Cheers!

From coast to coast, The Cross Canada Hotel Bar Hop in last month's EnRoute Magazine highlights some of the most well-known - and dare I say, venerable - Canadian hotel watering holes, such as the Roof Lounge at the Park Hyatt Toronto and the Library Bar in the Fairmont Royal York.

On a recent site visit to "Cowtown" this past summer my client and I bellied up the bar at ONE18 Empire, in the newly renovated Marriott Downtown, Calgary. We were duly schooled in the history of Canadian prohibition, and yes the story about the guys who died in the Empire Hotel fire in a poker stand off.

There are few others mentioned in the article that I can (memorably) cross off my personal "been there, drank that" list, including the Dom Perignon Bar in the phemomenal Palm Court of the Ritz-Carlton, Montreal - and, oh, I'm getting thirsty now - so will be adding the rest to my (ice) bucket list.

Meetings Imitate Art

On a recent site visit to Quebec City my client and I visited the Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec (MNBAQ) and Musée de la Civilisation as off-site options for up to 400 people. Both venues have undergone recent renovations, and offer a wide range of options and experiences for groups - including access to galleries to interactive exhibits.

 

One of MNBAQ's Temporary Exhibit Galleries

The popular "old jail" section of MNBAQ

If you hold your meeting during the AMAZING Festival d'été de Québec your group will have access to dozens of performances on outdoor stages throughout the downtown, and on the Plains of Abraham.

The Centre des Congrès de Québec added additional exhibit space a few years ago, and is connected by indoor passageways to both the Quebec Hilton and the Delta Quebec

An exceedingly walkable city, you never know when you're going to happen upon a piece of art, or performance.

Physical comedy and acrobatics entertain kids of all ages in the shadow of the famous "castle" (Chateau Frontenac), under an almost-full moon, with Salvador Dali's elephant sculpture in the background #dalielephant  

A HUGE "Merci" to Quebec Region's Meetings & Conventions bureau for facilitating our trip, and for all they do to partner with meeting professionals to bring successful and productive business events to their destination.

Travelling for Business - Mostly

I sometimes joke that mixing business with pleasure is my super-power, congratulating myself whenever I succeed in carving out some personal time to explore and enjoy a destination outside the walls of a hotel ballroom or my guestroom.

This is a fun little spot by Crowne Plaza Hotels giving road warriors permission to take advantage of hotel amenities and services - while getting the job done.

Marwood - Brands Explained

The jokey "Brangelina"-type contraction of Marriott and Starwood continues to be used as a short-form for some of the ongoing challenges since the acquisition which created the largest hotel chain in the world.

One of the challenges is distinguishing the various brands - many of which would be considered competitors in most markets, and virtually inter-changeable in the eyes of the consumer.

This Skift opinion piece, Every One of Marriott's 30 Brands Explained is a very thorough rundown of the current Marriott and Starwood brand messages along with some commentary of perhaps where the brands will (or should) go to differentiate themselves and maintain share.

Something to keep in mind if it appears a Marriott "monopoly" will impinge competition is that the vast majority of hotels are not actually company-owned.  Individual hotel owners and hotel owning companies will continue to demand their share of the business.

And then you have *us*.  My job is to create competition for my clients' business - no matter who owns the bricks and mortar, or flies the flag on the top of the building - I will ensure hotels sharpen their pencils and offer the best possible prices and terms, regardless of who they're competing against.

Human Trafficking and "The Code"

Just this week a couple in Red Deer, Alberta was charged with Human Trafficking in a case of exploiting temporary workers - at a hotel.  Details here

In this case the victims were being forced to work long hours for meager wages - and that pay was being clawed back as rent for living in a hotel room shared with up to four other workers. In other hotels and motels around the world, thousands of children are being trafficked for sex.

The statistics are heartbreaking.

• Average age: 13 years  
• Average life expectancy of child being trafficked: seven years
• 95% of recovered child sex victims ran away from an abusive home
• 1/3 of runaways are picked up by a pimp within 48 hours
• Odds that a victim will be rescued: 1 in 100

....and the most disturbing, for those of us in the hospitality industry:

• 94% of all sex trafficking takes place in a hotel or motel

Which is why ConferenceDirect has created a task force to address the issue - urging all associates to educate ourselves, sign "The Code", have meaningful conversations with our hotel and CVB partners, and even include language in our RFPs and contracts:

"As a socially responsible company and signatory of The Tourism Child-Protection Code of Contact (www.thecode.org), the Hotel is committed to combating commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Hotel stands firm in our resolve to create awareness of sex trafficking of children by utilizing our professional resources in the travel and tourism industry. We ask that our partners do the same."

THE CODE

The Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct is the only voluntary set of business principles travel and tour companies can implement to prevent child sex tourism and trafficking of children. The Code is a joint venture between the tourism private sector and ECPAT.

Companies that endorse The Code are supported by ECPAT-USA to :

Establish a policy and procedures against sexual exploitation of children.
Train employees in children's rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation and how to report suspected cases.
Include a clause in contracts throughout the value chain stating a common repudiation and zero tolerance policy of sexual exploitation of children.
Provide information to travelers on children's rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation of children and how to report suspected cases.
Support, collaborate and engage stakeholders in the prevention of sexual exploitation of children.
Report annually on their implementation of Code related activities.

At What Cost?

Speculation about the cost - beyond the estimated 18 billion dollar hit to the U.S. economy - continues to swirl around the issue of Trump's infamous travel ban.  Job losses in the tourism and hospitality sector seem likely, at the very least. Not so tangible is the possible intellectual impact from international scientific and academic communities choosing not to meet in the United States.

See Convene magazine's article Will Global Planners Cross the U.S. Off the List? for some of the latest research figures and specific examples of lost opportunities.

Flipping Awesome!

There's a fun article in the Sports section of the The Globe and Mail today about how "elves" (as they think of themselves) convert the hockey arena that saw the Leafs lose to the Caps in Game 6 of the first playoff round to a basketball court for our still-in-the-game Raptors.

Check it out here

Thing is, hotels do this sort of thing all the time.  Sometimes it involves tearing down a trade show for one group (booths and pipe and drape and food stations) to set up a breakfast meeting (banquet rounds with linens, chairs, dishes and cutlery, and staging with podium, mic, and screens) for a completely different organisation. Sometimes a group requires a room to be "flipped" in the same day, for the same group.  

I  remember one group I worked with was using half the Regency Ballroom at the the old Four Seasons Hotel (on Avenue Road) for a team building event featuring a crazy obstacle course of over-sized blow-up tunnels and things to climb over and under.  While they were playing mock Olympics it was "all hands on deck" with employees from nearly every department in the hotel assisting with the "flip" to a gala dinner setup complete with dance floor and staging for live band.

Can't believe I found a picture of the Regency Ballroom in the *old* Four Seasons Toronto!

Go Raps!

All work and no play?

I know how hard my clients work, and our partners at Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (now part of Accor Hotels) recognize how much ConferenceDirect Associates do for our clients. So a couple of weeks ago we were all treated to a mid-week pampering break at Her Majesty's Pleasure cocktail bar/spa located downtown in Toronto. 

After a pampering treatment of our choice and some "F&B" (this is the hospitality industry, after all), we were apprised of the latest updates on Fairmont Hotels in the Eastern region of Canada - most exciting of which is the complete "transformation" (to the tune of $140-million) of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal. The QE closed completely in June of 2016 and is set to re-open, ahead of schedule, within the next couple of months and the entire guestroom inventory will be renovated by December 2017. See here for more details.

Can a Hotel change the way we eat?

That's the question posed in an article in this week's NOW magazine, about the Gladstone's decision to hire a food activist to work with the hotel's Executive Chef in planning menus using sustainable, locally sourced ingredients.

It's not a new revelation that rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gasses than driving cars. "According to the United National, livestock is responsible for 18 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. This percentage includes the effect of deforestation in order to create grazing land, as well as livestock natural methane gas emissions".

So naturally vegetables and other produce from nearby Southern Ontario farms will be taking centre stage. Food activism also translates to social responsibility to the neighbourhood residents by offering healthy pay-what-you-can dinners.


Read the story here

Stay to Play - yes, it's a thing

I recently came across an excellent article in the Spring issue of Adrenalin, a magazine about Sports Tourism in Canada. The Case for Stay-To-Play looks at the reasons, challenges, and best practices for implementing a "stay-to-play" policy.

Essentially the policy states that attendees who book their accommodations outside the negotiated room block(s) are prohibited from participating in the event.

Sounds draconian - but it works. By giving the organizers complete control of the room block they're in a stronger bargaining position with hotels, and without the risk of attrition charges, the event - and the organization itself - can flourish, which in turn benefits its members/event attendees.

I experienced some form of this a couple of years ago, when I attended a PCMA East conference in Montreal.  I was delighted to stay at the beautiful Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, the host hotel for (and major sponsor of) the conference.  Had I opted to stay at nearby a hotel though, I would have received a phone call from the organizers (who were comparing the conference registration list with the hotel reservations list) and been told that I would be charged an additional $200 to attend the conference. (It should be pointed out that this was a meetings industry conference, so we all "got it".)

One of my clients has implemented a softer version of this by offering a "Stay and Save" rebate to attendees who book their hotel room before the cutoff date, and show proof of hotel check-in when they pick up their registration materials at the event.  (See Sweet Side of Swing Northwest)  I think this is brilliant!

Would love to hear your feedback.

Shoot it or lose it

I don't know about you, but I always congratulate myself at the end of a trip if:
A. I actually wore everything I packed
and
B. I didn't leave anything behind in a hotel room or on a plane

This travel trip courtesy of  Meetings and Conventions: snap photos on your phone of everything you pack and refer to the photos as you repack to ensure you have everything.

Mission: Massage

I'm treating myself to a massage a the Four Seasons Toronto Spa this week. Sadly I should have scheduled it earlier in the day, according to an article in the Travel Section of this weekend's Globe and Mail.

See: "How to get a good massage on the road" or Under Pressure

In terms of local (Toronto) spa experiences I'm still a huge fan of the Stillwater Spa in the bowels of the Park Hyatt.  Have heard great things about the Miraj Hammam Spa at the Shangri-La Hotel Toronto.  Next time - and I will book an earlier appointment.

Do the Wild Thing

Animal welfare is a subject near and dear to my heart so I read with great interest an article in the March Issue of Meetings Today about how animal sanctuaries are welcoming groups and hosting events. Power-point-weary conference delegates are invited to take a break from technology and reconnect with nature and with living beings who have been given a second lease on life.

I have huge admiration for the people who run these safe havens for injured and abused animals - not for profit, but because of a strong moral conviction that this is the right thing to do.  From retired race horses, to rescued farm animals, to endangered species...."all creatures great and small" deserve safe and pain-free lives.

You can read the full article here

See below a YouTube video starring the animals of the Catskill Animal Sanctuary

Trump Slump Silver Lining?

I woke up this morning to a piece on the radio about the Girl Guides of Canada suspending all trips to the United States due to the current travel restrictions and fears that if one girl on a bus trip to New York, for instance, is denied entry that they couldn't very well leave her at the border.
See story here

This is just the latest in a story I've been following about the sudden drop in travel to the United States since President Trump announced his infamous "travel ban".  Travel companies Frommer and Kayak have cited drops in individual hotel rates in the 30% range.  Domestic travelers typically don't spend as much as foreign visitors, affecting the one-in-eight people in the United States who earn their living either directly or indirectly from the travel industry.

ConferenceDirect has already canvassed its associates to find out how the current regulations are affecting our clients. I'm sure I'll hear more about that at our Annual Partner Meeting in Baltimore at the end of next month.

We've already seen a softening in group hotel rates in the wake of unprecedented demand over the last few years.  Could this mean a significant shift in what has been a sellers market?

The View from "Ici"

With 571 guestrooms, the Hilton Quebec is the second-largest hotel in Quebec City - and oh, by-the-way - all of those recently-renovated rooms boast oversized picture windows taking full advantage of amazing views:

The Plains of Abraham, Old Quebec, the St. Lawrence River and the Laurentian Mountains in the distance...

The popular Plaines room on hotel's top, 23rd floor, offers a total of 2,772 square feet - again with a spectacular view.  The Executive Club floor is also located on the 23rd floor - great for VIP upgrades!

Hilton Quebec's 7,623 square foot ballroom is the largest in the city. With 23,000 square feet of dedicated hotel meeting space, and an enviable location adjacent to the Centre des Congres du Quebec (the city's newly-expanded full-service convention centre), the Hilton has always been the go-to choice for larger meetings and conventions.  A multi-million dollar renovation project, though, has added 73,000 square feet of flexible function space beneath the hotel's lobby; albeit technically part of the convention centre, it would be contracted separately.

Banking on Luxury

 

Located in the historic Old Port of Quebec City on Rue Saint-Pierre, the "Wall Street" of its time,  Hotel 71 was originally a built as a bank.  Now a Four-Diamond rated luxury boutique hotel, its 50 contemporary rooms and nine suites (and one fab Penthouse Suite) feature primary materials such as natural stone and the occasional bank remnant - like a vault door - as well as hardwood floors, spacious bathrooms, and glorious 15 ft. ceilings.

The hotel has four meeting rooms, all with natural light and DIY espresso machines. The largest, Salon 71 at 1500 square feet can accommodate up to 45 people classroom. (We saw it cunningly set-up with rectangular tables of eight - as an alternative to half-rounds.)

Its sister property - attached, with inside access (guests of both hotels have access to the same Espace Café/lounge offering complimentary coffee) - The Saint-Pierre offers an additional 41 guestrooms in more country-chic style, as well as its own library and lobby where coffee, tea and water are served all day long.  Great for overflow.

Also attached, the stylish but homey (all the dishes are prepared using "Mama's" recipes and patrons are warmly greeted by the owner) Il Matto Italian restaurant can accommodate small groups for dine-arounds or off-sites, that aren't really off-site at all!

Many other restaurants are within walking distance.  The hotel has bicycles for guests who want to explore the city on two wheels.

 

Having a little work done

In the finishing stages of a $70 million dollar facelift, Quebec City's famous "castle", is getting bigger as well as better.

The 120+year old Fairmont Chateau Frontenac is (proudly!) the most-photographed hotel in the world, so she likes to look her best. Guestrooms have been recently renovated in a more contemporary style with an updated lobby, meeting space and some snazzy new Food and Beverage outlets yet to be unveiled. The real focus, however, has been the addition of 15,000 square feet of much-needed meeting space - bringing the rooms-to-space ratio more in line.

The number of Fairmont Gold rooms is also increasing (from 47 to 61) and the Fairmont Gold lounge is being enlarged to allow more guests, and small groups, to enjoy this luxury product.

Now offering 613 guestrooms and 40,000 square feet of function space, the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac will be ready for her close up May 2014.

Small Big Hotels in a Small Big City

Calgary likes to call itself a "small big city". It's the fifth largest municipality in Canada, covering an area of 722 square kilometers (vs. Toronto's 644 sq. km.), but manages to retain a small city feel, and if your group doesn't require the massive space of the Calgary Telus Convention Centre or Stampede grounds, there are a number of right-sized options.

ELAN
New kid on (a very trendy) block, the 43-guestroom Elan hotel opened in June of last year. The building was originally an apartment building, closed in 2011 and now repurposed as a ultra-modern boutique hotel. Spare and functional, with red accents throughout, all nine room-types have walk-out balconies - and get this: internet FREE, long-distance calling to just about anywhere in the world FREE, breakfast served in a bright main floor space with patio access and built-in business centre - FREE! 

There's also a small meeting room - The Summit - fully wired for video conferencing. Located adjacent to 17th Avenue, Calgary's Retail and Entertainment District for an effortless mix of business with pleasure.

 

HOTEL ARTS
It seems a bit of an oxymoron to talk about a boutique hotel having a 9,500 sq. ft. ballroom, but that's how the 185-room Hotel Arts rolls. Unrecognizable from its roots as a Holiday Inn, complete with old-school outdoor pool and patio - oh, the childhood memories! - now a retro-chic event space available for corporate barbecues, evening receptions....

The best meal I had while in Calgary was at the hotel's restaurant, The Yellow Door Bistro, perhaps not coincidentally named Best New Restaurant in Calgary for 2013.  Popular with the entertainment industry, I can imagine running into a well-known band in the Yellow Door or the hotel's recently re-launched Raw Bar.

Another "Like" for me were the Brooklin Cruiser bicycles, available FREE to guests for city-exploring.

HOTEL LE GERMAIN CALGARY
The western-most member of the Canadian Luxury Boutique Le Germain "collection", Hotel Le Germain Calgary is just one minute away from the Telus Convention Centre, so its luxurious guestrooms provide a true sanctuary experience for convention attendees. For smaller meetings, the hotel has six (6) highly-functional meeting rooms (sound-proofed, with acoustic ceilings, advanced lighting and state-of-the-art A/V systems) able to accommodate from 10-100 people.

Hotel amenities include CHARCUT Restaurant (which made MacLean's Best New Restaurants list when it opened in 2010), a roof-top 24-hour fitness centre and Santé Spa, high-speed wireless internet throughout the hotel, and even lap-tops available for guests.

IndustryInsights, eh?

IndustryInsights is a ConferenceDirect educational event, bringing together ConferenceDirect clients and partners to learn and share ideas about the what's happening in the meetings industry - and what the current trends and forecasts are for the future.

For the first time last June, the event was held in Canada, at the Sheraton Centre Toronto hotel - appropriately, as ConferenceDirect's President and CEO Brian Stevens pointed out as it is exactly this type of "big box" convention hotel that meets the needs of so many of our clients so well.

(The hotel did an *amazing* job - wowing one of my clients with the "best breakfast buffet I've ever seen". )

IndustryInsights regular Mike Fegley (Vice President of Sales - The Americas of Intercontinental Hotels Group) gave a detailed state-of-the-industry presentation with special attention paid to Canadian market trends.  His fact-filled slides were sent to all attendees with a follow up survey.

A prestigious panel of industry experts fielded questions on a wide variety of topics:

• Are there any "deals" out there? and if so - where?
• Increase rooms-to-space ratios for complimentary function space
• Food & Beverage service trends (exemplified by the recent cancellation of Room Service at the Hilton New York), as well as dietary requirements and preferences
• Internet charges and costs to the hotel
• "Green" innovations
• Hotel loyalty/Rewards programs

Upcoming IndustryInsights are scheduled for Denver (June 18-29, 2014), Minneapolis (Sept.11-12, 2014), and Nashville (November 19-20). Please let me know if you would like any additional information.