and Festivals are perhaps the biggest engines of urban tourism in Canada - just think Festival International du Jazz de Montreal, Juste Pour Rire, Caribana, The Toronto International Film Festival, the Calgary Stampede and so many other events that attract millions of visitors to their respective destinations. Third. The US Market. Regardless of how low the US inbound market has dropped since 1999, it is still by far the most important foreign market for Canadian Tourism (although not the most important overall - that place belongs to our domestic market). There are many opinions as to how to address the issue of American visitors' decline. I have my own as well. This session will continue the debate and the ongoing efforts to find ways to attract more American tourists to Canada.

If you have never attended Canada's national tourism conference, I do recommend it. Not only will you get valuable information, but you will have a chance to network with the industry's leaders. It's your industry, get involved.

Regards,

Jaime

www.canadamigos.com

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend Canada

Thanksgiving Weekend is upon us. I am looking forward to a long weekend before the busy Fall-Winter season chasing clients, attending conferences and working harder to make a living. But first, Turkey dinner and many thanks.

Did you know that "The first Thanksgiving Day in Canada after Confederation was observed on April 15, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness?" Canadian Heritage

Today, of course, Thanksgiving in Canada is a Holiday, a weekend when many Canadians drive to their cottages and close them down for the season at the end of the long weekend. But it is also an occasion for great dinners with family and friends and for most of us I'm sure also an opportunity to quietly give thanks for the great fortune that is to be Canadian, to live in Canada. While we are not perfect - while this country is not perfect by any means and there is much work to do for Canada to achieve its promise - it is today one of the best (for the very best) countries in the world in which to live. For that I am eternally grateful to life, fate, karma or whatever you wish to call it.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Jaime

www.canadamigos.com

"Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die." --Pierre Trudeau