When not full of tourists and business travellers, BC hotels are occupied by those fleeing natural disasters.
Over the course of the pandemic and throughout a summer of wildfires and the most recent flooding and landslides in the Fraser and Nicola valleys, the BC Hotel Association has worked closely with Emergency Management BC to house displaced citizens and evacuees in hotels in nearby communities where it is safe.
"We have all held the communities of Abbotsford, Merritt and other regions impacted by recent extreme weather conditions closely in our hearts and are proud to assist the province in providing safe shelter for those who have been forced to evacuate," said BC Hotel Association chairman Bryan Pilbeam, who is also general manager at the Delta by Marriott Hotel in Kamloops.
While the hotel sector has lurched from crisis to crisis, including COVID, wildfires, and labour shortage to flooding, mudslides, closed highways and supply-chain interruption, it looks forward to the day it can recover, grow as an industry and welcome guest with open arms to the world-class destination of British Columbia.
Thus, the new board of the BC Hotel Association will oversee a two-pronged approach -- deal with immediate challenges with resilience and focus on a better future.
The Thompson Okanagan is well represented on the board with four members from the region on the 17-person board, including chairman Pilbeam, Jessica Dolan from the Ramada Penticton, Tanya Stroinig from Kelowna-basedPrestige Hotels, which has 14 hotels across the province and Ravinder Dhaliwal of Kamloops-based Mundi Hotel Enterprises, which has 15 properties across BC, including Doubletree, Coast and Riverland Inn in Kamloops, Fairfield Penticton, Coast Oliver, Coast Osoyoos and Four Points coming to Penticton in 2023.
As well, BC Hotel Association president and CEO Ingrid Jarrett is Kelowna-based and used to manage The Royal in Kelowna and Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos.
The 2021-22 board:
- chair: Bryan Pilbeam, Delta by Marriott, Kamloops
- past-chair: John Kearns, Sheraton Vancouver Guildford
- vice-chair: David McQuinn, Coast Bastion, Nanaimo
- treasurer: Ravinder Dhaliwal, Mundi Hotel Enterprises, Kamloops
- Chris Watson, Best Western Carlton Plaza, Victoria
- Brian Rohl, Coast Hotels, Vancouver
- Tanya Stroinig, Prestige Hotels, Kelowna
- Jessica Dolan, Ramada Penticton
- Stewart Instance, Best Western Tin Wis, Tofino
- Stephen Roughley, Marriott Inner Harbour, Victoria
- Scott Johnson, Holiday Inn Express Metrotown, Burnaby
- Leo Saad, Best Western Chateau, Fort St. John
- Vivek Sharma, Fairmont Hot Springs Resort
- Jonas Melin, Pinnacle Harbourfront, Vancouver
- Elenor Ryan, Pomeroy Inn and Stonebridge Hotel, Fort St. John
- Doug Andrews, Listel, Whistler
- David MacKenzie, Pemberton Valley Lodge
The BC Hotel Association is part of the province's $13.8-billion-per-year tourism industry and represents 600 hotels BC that have a total 80,000 rooms and employ 60,000.
