News Release
For Immediate Release:   Friday, November 19, 2010

TOTA’s New Chair Says Region’s Tourism Industry is in Strong Position

The newly elected head of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) says the region’s tourism businesses and organizations have a noticeable new vitality which puts them in a strong position to compete for a bigger portion of the huge worldwide tourism market.

TOTA Board Chair Ingrid Jarrett says that coming off the region’s highly successful Tourism Industry Summit, held earlier this month, TOTA and tourism leaders throughout the Thompson Okanagan are adopting effective new strategies that will attract more visitors and revenue to the area.

And she says it helps that, as the Thompson Okanagan’s destination management and marketing organization, TOTA has revitalized itself with new policies, staff and an enthusiastic new Board with representatives from one end of the large region to the other.

Jarrett was elected TOTA Chair on Nov. 5, following TOTA’s annual election for half of its 15-member Board.  She is a veteran of the travel and hospitality industry.  She is currently General Manager of the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos, operates her own management, marketing and brand consulting firm, and is Vice-President of the BC Hotel Association.  Jarrett spent 13 years with Canadian Pacific and Fairmont Hotels in Vancouver, Whistler, Edmonton, Calgary and Victoria, and also owned a company in the agri-tourism field.  She previously served on the Board of Tourism Victoria.

“B.C.’s tourism industry is valued at $13.8 billion, and the Thompson Okanagan is poised to be the leading region in terms of ensuring continued growth and development for the tourism sector,” Jarrett says.  “We compete on a global scale for tourism spending, and the new strategies, products and partnerships that we are creating right now will be critical to our ongoing success.”

Jarrett says TOTA and its more than 3,200 stakeholders throughout the region are aggressively working to create new tourism demand here, and also to capture demand from other destinations.  “And being able to monitor and measure how we are doing with this goal is also crucial.  Our TOTA team has never been stronger and better poised to support our stakeholders with marketing and management expertise.”

The new Board Chair adds that the success of the recent Tourism Summit hasn’t gone unnoticed in the tourism industry, and it has helped to spark the new vitality and collaboration she sees in Thompson Okanagan communities, regions and stakeholders.   “I believe everyone feels a new sense of leadership and vision in our industry, and that is helping us to develop excellence in creating destinations that will attract increasing numbers of visitors to our region.”

TOTA is the destination management and marketing organization for a large portion of B.C.’s Southern Interior – covering the North and South Thompson areas, the Shuswap, Nicola Valley, Similkameen Valley, Boundary Country, and the North, Central and South Okanagan.  The region includes Valemount, Clearwater, Kamloops, Cache Creek, Salmon Arm, Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton, Osoyoos, Grand Forks, Merritt and Princeton.

“Our new Board of Directors has representation from Valemount to the Shuswap to Osoyoos, with expertise in all realms of our industry,” Jarrett says.  “Its members will ensure that we encompass the region as a whole, and that the voices of our stakeholders and communities are heard.”

The results of a recent online election held for seven members of TOTA’s Board of Directors was announced at the organization’s Annual General Meeting on Nov. 3.

Elected to two-year terms were:  Ingrid Jarrett (Watermark Beach Resort, Osoyoos); Chris Bower (NK’MIP Resort Association); Lee Morris (Tourism Kamloops); Hans-Peter Mayr (Sparkling Hill Resort); Robyn Cyr (Regional District Columbia Shuswap); Christine Latimer (Best Western Valemount); and John Heshka (Thompson Rivers University).

These members join Past Chair Michael J. Ballingall (Big White & Silver Star Resorts) and the following seven continuing Board members serving the second year of their two-year terms:  Judy Poole (Penticton Fest-of-Ale); Christina Ferreira (Okanagan Wine Festivals Society); Christopher Nicolson (Tourism Sun Peaks); Fred Legace (Kamloops Airport); Kelly Watt (Kelowna Sandman Hotel); Lisa Corcoran (Lisa Corcoran Marketing); and Roger Sellick (Tourism Kelowna).

Three previous members of TOTA’s Board – Stephen Earl (Hampton Inn, Kamloops), Ian Henson (Sun Rivers Golf) and Joseph Dubois (Dubois Hospitality, Summerland) – retired this year.

The Board’s executive for 2010-11 consists of:  Ingrid Jarrett (Chair), Chris Bower (Vice-Chair), Judy Poole (Secretary-Treasurer), and Michael J. Ballingall (Past Chair).

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