Chamber should be part of new tourist building
Back by popular demand.
Well maybe that is a stretch, but comments last week by new Osoyoos Chamber of Commerce President C.J. Rhodes certainly made some sense.
Rhodes, who is back in the saddle as president of the Chamber of Commerce, commented in last week's Osoyoos Times that there might be a possibility the Chamber would be included in the new tourist information centre.
We think that is a great idea. After all the Chamber of Commerce is synonymous with tourism in this province, and, according to the Chamber, it still gets many, many inquiries regarding tourism.
Also, the Chamber of Commerce represents many of the businesses in this community, and ultimately those businesses rely on tourism. Including the Chamber of Commerce in the new centre would essentially give those local businesses a say in local tourism issues.
Currently, the Osoyoos business community is not represented at either the tourism or economic development tables and one way to start changing that is to house the Chamber in this new centre.
The business community plays a key role in tourism in this community, probably as much or more than the tourist information centre itself. Thus, it only makes sense to house the group that represents those businesses under the same roof where the direction and decisions regarding tourism are being made.
Further, we can't help but think that having tourism inquiries going to two different places (as happens now), just doesn't make sense and must be confusing for tourists.
That is why we think allowing the Chamber to be part of the new tourist information centre would not only be a good move for the Chamber, but an equally good more for the future of our tourism industry.
