Guide Lines
17 October 2000
WOW!!! The membership of the CTGA of BC is now well over 100 members!
This milestone actually happened last April but we were
unable to tell you as the busy season took off and we couldn't get one more
newsletter out. Just in the last two days alone we have had four more potential
members call us to ask about joining. Hats off to all those current members who
have obviously been spreading the news of our informative, educational and fun
association. All of the new people have mentioned present members. HAPPY 11th
BIRTHDAY CTGA OF BC!!!
OUR NEXT MEETING, which is our first meeting after the
summer of 2000, will be held on THURSDAY 26 OCTOBER at THE LOOKOUT at
HARBOUR CENTRE at Hastings and Seymour in Vancouver at 7 PM. There is no
charge and NO need to rsvp. In addition for present and potential new members to
socialize, we will also have two very interesting tourism-related guest
speakers. The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association will introduce
us to a couple of the new Downtown Ambassadors. These are the smart looking
folks with the red hats and shirts who walk around dispensing information and
assistance to locals and tourists alike. Also in attendance will be Cowboy Dan
Bruce of the Nicola Ranch in Merritt BC. . .yes there is an alternative place
for your group to stop and have coffee or lunch in Merritt. Refreshments and
snacks are available at The Lookout and we hope to also ask you your thoughts on
our up-coming events over the next several months. This years CTGA/BC Annual
General Meeting will be held on Thursday 16 November, 2000 at
7 PM at a location to be announced.
REMINDER: There are two ways by phone to reach the CTGA
of BC for info: 1) Simply call Jeff at (604) 876-2576m, Mon
- Fri from 9 AM to 9 PM, or weekends/holidays from noon to 8 PM. If out please
leave a message after the greeting. OR 2) On any day, at any time
of the day or night dial 251-1500. This will put you into Telus
Voice Mail and after the prompt dial 876-2576. You will then hear a one
minute greeting of information about the association INCLUDING the date, time
and location of the next meeting or meetings. Once the greeting is over you can
choose to hang up or leave a message. By dialing 251-1500 first, at no time will
Jeff's home phone ring. Again, this service is available 24 hours on any day.
Well that was an interesting summer.. especially at the
Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta. "Welcome to our hotel ... now please
leave". OK maybe it wasn't quite like that but the early impression in May
was that by June we could bring our groups to look at the lake, but could you
please not go into the hotel unless your staying overnight. You can't blame them
really. . .the number of people cramming into the place during the last couple
of summers has been substantial. The bus parking area at the hotel was no
better. . .often you couldn't even find a spot to load or unload. It worked much
better at the upper bus parking lot and I'll bet many more passengers actually
saw the lake and the glacier then normally. So much for the pre-summer fear of
traffic chaos if trying to cross the harbour when the Lions Gate Bridge was
supposed to be shut for re-decking. The bridge construction delays mean now that
the completion date should be finished before the busy season starts next year.
Most Tour Directors told Guide Lines that while they had a lot of work this
summer, the number of passengers traveling in groups was down.
Have you noticed the large and wonderfully new designed "Welcome
To British Columbia" signs as you enter the province on Hwy's 1 (from
Lake Louise) and 16 (from Jasper)? They have a blue background with a large
Dogwood flower and are written in both English and French. Jeff Veniot noticed
two years ago that the sign on Hwy 1 was missing its "Welcome To"
words and wrote to the Minister of Tourism to ask why. It was because it was not
bilingual and it is in a national park. Well the one across the Highway that
says "Welcome to Alberta" isn't bilingual either. That sign is old and
so it received some kind of a grandfather clause. In any event, although it has
taken some time the ministry decided to put up two new bilingual signs welcoming
people to our beautiful Province.
Speaking of our Province have you seen the brand new 900-page
"Encyclopedia of BC" book? It sells for $100 (Book Warehouse
[BW] has them for $79.99) and also comes with an interactive CD-ROM that will
work with Macintosh or Windows. On sale now most everywhere it has more than
4,000 entries from 200 contributors. It was edited by Daniel Francis and took
over a decade to produce. There is also an "Encyclopedia of Canada"
book available at BW for $39.99. Do you remember a book that was written four
years ago called "Start and Run a Profitable Tour Guiding Business" by
Braidwood, Boyce and Cropp (Self-Counsel Press of North Vancouver)? Well they
have just finished up-dating and adding to it. It has a couple of good chapters
on Tour Directing and is also available at BW for $19.96.
The 11th Annual Vancouver Tourism Awards is once again
upon us and will take place on Friday 27 October at 7 AM at the
Hyatt Regency in Vancouver. While the cost is $25 and the time is early (yes at
7 AM), it is always great to hear the fabulous stories as to how other tourism
service industry workers have gone above and beyond to win the monthly awards.
The event draws over 500 people to this Gala Breakfast and if you would like to
attend you must RSVP immediately to Terri of Where Magazine at 736-5586.
. .you'll be able to pay for and pick up your ticket at the door (but you should
plan to arrive 10 to 15 minutes earlier. . parking is easy and free as
the parking meters don't kick in until after the event is over).
Harvey Lee, the President and General Manager of Gray
Line of Vancouver for the last 20 years, has resigned. He has decided to move on
and we wish him well. The CTGA owes many thanks to Harvey for the number of
buses he donated for our fundraising efforts. The new GM is Brian Veitch who
has been with Gray Line for the past seven years as the Sales Manager. We have
no doubts that our good relationship with Gray Line and with Brian will
continue.
Admit it. Before former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau passed
away last month, if someone had asked you what is Canada's highest mountain, you
would not have been able to name Mount Logan would you? And if you could,
would you also have been able to explain who Logan was? Sir William Edmond
Logan, who died in 1875, was the first director of the Geological Survey of
Canada and he produced the first comprehensive map of the country as it was in
1866. The peak, which is located in the Yukon, was named in 1890 by a
mountaineer who first saw it during an attempted ascent of a nearby mountain. It
is 5,959 metres or 19,843 feet. In case you missed the news, the federal
government has now backed down on renaming it Mount Trudeau. Now, can you name
BC's highest peak? Answer below.