Kootenay Rockies Tourism will hold its annual general meeting and conference at the Kimberley Conference and Athlete Training Centre on October 18, 2012.
Tourism partners from all over the region, including owners and employees of tourism facilities and businesses, as well as representation from the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Development will attend panel discussions and presentations in the day long session.
KRT President Chris Dadson, who will be retiring in November, will deliver a report on the regional tourism perspective.
“My report usually includes information about our marketing projects, but will also include general trends.”
And the trend this year is not bad, he says.
“It’s kind of a mixed bag but it’s stabilizing again,” he said. “We’ve had a couple of tough years, and we don’t have the final numbers for this year yet. But anecdotally I think it was a good summer. We had a late start with the wet spring, which was tough but I’m hearing reports from golf courses and businesses that August and September have been good.
“The U.S. market is tough with the exchange rates. But overall, post-recession of 2008 it seems to be settling out.”
Also presenting at the conference will be Rod Harris, Adjunct Professor, Royal Roads University, who will report on tourism from a global perspective. There will also be a session on engaging customers through social media.
The conference ends with a Saturday night dinner and a retirement party for Dadson.
