Macdonald to AHLA: “How you see is what you get”

Warren Macdonald

JASPER, AB—Warren Macdonald had both his legs amputated following an accident on a mountain on an island off the coast of Australia.

But as he wheeled around the stage at the AHLA conference at Jasper Park Lodge on April 19, he told delegates that, “Living without legs is not that hard. There are times when this has been a game-over situation, but it’s not a big deal because I don’t see it as a big deal.”

He drew a parallel to the problems hoteliers face with the economic situation. “When we look at the economy, all we see is the negative. the biggest challenge we face is how we see these changes. When we change the way we see the world, we change the world.”

Macdonald has accomplished what many would consider miracles. Not long after the accident, he started swimming laps, and decided that he would enter the Pier to Pub 1.2 km swim race held every January in Victoria, Australia. The 4,000 participants were divided into heats of 732 people. “For the next 20 minutes, all I could think was, ‘I am a swimmer.’ At the end of the race, 259 of those swimmers had been beaten by a guy with no legs.

“How you see is what you get. Later I found out that I swam that race faster than I had 10 years earlier with two legs.”

Hoteliers shouldn’t wait for some TV reporter to tell them when the recession is over. They should check in and look for opportunities that exist, rather than roadblocks.

“Some people lay off a ton of staff—to me that doesn’t really fly,” said Macdonald. “You have an opportunity now to outshine your competitors. The key time is now. When I have to wander around to get someone [at a hotel] to answer my questions, that’s just not acceptable.

“That Pier to Pub swim blew the lid off what it means to be cruising around the world in a wheelchair,” Macdonald added.

Macdonald’s achievements continued. He climbed Cradle Mountain in Australia just 10 months after losing his legs. He developed “stubbies” or short, prosthetic legs with different attachments for different tasks. This enabled him to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

“Are you focusing on the summit or the steps?” Macdonald asked the hoteliers. “The reality is if I didn’t deal with each and every obstacle that cropped up on the way, I never would have made it. I had to navigate each one before I reached the summit—I had to focus on each step.

“It’s not about climbing mountains, but about reaching the challenge of change head on,” Macdonald said. “As Charles Darwin said, it is not the strongest or most intelligent of the species that survives, but the one most responsive to change.”

Stelmach addresses hoteliers

Alberta premier Ed Stelmach also addressed the AHLA, congratulating them on their 90th anniversary.

“While much of the world still reels, Alberta is heading in the right direction,” he said, adding that Alberta’s confidence and optimism is reflected in the fact that the government is not increasing taxes, is not implementing new taxes and fees, and expects to have a balanced budget by 2012/13.

One indication of Alberta’s optimism is the fact that the birth rate is that largest ever, with 44,000 people born in the province last year, the premier quipped.

He also cited the Alberta Competitiveness Act and the Western Economic Partnership with Manitoba and BC as other indicators that Alberta is on the right track.

“The solution is to review what we have to do to improve competitiveness in this most unbelievable world shift. We used to be satisfied with the U.S. having 350 million people—now the U.S. is not large enough for us any more. We’re looking at Asia, India, China and South America, with open skies bringing more people.

“With the Vancouver Olympics, I could feel the appreciation, giving pride—unbelievable pride— in Canadians. Alberta entered into very good locations such as Alberta House. We are investing in Alberta transportation, and attracting people to Alberta. The hospitality industry knows the value of seizing the opportunity and doing the right kind of advertising to seize the opportunity and build on that momentum.

The premier received a standing ovation.

Travel Alberta to mirror CTC picks for travel marketing

Bruce Okabe, CEO of Travel Alberta and Jon Mamela, vice president of marketing, updated delegates on the corporation’s marketing activities in an afternoon session on April 19.

Okabe gave a catchy nine-word summary of Travel Alberta’s bottom line—“heads in beds, hips in turnstiles, and bums in seats.”

He spoke about travellers’ behavioural changes, including multi-generational travel, the desire for a five-star vacation at a three-star price, and said the rest of the world is catching up with Canada in the race for tourist dollars.

He gave an example of a traveller who paid just $4 Canadian to go from the Bangkok, Thailand airport to downtown, compared to $32 to go a comparable distance in Canada.

Canada is on the radar of 14 per cent of world travellers, but the Rockies are on the minds of just 0.49 per cent.

“Destination awareness is a very crowded market,” Okabe said, paving the way for Mamela’s comments on the Travel Alberta marketing spend.

“Alberta and the Canadian Tourism Commission must align their pricing strategies,” Mamela told delegates, showing them a slide with planned spending for the two organizations, showing remarkably similar numbers.

“For international markets, we’re Team Canada with CTC as a partner. With only 14 per cent awareness, we have to work hard.” That message resonates with international travellers, as opposed to marketing the Rocky Mountains to the less than one per cent aware of that travel destination.

Bruce Okabe (left) and Jon Mamela of Travel Alberta

Future of gaming explored

Muriel Grimble of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission painted a picture of gaming in the future for conference delegates.

AGLC has studied typical VLT players, and has found that they don’t exclusively play one product. Young males of average income tend to play non-electronic or card games, where they can control the outcome. Older players use a broader range of products including slots, VLTs and lotteries.

Customers have suggested they are open to change in products, and that they want something more entertaining. Implementing new games may shift the demographics of players visiting licensed establishments.

Alberta’s 6,000 VLTs are approximately six years old and will be obsolete around 2012/13.

Sharon Stewart, CEO of the Alberta Hotel Safety Association accepts a cheque from Pieter Lambooy of the Alberta WCB. The cheque is a PIR rebate, because the AHSA had nearly 200 fewer claims in 2009 than in 2008, reducing claims costs by 25 per cent and days lost by 25 per cent as well