Dear Members,

 

Firstly, on behalf of the Executive, may I wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year.  I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at  our ‘First Ever Combined Trade Show and General Meeting on Tuesday 29th January 2008 at the Belgrave Hotel Torquay to be officially opened by Nick Bye, Mayor of Torbay at 10.15a.m.

 

2007 was a very active year and I promised to keep you updated on the important on-going issues that your Executive have been working on to ensure that this coming year we will continue to both protect and promote your business.

 

At our AGM in December we welcomed the winning students from the South Devon College who were presented with their Scholarship Awards by Mrs Sylvia Rew, President our Association, Mrs Helen Marshall, Catering Section Head of the College, and Mr John Cowie, who was a Chairman of the Association in 1979. His family ran the Toorak Hotel for many years and latterly he was a Senior Lecturer at the South Devon College and played a major part there in Hotel and Catering. Mr Cowie was, in his teens, a winner of the Michael Chapman Award whilst he was training at the College.

Mr David Thacker was awarded Life Membership for his service to the Association and to tourism during his many years in business. On a personal note the Chairman thanks David for supporting him over many years.

 

We would also like to remind members that this year we will be celebrating our 90th Anniversary.  Our Banquet and Ball will again be in December this year, we also have sponsorship from HSBC to bring a national stage show to the Bay to perform for us during the evening. It will be a sell out so please book your tickets now.

 

The Premier Hotel Group, within the Association, has to date held 3 major meetings. Kevin Butler, Regional Director of the Bank of England gave an inspirational Presentation at the Inaugural Meeting of the Premier Hotel Group. John Spooner, the new chairman of Exeter International Airport, flew himself down especially to meet the members at the second meeting and shared his ambition for the future. From this initial meeting the Association began to work with the Airport and as a result all our members have benefited as we now have our illuminated advertising boards in the International and National Arrival Halls at the airport. We have recently had a meeting to discuss the renewal of these boards for this year and have agreed that our new 2008 brochures will be displayed in units either side of these large coloured advertisements.  The airport has over one million passengers per year and, over the next few years it is anticipated that it will be over three million.

 

At the third meeting of the Premier Hotel Group, Matthew Pritchard, Agatha Christie’s grandson and Chairman of Agatha Christie Limited, joined us and shared his desires and wishes for the promotion of Agatha Christie and the working relationship he would like to see with the private sector. From his visit, and with the co-operation of the National Trust, many of our members were able to visit Greenway, by boat, up the Dart from Torquay to see the gardens. In the spring of this year we have been invited back to see the newly completed renovations of the house. Mathew and his wife Lucy joined us at the Banquet and Ball in December and look forward to working with the Association in the future.

 

A Third Harbour was proposed by the Association to promote tourism and benefit the Bay as a whole. Our proposal is supported by the Torbay Yacht Club and the Torquay Chamber of Commerce. It would create local facilities for all aspects of sailing, cruise ship berths, tall ships, 500 more boats in a Marina and all the supporting services for Maritime events. The proposal is now on the Agenda of the Harbours Consultative Committee for consideration and approval. It would be built and financed by the private sector and there are already companies interested.

 

In January last year, the 2012 Olympic Bid was constructed with the Torbay Sports Council.  We should find out in the next few weeks if our Bid is successful. We have formed a company called Torbay Hospitality Limited and are in the process of adding four new directors.

 

Our initiative with regard to Monaco – In our attempt to bring over the first trade delegation, to be held here in the Bay, we are working with the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, Torbay Council and Devon County Council - more news later.

 

Japanese connection – At our AGM, our Chairman showed members the first book in Japanese on Agatha Christie which had been translated by a professor at Tokyo University. The professor and his wife are coming here in August 2008. He will make a presentation to the members on how we can develop Tourism through our links with Agatha Christie. Hopefully Japanese tourists would arrive via Exeter Airport. 

 

Website - We have been working hard on the website. It is now one the most popular and visited websites in Torbay and probably South Devon. During the visit of the Black Pearl last summer the website received over 27,000 hits on its webcam. Our thanks to the Imperial Hotel for hosting the webcam. We would like to welcome the new General Manager, Mr Cormac O’Keefe and wish him well.

 

Brochure/Guide – The final proof has now been agreed and sent to the printers. We will have the pleasure of launching our exciting new 2008 Holiday Guide at our Trade Show on the 29th of this month which is being held at the Belgrave Hotel Torquay. We are working with Regional and National organisations to distribute our Guide at the end of January. It will also be promoted through airports, shopping centres, newspaper ads, and at Exeter Cathedral etc. We have had a good response from the members with their suggestions on its distribution.

 

As a result of the work undertaken by our Executive and the monies raised by Linda Hill our Executive Secretary, from the Banquet and Ball, the Association has built up a substantial amount of money which will immediately go towards the marketing of the Brochure/Guide for 2008. This, along with developing and the promotion of our website, is an initiative we will be undertaking this year to maintain and increase the home market.

 

CIWM Conference – We have had one major meeting with the Chairman and Chief Executive of the CIWM conference and further discussions are taking place.  We will keep you informed.

 

Young Farmers - are hoping to come back to the Bay in 2010. We have worked with their Chief Executive, the organisers, police and the Riviera Centre to ensure that the problems of the past are behind us.  We look forward to working with them in the future for the benefit of our members.

 

The Hungarian Food Festival took place last year. We are hopeful that this will take place again this year and next. This is another way of promoting and bringing back quality with International events of this nature.

 

We had a very successful meeting recently with Nick Bye, Mayor or Torbay, on how we can work together for the benefit of the whole Bay.

In conclusion, despite the weather, the Association had a good and busy year with lots of productive things to look forward to.  In 2008 your Executive will be asking what it is you want us to do on your behalf. This year we will be holding surgeries, where we can talk to new members and new hoteliers to provide support where necessary.     

 

We look forward to seeing you all on the 29th at the Belgrave Hotel.

 

Gordon Oliver. Chairman