Current News

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts in cooperation with Wine Spectator magazine today announce the global launch of Sheraton Social Hour, a first-of-its-kind, brand-wide premium wine program. The new program, developed by today’s premier wine experts and the brand’s global food and beverage team, offers guests a specially curated menu of premium wines and weekly tasting events at more than 240 participating Sheraton hotels around the world. In North America, the program will feature 90+ rated wines by Wine Spectator served in Riedel stemware to ensure that each varietal is presented in the perfect stemware that artfully enhances the wine’s flavor and aroma.

"We wanted to truly elevate the wine tasting experience for our guests and are proud to introduce Sheraton Social Hour across our global portfolio," said Hoyt Harper, Global Brand Leader for Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. "We worked with some of the most renowned names in the wine industry for more than a year so that our guests can easily savor some of the most highly rated wines in the world during their stay."

Sheraton Hotels piloted the new program in 19 global properties with tremendous success. Ninety-five percent of guests said they are "very likely" or "likely" to return to another Social hour and would recommend the program to others and sixty-six percent would be more inclined to purchase wine while traveling if there was a premium wine program offered.

Raise a Glass
All hotels participating in the brand’s signature global wine program will offer guests a specially curated menu of premium wines. In North America, the program will feature Sheraton Selects, an upgraded premium wine menu comprised of a rotation of eight or more wines by the glass, all rated by Wine Spectator. All Sheraton Selects wines will be rated above 85 and at least four offerings will be rated 90+. The program will feature renowned wineries such as Chateau Ste. Michelle, Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Northstar, Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte and Eroica.

Sheraton Social Hour Tasting Events
Designed to create and foster social interaction among guests, all participating Sheraton hotels around the world will host evening Social Hour tasting events three to four times a week featuring a selection of premium wines. In North America, the Social Hour tasting will feature two 90+ rated wines from the Sheraton Selects menu as 2 oz. tastings. Riedel stemware will be used exclusively in the lobby bar for the Sheraton Social Hour wine program. "Our goal with this new program is to become a destination for a great wine experience no matter where your travels take you," said Brian Abel, Vice President of Food & Beverage for Starwood.

About Sheraton Hotels & Resorts
Sheraton helps guests make connections at more than 400 hotels in 70 countries around the world and recently completed a $6 billion global revitalization and is now in the midst of a $6 billion global expansion over the next three years. Sheraton is owned by and is the largest and most global brand of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT 53.78 (-0.90%)), one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,103 properties in nearly 100 countries and 154,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

Vancouver, B.C.—Coast Hotels & Resorts has named Amie Jansen as Regional Sales Manager responsible for corporate and group sales inAlberta and theNorthwest Territories.

Amie, who is based out of the Coast Edmonton House Hotel, was previously Sales Manager, Business Travel, with the Delta Edmonton South Hotel & Conference Centre.  She brings more than 13 years of sales and management experience to Coast Hotels & Resorts including roles as Director of Sales, Regional Sales Manager and Corporate Sales Manager for individual hotels as well as a western North American hotel chain.

In her new position at Coast Hotels & Resorts, Amie is responsible for managing local and national corporate and group travel business focusing on multi-property opportunities among theAlbertaproperties.

“Amie’s extensive background in sales management, both at the property level and in a regional capacity, will be a tremendous asset in helping Coast Hotels & Resorts expand its corporate and group business in westernCanada,” said Scott Roberts, Executive Director, Sales, Coast Hotels & Resorts.  “Meeting professionals will know that we have an on-the-ground team they can count on to deliver outstanding accommodations and exceptional guest service.”

“Coast Hotels & Resorts is a highly respected brand in the hotel industry and I’m delighted to be part of their sales team,” said Amie.  “Coast Hotels’ extensive portfolio of quality properties offers great opportunities for meeting planners and corporate clients looking for the ideal location for events in westernCanada.”

Amie received an Accelerated Business Management Studies Diploma fromGrantMacEwanUniversityin 1998 and has a Master Gardner Diploma from Devonian Botanical Gardens,UniversityofAlberta.  

A resident of Stony Plain, Alberta, just west of Edmonton, Amie spends her leisure hours puttering in her garden and enjoys travelling and camping with her five year-old daughter.  

About Coast Hotels & Resorts
Coast Hotels & Resorts is a leading hotel chain in western North America. The company’s philosophy of serving its guests through a superior standard of value, hospitality and service enables its continuing expansion. Coast Hotels & Resorts now manages and franchises over 40 hotel and resort properties located throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Northwest Territories, the western United States, Alaskaand Hawaii. Visit www.coasthotels.com or call 1-800-663-1144 for more information.

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the business travel industry, today announced the speakers for the "Luminaries of Travel CEO" panel to be held on July 24th, during GBTA Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Trip Davis, President and Senior Associate Dean for external relations of the Darden School Foundation will moderate the panel with leaders of major travel suppliers including Barney Harford, CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, Luis Maroto, President and CEO of Amadeus, and Arne Sorenson, President and CEO of Marriott International, Inc. The panel is made possible by BMO Financial Group.

These luminaries will tackle crucial questions about the future of business travel including the changing supplier landscape and the new generation of business travelers. They will engage in an insightful dialogue about technological advances, industry consolidation and growing demands for sustainability shaping the industry.

"These panelists have a real inside view into the supply side of the travel industry. Their insights will be invaluable for the travel managers, meetings professionals and procurement leaders tasked with managing the important relationships affecting their travel programs," said Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director and COO of GBTA. "This is one of the marquee panels at GBTA Convention and we"re excited to hear from them."

Trip Davis is the President and Senior Associate Dean for external relations of the Darden School Foundation. As an award winning entrepreneur and executive in travel technology and data services, Trip is a visionary and driving force in the travel industry. He built two successful technology services firms which have been enablers of online travel, now the largest ecommerce category. He is the co-founder and Chairman of TRX, a global leader in travel technology and data services. TRX processes travel transaction data from over 400 sources in 50 countries he led the company from a start-up to $110 million in revenue and IPO in 2005.

Barney Harford serves as CEO of Orbitz Worldwide and director on the Orbitz Worldwide board of directors. As one of the world"s leading online travel companies, Orbitz Worldwide operates brands in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific that generate over US$11 billion in travel bookings each year. Barney previously served in a variety of roles at Expedia, Inc. and led the company"s entry into China, Japan and Australia. He also serves as a board member of LiquidPlanner, an on-demand project management service that is transforming the way organizations manage complex projects; and Orange Hotel Group, a high-design budget hotel chain based in China.

Luis Maroto serves as the President & CEO of Amadeus. Previously, Luis was Deputy CEO of Amadeus, with responsibility for overall company strategy as well as line management of the finance, internal audit, legal and human resources functions. He has also been instrumental in Amadeus" return to the stock market with the company"s successful IPO in April 2010. Luis holds a law degree from the Complutense University, Madrid, an MBA from the IESE Business School and further postgraduate qualifications from Harvard Business School and Stanford.

Arne M. Sorenson is the President and CEO of Marriott International, Inc., a leading global lodging company with nearly 3,700 lodging properties in 72 countries and territories. In his previous role as Marriott"s President and COO, Mr. Sorenson was responsible for the performance and growth of all of Marriott"s worldwide brands and businesses. Mr. Sorenson is chairman of Marriott"s Global Diversity and Inclusion Council and co-founded Marriott"s Global Sustainability Council launching Marriott"s rainforest preservation partnership with the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation in Brazil.

About the Global Business Travel Association Convention
The GBTA Convention, with more than 6,000 attendees, is the largest, most comprehensive annual gathering of business travel and meetings managers, meeting planners, procurement professionals and suppliers anywhere in the world. The Business Travel Event of the Year® features: more than 65 industry-leading education sessions organized into 15+ specialized tracks geared to specific levels of experience and a variety of disciplines; a 400+ company Exposition showcasing market choices not available at other industry gatherings; sessions featuring world-renowned speakers and industry leaders; a wide selection of professional development opportunities; and, much more. For more information on the GBTA Convention, visit gbta.org/convention.

London—AlliedPRA, Inc., a global leader in the destination management company (DMC) sector, announces today leading sales veteran, Gabrielle Spanton joined the AlliedPRA Global Sales team as the new Global Sales Manager covering the Canadian market.

Spanton brings over 25 years of sales experience in the travel industry with a long list of business successes from negotiating multi-million dollar contracts to high-end incentive programs. Her career spans the airline industry to performance improvement and loyalty solutions to strategic meetings management. She most recently served in strategic meetings management and sales implementation for two different meetings management companies. In her new role, Spanton will lead the sales efforts in the Canadian market, driving sales growth and business expansion among key accounts, while looking for opportunities to develop additional market share in the region.

"As a leading sales manager in the DMC arena, Gabrielle is known for her professional and consultative approach with a unique understanding of her clients needs, which results in successful programs time and time again," shared Alan Smith, Vice President of AlliedPRA Global Sales. "She is focused on the desired outcomes each client looks for in partnering with a DMC and her solid track record proves it. We look forward to a successful partnership with Gabrielle and welcome her to the AlliedPRA sales team."

In addition to her sales success, Spanton is the recipient of numerous sales and leadership awards, as well as being named the 2010 Mentor of the Year by M&IT Magazine and the 2011 Business Professional of the Year by Cambridge Who's Who.

Founded in 1981, AlliedPRA, along with its strategic partners, is the leading global destination management and event planning company with a world-wide span across three continents, 7 countries and over 60 event destinations, serving an impressive array of clientele, representing every major industry and market segment. AlliedPRA offers a full-range of destination management services from event planning, transportation management, tours, teambuilding activities, site selection, product launches, on-site services and more. For information on the complete portfolio of international destination management services, please contact +1 800.797.9471 or visit www.alliedpra.com.

Follow AlliedPRA Destination Management at www.alliedpra.com or any of the following social media sites: Twitter at www.twitter.com/#!alliedpra, Facebook at www.facebook.com/alliedpra and on LinkedIn under AlliedPRA groups. 

AlliedPRA Coverage
AlliedPRA US destinations, include wholly-owned and franchise operations throughout North America with offices located in Arizona, Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New England, New Orleans, New York, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Springs, San Antonio, San Diego, San Diego North, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and South Florida. ­AlliedPRA European destinations include France, Italy, Monaco, Spain, and the United Kingdom. AlliedPRA Arabian destinations include, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Oman.

Vancouver, B.C.— Coast Hotels & Resorts has named Judy Adams Regional General Manager responsible for overseeing operations at the 220-room Coast Coal Harbour Hotel and 269-room Coast Plaza Hotel & Suites in Vancouver.

A veteran hotelier, Judy brings more than 25 years of hospitality management experience to Coast Hotels & Resorts having served as General Manager of various Fairmont hotels in B.C. andNew Brunswickas well as Silverbirch Hotels & Resorts in Vancouver and Tantalus Lodge, Delta Hotels & Resorts, in Whistler, B.C. Prior to accepting her new post, she was General Manager of the Marquise Group of Companies inRichmond, B.C, responsible for overseeing the Vancouver Airport Authority’s Customer Care Service Program. Previously, Judy was Managing Director of ETHOS BC, an incorporated non-profit society dedicated to advancing sustainable tourism practices in the province.

“Judy’s extensive experience in the hotel industry coupled with her focus on operational excellence make her a perfect fit for our two downtown Vancouver hotels,” said Craig Norris-Jones, Vice President of Operations, Coast Hotels & Resorts. “Judy brings a strong proficiency in guest relations, revenue growth and well-rounded hospitality knowledge to Coast Hotels & Resorts.”

Judy received an Honours Diploma in Tour & Travel from Success Angus Business College while living in Winnipeg and attended the University of Manitoba undergraduate studies in the Faculty of Human Ecology. She completed the Hospitality Manager’s Development Course, School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, University of Guelph, and has commenced the Executive MBA at Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C.

Judy has been an active member of the Hotel Association ofVancouverover the years and is excited about re-engaging with professionals in Vancouver’s hotel industry. She is a member of the Vancouver Board of Trade and the Women’s Leadership Circle. Judy is also a member of the MacKay & Associates’ Vancouver-based CEO and Executive Forums, committed to evolving leadership and accelerating business and personal growth.  Her community involvement has included a term as Co-Chair for the YVR Golf for Kids Foundation, which raises funds annually forCanuck Placeand various children’s charities. One of the highlights of her involvement in the Foundation was chaperoning special needs kids of Greater Vancouver for a day to remember on Air Canada’s annual “Flight for Kids” trip to Disneyland.

About Coast Hotels & Resorts
Coast Hotels & Resorts is a leading hotel chain in western North America. The company’s philosophy of serving its guests through a superior standard of value, hospitality and service enables its continuing expansion. Coast Hotels & Resorts now manages and franchises over 40 hotel and resort properties located throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Northwest Territories, the western United States, Alaska and Hawaii. Visit www.coasthotels.com or call 1-800-663-1144 for more information.

The Americas Meetings & Events Exhibition (AIBTM) announced today the addition of six more strategic and thought provoking education sessions at AIBTM 2012, Reed Travel Exhibitions’ premier provider for the U.S. meetings and events industry. The three-day networking event, held June 19 – 21 in Baltimore will feature a full day of education, followed by two days of exhibitions.

These sessions, presented by Meetings Professionals International (MPI) and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE), will help redefine how to make meetings and event marketing programs measurable as well as a more consistent and responsive meeting experience for all.

“Following the launch of the first ever international study on the Business Value of Meetings at AIBTM last year, the industry continues to grapple with the greatest challenge of effectively communicating the value of meetings and events,” said Erica Keogan, Reed Travel Exhibitions IBTM Portfolio Education Content Manager. “This year, we have secured some top line evidence and speakers to deliver their views and findings.”

The following three sessions presented by MPI on Tuesday, June 19, will focus on The Practitioner Series: Determine the Business Value of Meetings and Events and will be led by Bill Voegeli, President Significant Research LLC, and John Nawn, Meetings Support Institute:

- The Case for Measurement - This session will present a discussion that will consider ways in which industry leaders can make a business case for measurement and what barriers must be overcome to successfully achieve this.
- Measuring What Matters - Many meeting professionals are not aware of the wide variety of financial and non-financial metrics that can be used to determine value. This interactive discussion on determining objectives and the corresponding metrics and measures that can be utilized for a meeting or event, will show how leading companies are using simple processes and tools to determine the value of their meetings and events.
- Communicating the Value of Your Meeting or Event - One of the greatest challenges in determining the value of meetings and events is properly interpreting the data and effectively communicating results to all stakeholders. This session will support participants in distinguishing value in chosen methods of analysis and outline an effective communication strategy, to support this.

Supporting the same overall theme, ACTE’s following three sessions will further explore ways of delivering ROI:
- Leveraging Emotional Engagement to Improve the ROI of Your Meetings - This workshop will take a fun, interactive game-show approach and examine the role emotions play both in cinema and in our world of meetings and events. The discussions will help attendees identify “positive” emotions generated by an experience and create connections and applications for those emotions to meetings and events.
- Cost-savings: Tips & Insider Information from Road Warriors - A panel of road warriors will share their best tips and other “insider” information including how to get lounge passes and other travel perks for “free”.
- Is It Time to Eliminate the Hotel RFP Process? - If you are ready to disrupt the hotel RFP process and consider unconventional, out-of-the-box solutions, this is a workshop you won't want to miss.

“ACTE is thrilled to present these sessions at AIBTM 2012,” said ACTE Executive Director Ron DiLeo. “We’ve created topics on leveraging emotional engagement to improve the ROI of meetings, cost-saving tips and insider information from road warriors, and an examination of the hotel RFP process, allowing us to maximize understanding across the Business Travel and Incentives, Meetings and Events industries.”

For more information about ways to attend AIBTM please visit www.aibtm.com/visiting. AIBTM takes place from June 19 –June 21, 2012.

Chicago—Hyatt Hotels Corporation today announced the launch of Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served., a global philosophy focused on sourcing and providing food and beverage options that are good for Hyatt guests and associates, good for the planet, and good for local communities. Hyatt is the first global hospitality brand to a make a commitment of this magnitude. This philosophy will guide food and beverage planning at Hyatt properties from the operational level to the guest experience. With this new global identity, Hyatt properties will work to anticipate and satisfy the evolving preferences of its guests, ensuring that travelers have more options to fit their lifestyles while staying in Hyatt hotels around the world.

Driven by insights and in-depth research, Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served. is grounded in three pillars:

- The first pillar is focused on healthy people by offering portion control, balanced offerings and natural ingredients prepared with nutrient preserving cooking techniques. Examples include gluten-free and vegetarian options, organic produce, natural meat without supplemental growth hormones or antibiotics, reduced sodium, reduced additives, beverages with all natural sweeteners such as agave nectar, hormone-free milk and real fruit juice.

- The second pillar is focused on a healthy planet by implementing sustainable practices that will improve the long-term health of people and the planet. Examples include sourcing sustainable seafood, naturally raised beef and pork, planting on-property chef’s gardens, recycling programs, and new to-go containers and packaging.

- The final pillar is intended to support healthy communities by sourcing from local suppliers as well as sharing knowledge and actively supporting farmers’ markets and other community events. Examples include serving at least five local ingredients on menus, partnerships with schools and local community groups, empowering Hyatt associates through education, and sponsoring local culinary schools to participate in competitions.

“Our goal is to continue to drive change in our industry for the benefit of our guests, associates and our communities,” said Achim Lenders, vice president of food and beverage, international operations, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. “This new direction for food and beverage operations will enable and challenge Hyatt hotels to explore new opportunities with local suppliers, reinvigorate how our guests are served, and challenge everyone to do what’s best.”

Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served. is a key component of the health and wellness pillar of Hyatt Thrive, Hyatt’s global corporate responsibility platform designed to enable thriving communities.

To further demonstrate its dedication to Food. Thoughtfully Sourced. Carefully Served., Hyatt has joined forces with Partnership for Healthier America (PHA), which will hold Hyatt accountable for continuously improving the nutritional profile of food menus at full-service managed Hyatt properties across the U.S. over the next 10 years. This pledge marks the first of its kind by a hospitality company to PHA.

About Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Hyatt Hotels Corporation, headquartered in Chicago, is a leading global hospitality company with proud heritage of making guests feel more than welcome. Thousands of members of the Hyatt family strive to make a difference in the lives of the guests they encounter every day by providing authentic hospitality. For more information, please visit www.hyatt.com.

Alexandria, VA—Globally, business travelers feel their needs are being met – but there is room to improve – especially when it comes to serving the needs of travelers in managed programs. This is the finding of Global Business Travel Association Foundation’s Global Business Traveler Study 2012 – sponsored by Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR 63.04 (0.57%)), a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management services.

The study finds that travelers under a mandated program are working hard to stay in budget and be compliant, but it is at the price of their personal life and comfort. However, more needs to be done to help them plan and have travel choices available that do not overburden travelers, as well as have help available to re-juggle their itinerary in-transit if needed to avoid hassles.

Travelers “under guidelines” are successful with staying in budget and being compliant, and given a little less structure in their program, are more comfortable during their trips. However, they are exhausted from the travel and the in-transit hassles, and it has an impact on their personal schedules.

Global Findings:
- Travelers participating in a mandated program are significantly less successful with their business travel than those that are less managed or not managed at all.
- On average 67% of business travelers are visiting new destinations although mainly traveling domestically to do so.
- The majority of business trips, 33% on average, are used for meeting with colleagues, 18% for sales, 21% for training and or industry conferences and 9% for other uses.
- Business travelers around the world tend to be college educated, 42 years old on average and two-thirds are male.

Mandates vs. Guidelines
The Global Business Traveler Study 2012 – sponsored by Concur reveals the substantial differences between travelers who operate under managed programs and those who do not. In the U.S. 21% of travelers are under “mandated” travel programs where they must follow the company’s stated travel policies and/or use the providers or agencies chosen by their company. A third of U.S. business travelers are “unmanaged,” having no stated company guidelines. Nearly half (47%) fall in between or “under guidelines” where they may have to follow policies but are only encouraged to use preferred providers, or must use preferred providers but are only encouraged to follow policy.

Looking at all road warriors in the U.S., the study found that they’re clearly working hard and enjoying their trips, but more needs to be done to help them plan and reduce stress while in-transit like making sure they’re comfortable when on the road and ensuring they have the technology to do their jobs. U.S. business travelers work in a range of industries and tend to be managers, directors or senior managers. Overall, 74% of U.S business travelers stated they were highly satisfied with nearly all aspects of business travel and 81% stating they were able to successful reach mission critical business goals with nearly half reporting they’d like to travel more if possible. However, only 62% of travelers said they were satisfied with the ability to minimize personal hardships.

Calculating the Business Travel Success Index
To better assess business travelers, this study is introducing the GBTA Business Travel Success Index™ (GBTA BTSI™) sponsored by Concur, an overall measure of the travelers’ perceptions of how well they are able to reach their goals when traveling for work. The index is on a scale of 0-100, where 100 is completely successful in meeting all of their goals.

The study finds that travelers participating in a mandated program – with a BTSI of 72.7 – are significantly less successful with their business travel than those who are under guidelines (BTSI of 76) or unmanaged programs (BTSI of 78.6). Below are the overall BTSI measurements of the travelers recently surveyed for this research in the following countries:

Country           BTSI
United States    76.2
India                75.3
Australia           74.5
Canada             74.4

The full report is available exclusively to GBTA members and offers detailed insight for travel managers interested in understanding types of business travelers in the market today. Non-members can purchase this study through the GBTA Foundation website.

About the GBTA Foundation
The GBTA Foundation is the education and research foundation of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the world’s premier business travel and corporate meetings organization. Collectively, GBTA’s 5,000-plus members manage over $340 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. For more information, see gbta.org and gbtafoundation.org

ST. Louis, MO—Kimberly Ritter of St. Charles, senior account manager at Nix Conference & Meeting Management, will receive the 2012 Women of Achievement Human Welfare Award on Thursday, May 17, at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton.

The St. Louis Women of Achievement Award recognizes and honors the achievements of women who, through their volunteer efforts, have demonstrated dedication and commitment to improving the quality of life in the St. Louis community.

Ritter is being honored for her volunteer work to help end child sex trafficking at hotels. Through her position at Nix Conference & Meeting Management, she educates and encourages hotels to sign the ECPAT Code of Conduct and train their staff to identify signs of child sex trafficking and report it to their supervisors. In 2011, Ritter and the Sisters of St. Joseph convinced the Millennium Hotel in Downtown St. Louis to sign the code.

Ritter and her employer also helped draft a Meeting Planners Code of Conduct. Nix is the first meeting management firm in the nation to sign the ECPAT Code of Conduct for Meeting Planners.

Nix Conference & Meeting Management, based in St. Louis, has managed meetings, conferences and trade shows for associations, religious organizations, businesses and nonprofits since 1985. Nix has managed events on four continents and in 17 countries. For more information, call (314) 645-1455 or visit www.nixassoc.com.

Osoyoos, BC—Recognized for her valuable industry leadership and hospitality experience, Ingrid Jarrett has been promoted to Vice President of Business Development, Sales & Marketing for the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos, British Columbia.

A veteran of luxury hotels, Jarrett has over 20 years of experience working in various capacities in renowned Canadian hotels including The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, The Fairmont Palliser, The Fairmont Hotel Macdonald and The Fairmont Empress. Jarrett was also Regional General Manager for a collection of independent luxury boutique hotels in British Columbia including the Cove Lakeside Resort, The Oswego Hotel, L’Hermitage Vancouver, Nita Lake Lodge, Black Rock Oceanfront Resort.  Prior to her promotion, Jarrett was the General Manager of the Watermark Beach Resort, which she helped open in 2009.

A leader in the BC tourism industry, Jarrett sits on numerous boards including that of Vice President for the British Columbia Hotel Association, Chair of the Board for the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, and a member of the Travel Industry Association of British Columbia’s Provincial Destination Marketing Task Force. In 2012, Jarrett was chosen for her business, tourism and economic development acumen to join a team of professionals for the Burns Lake Economic Development Recovery Team by Economic Development Association of BC. Jarrett is also actively involved in the support and development of culinary and agri-tourism in the region through her affiliation with local producers and growers, and is a member of Slow Food International.

Jarrett’s incredible passion for the South Okanagan region and for bringing people and organizations together is what sets her apart. Jarrett has been vigorously pursuing this since she returned to her home the Okanagan Valley in 2006, and subsequently opened Watermark Beach Resort, however in her new role she plans to expand her efforts to further build the profile of the resort and the region.

Set in the heart of Canada’s premiere wine growing region along the quiet shores of Osoyoos Lake, Watermark Beach Resort with its warm welcome and attentive service provide all the services and amenities needed for the perfect getaway, wedding, or meeting destination. Tucked on the shores of Canada’s warmest lake in the heart of the resort community of Osoyoos, the four-story, 153 suite Watermark Beach Resort’s complement of amenities includes Beach Front Residences, Conference Centre, Spa, Yoga and Pilates studio, fitness facility, steam room, 2 outdoor hot tubs, seasonal pool with waterslide, Wine & Tapas Bar with lakeside patio and summer kitchen. The spacious suites filled with natural light include full gourmet kitchens and private balconies with incredible lake and mountain views.

For more information about Watermark Beach Resort, call 1.888.755.3480 or visit www.WatermarkBeachResort.com.