Welcome, new members!
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Hermida and
Ralph Smith
A&S Lakeview
Lake Country
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Welcome, new associate members!
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Pam and Jim McIntee are building their B&B, A Shamrock by the Sea, on Vancouver Island
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Marketing tip
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It is free to get listed on TripAdvisor. Don't forget you can post a photo at no extra cost.
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Sparkling breakfast conversation
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Two senior guests
were chatting during breakfast. The woman was looking at the Ross Bay Cemetery Guide and said to her travelling partner: "Hey, do you want to go to the cemetery?" The friend replied, deadpan, without hesitation, "Not yet thanks." Ian MacPhee, Abbeymore Manor, Victoria |
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Don't delay, renew today!
 Your membership expires at the end of September so it's time to renew.
It's been an interesting year for the tourism industry and now, more than ever, we need to have a strong Guild to represent the bed and breakfast industry, and face the challenges (and rewards) to come. Recently, with the two announcements by the B.C. government that they will implement the HST as of July 1, 2010, and the dissolution of Tourism BC, our participation in COTA (Council of Tourism Associations) has given us a stronger voice on these issues. There will be changes, no doubt, but the stronger our association is, the more opportunity for input we will have.
Of course one of the biggest events to come is next year's Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. While many of our Lower Mainland and outlying area members are fully booked, we should think about the long-term exposure for tourism we will get through the Games. Even with a less than stellar year for many of our members, plan to market your business for the potential beyond the Games. The Guild has been actively marketing and increasing our profile by strategic advertising and partnerships. Our terrific brochure has been distributed even more widely than the year before.
Stay tuned, or better yet, attend the October conference in Nanaimo, for a major announcement about our website.
Exciting times are ahead and your membership in the Guild will keep you informed, provide you with professional development and representation, and will promote your business through the web, the brochure, and member referrals!
So don't delay and renew today!
Ingrid Vermegen
President and
Membership Chair
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Four easy steps
to membership renewal
1. Log into the membership homepage and enter the Members Lounge by logging in the green box on the right.
2. Select "My Account", in red on the left side of page.
3. Click on the "Renew Membership" link.
4. Update and edit your membership listing. This is a very important step. This information will be used by the brochure committee to produce our 2010 brochure. We can eliminate a lot of problems if your updates are accurate and current.
Membership rates
- You can also choose a listing on the Guild's website,
The cost is $195, but you get a $100 rebate when the Guild logo on your site is linking back to the Guild's website.
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Membership includes:
 You are entitled to use the "Rest Assured BC" logo on your website and printed material.
Services, products and professional advice are available to you through our board members and associate members. You
will get a preferred annual rate with the online reservation system
"Webervations" once you are listed on the Guild website. Webervations
charges a low annual fee and no commissions. A listing in BC Travel Guide is only $25 per year, a special rate for Guild members. You will be invited to regional meetings. Cloverdale Paint Inc offers our members 20-50% off paint and supplies. |
I should've had a martini ...
A silly but true innkeeping tale
This morning my very polite young German couple
mentioned they couldn't get into the hot tub last night, just
couldn't manage to lift the cover. Hmm, I'm thinking ... what could
be the problem?
So we went down to the gazebo and I just gasped as I
approached the hot tub. The cover was on upside-down! Now this is not an easy task since the cover is
attached to a gizmo with steel bars that are inserted into the middle
of the cover from both sides. Boy oh boy,
was I perplexed. It's nearly impossible to flip it
upside-down. Well someone managed to do it ... probably the previous guest
who locked herself in the bathroom.
I couldn't lift it to
try and turn it around but I heard my neighbor talking, so I asked him
if he could help me a little. He's big and strong and while I was
standing in the hot tub we managed to pull out the steel rods to free
the lid and turn it back the right way, then reinsert the steel rods on
either side. We then tried to get it to stay up but it kept coming down
very slowly. We couldn't leave it that way because some poor person would be
sitting there relaxing and this thing would come down on their head. We checked everything out and found that whoever managed to turn the
cover upside-down also bent a very strong rod on the side that holds
the cover up. Luckily my neighbour, who is handy, had a way to
straighten it out mostly and was able to reinstall it. What a job! Good thing I had my greens and energy drink this morning.
By the way, the energy-drink container was nearly empty so I filled it with water, shook it up to get every last wisp of powder, poured it into my
glass and drank it. If I would have known what a day lay ahead
of me, I would have had a martini instead.
Yvette
A Downtown Oceanview Victoria Bed and Breakfast
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