– The following is a press release from the Nanaimo Hospitality Association in regards to the recent decision made by Nanaimo Mayor & Council to separate the Economic and Tourism Divisions of the NEDC.
NANAIMO – The Nanaimo Hospitality Association (NHA) and its membership which are the hotels and motels of Nanaimo are compelled to respectfully submit our view as it relates to the decision by Nanaimo City Council to separate the Tourism and Economic Development functions of the NEDC.
The role of the NEDC is to attract businesses to invest in our city and to help retain those businesses that are already located here. The NEDC does a good job of this. The role of Tourism Nanaimo was to bring together the different segments of the tourism industry in order to have one common voice and vision, to eliminate duplication and triplication of services and to collaboratively market Nanaimo.
Despite a lot very misleading rhetoric in the press and on social media channels this was not happening as well as it should be and a change had to be made and we support the decision by Mayor and Council to make this change. The change that council has made is a change that will reap rewards for the tourism industry in the central region of Vancouver Island (voted one of the top ten Islands in the world according to Conde Naste magazine) for years and years to come.
The current situation of people working in silos is not effective and this was pointed out in two separate reports commissioned by the City. Collaboration is what works. The NEDC Board, members of the NHA, NEDC staff, and members of the tourism industry were well aware of what was being considered by Mayor and Council. We were not caught off guard as others want you to believe and yes there is strong industry support for this decision. Council needed to do what they have done in order to eliminate the duplication and triplication of services taking place.
There are now four different maps being produced in Nanaimo and paid for with tax dollars. Collaboration needs to happen and relocating the tourism staff together with staff from the other city funded organizations will foster that. This is a great big step forward, not a step backwards. Yes, a record number of heads were in beds in Nanaimo this summer and yes the occupancy numbers and revenue numbers for Nanaimo were the best they have been in years. Thankfully we are finally back to 2007 occupancy levels. But, let’s not lose sight of the fact that the same can be said for almost every community in British Columbia this summer.
The Tourism staff do a great job of managing Facebook, YouTube and Instagram and these channels all help highlight the beauty of the city and region but clicks and views do not generate overnight stays. Its, the OTA’s (On Line Travel Agencies) connected to the individual accommodation properties that drive the bookings.
In addition to the OTA’s Nanaimo was also busy because of film production taking place in the region (8,000 room nights alone), weddings, increased corporate stays, increased sports tourism, an increase in the number of people staying in hotels while they looked for new homes to live in when they relocate to Nanaimo, but most importantly we were busy because of the lower cost of accommodations in our city compared to Victoria, Vancouver, Whistler and Tofino.
People could afford to stay in Nanaimo and then take day trips up and down the Island. We were busy because everywhere else was busy and because we are the Hub of The Island. Now is the time for Nanaimo to shine and we will shine by working together. The NHA looks forward to working with all segments of the tourism industry in an open collaborative approach and we thank Mayor and Council for having the courage to make this hard decision.
For additional information, please contact Henry Traa at 250.824.0171.
