Business 21 - Sunday, September 27, 1987 - North Shore News Tourism expert says industry is not ‘fun’ TOURIGM IS more than the competition is and it’s a big fun — scruppy business. By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter Assistant Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Ad Van Haaften drove the message home at a recent joint meeting of the North and West Vancouver chambers of commerce. “The industts has a bie imare problem. is percened bs inans as a@ fun kind of industry bur tourism is a Very competitive business. Thousands of tourist: destinations ure competing for disposable in- come," said Van Haalten. “Thestte also competing with teal big-league corporations spen- ding millions for that same disposable income," he said. The former director of sales for Expo 86 told the group to be pro- duct specific and market driven in any efforts to grab a piece of the PREMIUM DIRECTORS Boardroom bodies in short supply CANADIAN BUSINESSES | are having a tough time attracting ex- perienced board directors and becoming far more selective in whorn they ask, In a study released recently by The Caldwell Partners Interna- tional of Toronto Canada’s top CEOs predict there will be a major directors supply crisis by the end of the century. The Caldwell Partners con- ducted formal interviews with 100 CEOs from Canada’s top 500 cor- Understandably, Canadian CEOs are concerned that litigious trend from the U.S. might spill over into Canada, said Douglas Caldwell, co-tounder of The Caldwell tional. Although U.S.-style | lawsuits against’ directors are rare here, spiraling insurance costs to protect directors are a common concern. Sixty-eight: per cent of the CEOs polled provide Siability coverage for directors — the median level is $2 million worth of coverage. Partners [nterna- the action that venerated $3 billion worth of business inthe province Jast seu, Tourism: currently ranks as the number twe midustry in the pro- Vinee. Haatten said teseireh results of aoreasicy studs conducted during the summer in which = 10,000 VESITOrS fe Tig prasince were ques. Honed as to point of origin, dest- nations and amount of money spent, will be available to business by November as a basis for net year’s LoUrISIN cumpadigt And nearly two-thirds of the CEOs have been hit by steep in- surance premium hikes in the fast three years, sometimes by as much as 1,000 per cent. At the same time that talented directors ure becoming harder to find, corporate bosses themselves are becoming fussier about whom they ask to sit at the boardroom table. The clublike boards of yesteryear, where decisions were rubber stamped, are giving way to a new order. Said Van Haaften: The dass ure over when sou can simply parade u Mountie or wave the Ca- nadian flag." Stalistics cmerging Com in dustry puise-taking forays attribute 41 per cent of travellers originating from the focal market, ning per cent from overseas and eight per cent from California. Asan example of the persuasive power of marketing, Van Haaften pointed to a pre-Expo November 1985 awareness of B.C. in California of three per cent and an April "86 awareness fevel in’ the state of 63 per cent. “We have to maintain our mar- ket share. Initial indications for this year show 10 to 15 per cent more visitors to the province over 1985 visits,’” he said. Research shows visitors to Expo liked what they saw and are com- ing back for more. The five key overseas markets, representing 70 per cent of the overseas market, in order of im- portance are Japan, United Kingdom, West Germany, Hong Kong and Australia. Van Haatten said the provincial government allocated $4 million to support the Partners in) Tourism program this vear. The money spins off into an $& millon diteet-marketing impact with Private sector initiated marketing programs matched with governm- ent funding. “There are a number of first- class attractions on this side al the world. We will motivate people to come here. {t's up to each mer- chant, restaurant and hotel owner to make sure they get their share,"* Van Haaften said. f OPEN FOR LUNCH f porations. Currently, 19 per cent of the CEOs surveyed are experiencing difficulties in attracting qualified outside directors. And the search process is likely to become even more arduous. Twice as many, or 38 per cent, expect the task of recruiting out- siders to become harder in the future. In fact, 63 per cent of the cor- porate chiefs have turned down re- cent board invitations. Why are execs spurning direc- torships? Some don’t have the time to handle the heavy work load. Some don’t want the extra respon- sibilities. [t's rare these days for a corporate titan to juggle 20 direc- torships. Indeed, CEOs surveyed believe that a director can handle an average of only three or four outside directorships and still make a meaningful contribution to board meetings and corporate per- formance. Aside from the time constraints, would-be directors say they’re also shying away from boardroom memberships because of legal con- cerns. In the U.S., a bevy of suits has been slapped against directors by aggrieved shareholders who claim their interests have been inade- quately protected during mergers, acquisitions or hostile takeovers. 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Introductory Business Skills Introductory Office Skills Word Processing Financial Spreadsheets Data Bases Computer Programming Regular Courses from $125 for 12 hours ENROLL NOW POR FALL COURSES : Bring in this Ad for Fali Special Offer the ACCESS CENTER at LONSDALE QUAY 145 Chadwick Court North Vancouver 984-4671 Hours: 1-9 pm. * Hand wash * Interior cleaned and shampooed Exterior Polished & Carnauba waxed * Wheels and tires dressed * Engine shampoo TOTAL PRICE ALL CARS PLEASE PHONE FOR AN APPOINTMENT SS Or AUTO DETAILING vehicle appearance specialists 1953 PEMBERTON QQ7-8182 NORTH VANCOUVER keke te SINCE YESTERDAY, the North Shore has become home to E and B Flea Market. If you missed it yesterday, catch it today, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the old Beaver Lumber building at 1420 Fell Avenue in North Van- couver. The man behind the “E” in E and B is Ear! Aune. Partner Bill Savage stands behind the ‘'B’’. The flea market has room for approximately 100 tables. Admis- sion is 50 cents. Quipped Aune: “*We sell better quality ‘junque.’ ”’