Showing off the West by rail What made you want to get into this line of work?: ‘‘I’ve been for- tunate. The Greyline operation was privatized by the provincial government back in 1979 from B.C. Hydro. I had been in the motor coach business for about 13 years. .“I was invited on one of the runs of the Rocky Mountaineer and fell in love with it after about 15 minutes. I had never been on a train before and I couldn’t believe how responsive the passengers were to the scenery and how much they talked amongst themselves. It was just a wonderful environment, and there’s a lot more room on a train than a bus. “The windows are huge and I thought that if you’re going to show off the wonders of Western Canada then this is the way to do it.’ Who are most of your passen- gers?: ‘*‘We’ve had passengers from over 30 countries from all over the world. But the majority of our passengers are from the United States, particularly from the sunbelt areas. We also have passengers from the United Kingdom, Ontario, Australia and New Zealand. . “Surprisingly, we haven’t yet penetrated the Japanese market, but our indications and bookings for the next few years look very promising. We just rece:nly open- ed an office in Japan.” Relocating From page 24 ternational Railway Traveler. “We were very pleased. As a company .we worked extremely hard. We understood right from the very beginning that we had limited marketing dollars, and we wanted to make sure every one of our passengers became a salesper- son for us,’’ says Armstrong. “We didn’t realize that we would be ‘considered the number one company.”’ The !ocal company has had a fot of international exposure since INTEREST PAYABLE ON LARGER DEPOSITS CALL RON HOLMES or CHRISTOPHER GEE Allsta 943 985-5 131 North Vancouver . RATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE _ 44 Our focus is two days to relax on the train and see some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. 99 What do you like to do to relax when you’re not working?: ‘‘My family and I have a summer place that we like to go to. But when you’re starting a new business you don’t have much time for a lot of hobbies.”” Is the popularity of train travel increasing or decreasing?: ‘‘Rail travel, similar to ours, I think is increasing. It’s a very difficult business and a very expensive business. So you have to have very high volumes of business to make it go. But I think train trav- el is gaining a lot of popularity.”’ Is the competition very tough?: ‘“*We have a very good working relationship with BC Rail, and we do a lot of joint marketing initia- tives with them. We've worked with Tourism B.C., Tourism Van- couver and Tourism Alberta and they’ve really helped increase the awareness. There’s no other operation similar to ours. “Via does a cross-Canada pro- gram on a very limited schedule and it’s overnight through some of the most scenic spots. Our focus, without trying to be nega- tive, is two days to relax on the train to see some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. “What's amazing is the tremendous reaction we’ve had from the operating crews from both CP and CN. They’ve ail gone out of their ways to help a new passenger rail service. ““We’re the first private rail operation in quite a while, and the passenger rail business has tradi- tionally lost money over the last 40 years. We're going to change that tradition.” Sunday, February 2, 1992 - North Shore News - 25 PETER ARMSTRONG, president of North Vancouver-based Great Canadian Railtour Co., fell in love with the Rocky Mountaineer within the first 15 minutes that he took his very first train ride. to North Vancouver seen as positive move it first began operating the popu- lar Rocky Mountaineer. Apart from the International Traveler, it has been written up in over 300 publications across North America including the New York Times, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. The Great Canadian Railtour Co. is a private company; four of its shareholders live on the North Shore. Armstrong says relocating the company’s offices from Van- You can own in Co ms 1 2 a | y Best Price. Best Location. couver to North Vancouver has proved to be a very positive move. “We needed to be close to a good workforce, which we have here on ihe North Shore. We wanted a lot of extra space, we needed warehouse space to store our supplies for the train and do minor repair work on components of the train,’’ says Armstrong. ‘It’s marvelous here. It’s a calmer work environment and a lot of our employees live over here ’ Sales Office: 944-2343 Open Daily 12:00-5:00 Features: Full Ensuites with Relaxing Soaker Tubs Track Lighting ® Gas Fireplaces Secured Parking * Large Storage Lockers YORKTON Se MARKET ENG 937-0011 and so do a lot of my partners. It all just worked out very well here.”” . The company employs approx- imately 25 full-time people and hires an additional 26 car atten- dants. and another 20 seasonal staff during the summer months when the train tour is in opera- tion. Armstrong says the popularity of the Rocky Mountaineer has skyrocketed and the company is J) now selling trips for the 1993 season, even though the 1992 season has not even begun yet. Anthony Peel, the International” Railway Traveler’s Toronto-based - -correspondent,- who rode the train, called the Rocky Moun- taineer ‘‘a special way to get to a special area.”’ In a Aug. 28, 1991 News inter- view, Peel said the train trip rates an eight out of £0 on the maga- zine’s rating scale. quitiam... FINANCIAL POWER PACK GS.T. Legal Fees Purchase Tax 6 Appliances All Blinds 10% Down YORKTON REAL ESTATE MARKETING CORF: