VIU BEST IN PROVINCE AT TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY CONFERENCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 18, 2012

NANAIMO, BC – A team of fourth-year Vancouver Island University (VIU) Hospitality Management students won first place in the hotels degree category at a prestigious tourism conference.

The students competed during the 6th Annual LinkBC Student Case Competition at the HOST 2012 Tourism and Hospitality Industry Conference held recently in Vancouver.

The case competition draws teams from all parts of BC to solve tough questions facing the tourism industry. Students had five hours to create presentations on one of two themes - solving the projected tourism Human Resources labour shortage by 10 percent, or creating innovative packages for hotel properties in BC.

“Our team created an innovative package for hotels to use during the off season,” explained VIU faculty member and team coach Peter Briscoe.

While BC is a great year-round destination, many hotels experience dips in both occupancy and rates in the months of October to March, Briscoe said. The same is often true for other tourism businesses.

The students’ presentation showed how hotels can drum up off-season business, and drive up profits year-round by packaging room nights with internal incentives such as in-house food and beverage and spa services, and/or by working with other partners in the community.

“The experiential learning focus of our program challenges students to interact with industry and grow through experiences like these,” Briscoe added.

Winning VIU team members included fourth-year students Trevor Rinn and Isabel (Sarah) Thomas and third-year students Katelyn Querin and Cesar Barros-Suarez.

"The competition and conference offered an environment where students, industry leaders and educators were able to connect,” said Querin. “These opportunities are valuable and I was happy to be encouraged by my instructors to challenge myself. It was a rewarding experience.”

Winning teams in several categories received cash prizes and plaques while all 60 participants at the conference were acknowledged at an industry lunch.


A second VIU team, students enrolled in Hospitality Management diploma program, also took part in the competition. Participants included Cynthia Chia-Hsun Hsieh, Azusa Suzuki, Terry Vallee, and Melissa Clarkson.

“BC's tourism students are tomorrow's industry professionals," said Morgan Westcott of LinkBC, competition manager. “Our role at LinkBC is to provide the opportunity for students to connect with potential employers and demonstrate their outstanding skills and abilities. We're pleased to say they've done just that.”

Presenters at the conference included Premier Christy Clark in addition to tourism experts from around the world.


The conference was co-hosted by the Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC), the BC Hotels Association, and ABLE BC and attended by hundreds of delegates from all sectors of the industry.

The student competition was sponsored by Tourism BC, Coast Hotels & Resorts, go2 and a number of industry partners including participants of the Adopt-a-Student program who covered many student conference registrations.