Jesse Ferreras, Pique Newsmagazine

August 29, 2008

The Village of Pemberton is being flooded with positive feedback about its now world famous music festival.

Pemberton hosted an online survey during various stages of the festival and asked respondents to identify how it affected them before, during and after the event that drew an estimated 40,000 people to Pemberton.

The survey, which took festival feedback between July 6 and Aug. 7, drew over 100 responses that ranged anywhere from outright thanks to complaints about traffic congestion that kept people on the road between Whistler and Pemberton for three hours.

One respondent suggested using a train to take people to and from the festival if it happens next year, while another said the event “woke up this sleepy little one-horse town of ours” and put it on the map.

Yet another respondent, however, heaped shame on the Pemberton Chamber of Commerce for “selling out to Live Nation for the money.”

But despite some negative feedback, Chamber President Paul Selina, a staunch proponent of the festival, said he has been “overwhelmed” by the amount of positive comments he’s received about the festival.

“The majority of the community have really embraced the festival and got behind the concept of it returning,” he said. “It has actually been more successful than we could have imagined.”

Selina said the flurry of positive feedback for the festival could be a factor in convincing the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) to allow the event on the same site next year.

The ALC only approved the festival site, which took place on lands falling within the Agricultural Land Reserve, for non-farm use for a single year.

The ALC cited concerns that having an annual festival on the property could debilitate “some of the best agricultural land in the province.”

“I really do feel… we’re actually all on the same page,” Selina said of the ALC’s decision. “I think there’s a little posturing going on and I think that can be overcome with some decent dialogue.”

Mayor Jordan Sturdy was also surprised at the amount of positive feedback about the festival.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” he said. “I find that fascinating, because generally speaking my experience with feedback has been that… the naysayers are more than happy to provide feedback, and the supporters are hard-pressed to provide feedback.

“That suggests to me that there’s real support there. Otherwise, why would people bother to say this is a good thing?”

Though Sturdy was surprised at the amount of positive feedback, he wasn’t surprised at all that people had good things to say about the festival.

“By experiencing the festival, I felt that the feedback was going to be positive,” he said. “That was my experience, and that was my experience talking to people.”

A public meeting on the impacts of the Pemberton Festival is scheduled for Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Pemberton Community Centre. Anyone interested in commenting on the festival is encouraged to attend.

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WHISTLER, BC, July 17, 2008 – A new 20-year management agreement has been implemented between the owners of The Westin Resort & Spa and OHR Whistler Management Ltd., a subsidiary of Vancouver-based O’Neill Hotels & Resorts Ltd. The new agreement has moved away from a revenue-based fee structure to a profit-sharing business plan which closely aligns the interests of the owners and management. The short term impact is expected to boost net income for the owners. The long term impact provides an opportunity for both the owners and OHR to achieve greater long term growth. The resulting increase in value has made owning a unit at this Four Diamond rated hotel that much more enviable.   

“We recognized that changes needed to be made, but they had to be ones that truly made a difference for all stakeholders involved,” explained John O’Neill, president of O’Neill Hotels & Resorts Ltd.  “We’ve spent many, many months candidly discussing what would work to make owning and/or buying a unit the right investment for all involved, so the changes that have been made to the terms of agreement are not just a collaboration of input between owners and ourselves, but also the franchise division of Westin Hotels.”  O’Neill also stated that an investment partnership, of which they are a part, has also recently purchased a substantial number of hotel suites in the Westin, which will further align them with the other owners.

In addition to this new management agreement the interests of all stakeholders will be further enhanced with the planned multi-million hotel refurbishment program for the 8-year old resort hotel, which is to begin in spring 2009. Acknowledging the importance of this new management agreement and the need for the changes to be win-win for all, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, franchise operators of Westin Hotels & Resorts worldwide, will be contributing $1 million to the refurbishment program.

“We’re very pleased with the changes to the terms of the new agreement for current and prospective condo owners at the Westin,” said Colin Yip, president of the Strata Corporation at The Westin Resort & Spa. “For several years the owners have attempted to renegotiate several aspects of the hotel management agreement and it has finally come to fruition. The key to the new deal was changing the contract from a gross revenue focus to a shared net income focus which will result in more money in owners’ pockets. With the winter Olympic games just under two years away, the opportunities of a better bottom line can be more optimistically realized with these welcomed changes.”

Opened April 3, 2000 and twice-named the #1 ski resort hotel in North America by Condé Nast Traveler, The Westin Resort & Spa has just recently been awarded the Four Diamond-designate from AAA/CAA for the eighth consecutive year.  As well, the Westin has been given the nod by AWARE with its Whistler Environment Business Award and the Hotel Association of Canada’s Three-Green Key eco-award, which recognizes the numerous green-friendly initiatives in place at the hotel.

For more information contact:

John O’Neill, President, O’Neill Hotels & Resorts Ltd. – 604.633.2850

Colin Yip, President, Strata Corporation – Contact Judy Ursulan – 604.935.4302

The Rocky Mountain Resort Association recently published real estate sales volumes for the first quarter of 2008 and compared them to last year’s numbers for the same time period. As you can see in the document, linked below, Whistler is doing far better than most other resort destinations in the U.S. 

Rocky Mountain Resort Comparison Sales Statistics

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