Manic Monday | September - Time for a New Year

I don't think I’m alone when I say that September has always felt more like the beginning of a new year than January.

When the calendar rolled over to the "1st" last Friday if felt as though life had resumed some sense of normalcy, an order or sorts after the chaos of summer. Children returning to school, causing adults to fall into a more structured routine and an overall renewed sense of commitment to what lie ahead, what must be accomplished in the coming "year".

Perhaps it is the result of those formative 12++ years when this time always meant the purchase of supplies; new pencils, pens, books, binders and sometimes even new clothes. For me it is the memory of the untouched pages and pages of white lined sheets of notebook paper just begging to be written upon. The promise of a fresh start, a new beginning and the possibility of what the future might hold.

Tomorrow we at TOTA will again begin a "new year" and there is a laundry list of work to be done. First and foremost we will be working closely with Destination BC and our Stakeholders to drive fall visitation that will hope to build back some of the losses from this summer and also as important ensure the message in the consumers’ minds as the summer ends is shifted from negative images to more positive ones. The Destination Development Planning meetings commence this month in many areas of the region and province, the Remarkable Experiences Workshops will start again in October and we will continue our ongoing work with Rail Trails, Indigenous Tourism and the Sustainability Accreditation for the region. You may be asked to participate in many of these upcoming initiatives as well as joining us in Alberta to recruit future employees, Kamloops to attend the TOTA AGM and Summit and Australia to meet with like-minded businesses and discuss best practices.

This Labour Day Monday take a moment to reflect on the summer of 2017. It certainly threw its share of curve balls and some of our region are still not finished dealing with them. It was the summer of our 150th confederation and it was a summer that won't be forgotten soon, but we will all move on, we will come back from the challenges and as we will start this "new year" working harder than ever to align our teams and prepare for whatever comes our way.

Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO