PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
By Tim Rodgers


After an extensive amount of research by Grant Thornton, we are pleased to announce the release of the study commissioned by the BCYHA entitled Best Practices for the Effective Use of Additional Hotel Room Tax Revenue in British Columbia.
As of March 31, 2007, there were 31 city destination marketing organizations (DMOs) in BC, funded through the Additional Hotel Room Tax (AHRT), with an additional four communities with applications pending. Twenty-four of the existing 31 DMOs have been established since 2002.
This recent, tremendous growth of the number of DMOs in the province has created a situation in which:
• Many new DMOs are seeking guidance on how to establish and operate
their organizations.
• Some DMOs are not operating as effectively as possible.
• There appears to be a lack of standardization with regard to how to report results to local governments, the province, and industry stakeholders.
Given this situation, there is a growing interest in BC to provide more structure to ensure that DMOs are operating more effectively, and making effective use of the revenue provided through the AHRT. 
The findings of the study are compelling and will provide guidance for the ongoing development of best practices of the tax.
A national survey conducted last year indicates that six out of ten Canadians are looking for environmentally friendly hotels as an important part of their travel plans. BCYHA and the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) have been long-time advocates of eco-friendly practices within hotels. Introduced almost ten years ago, HAC offers an environmental program for hotels that has been evolving and growing to meet the increasing demand for environmental accountability in our industry. 
HAC’s “Green Key Eco-Rating Program” is a graduated rating system designed to recognize hotels, motels, and resorts that are committed to improving their environmental performance. Based on the results of a comprehensive environmental audit, hoteliers are awarded a one to five Green Key rating. Designed by hoteliers for hoteliers, the belief behind the program is simple; environmental leadership and responsibility makes business sense. To date, there are 500 lodging properties participating in this program, which is more than double the number of participants from last year. I am pleased to say that I am a proud member of this worthy program.
Here’s to a busy summer, and I look forward to seeing you at our Foundation’s Golf Tournament on July 23rd.