Working for You: Top 5 Things to Know About Your National Association This Month

On February 27+28, the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) hosted its Annual Conference in Toronto. A record-year for attendance, with more than 470 industry representatives, this was the biggest delegation ever to join HAC around one collective table to discuss the issues that matter the most to Canada’s hotel and lodging sector.

Awards of Excellence

HAC is pleased to honour six recipients with an Award of Excellence. Each year, HAC recognizes members who demonstrate significant accomplishments and represent some of the finest examples of professionalism, quality, and excellence in the industry. The HAC Awards of Excellence acknowledge the people and companies who exemplify excellence across the industry. Recipients share a commitment to enhancing guest experiences and each leaves a significant impact on the hotel industry through their efforts. 2018 Awards of Excellence winners>

Sharing Industry Success!

2018 was an impressive year, not just for the industry – which had record success – but also for the Association. HAC was able to press upon several achievements from 2018, including several highlights from the industry-wide #FairRules campaign, led by HAC. Watch the highlight reel from our 2018 #FairRules campaign>

HAC Leadership

Effective February 27, 2019, the HAC Board of Directors appointed Jonathan Lund, Regional Vice-President, Hotel Operations, at the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), Canada as Chair for a three-year term.Lund is joined at the table by provincial association representatives (6), corporate brand representatives (6), management company representatives (3), ownership company representatives (6), and two directors-at-large.Of particular importance, earlier in 2019 HAC put a new diversity policy in place with a goal of reaching at least 20 per cent female representation by 2020. HAC is pleased to report that this goal was met one year early, an important milestone for the governance of the Association. Get to know the 2019 HAC Board of Directors >

Celebrating Women in Leadership

Immediately following the conference, HAC hosted its second annual Sip and Social, an evening dedicated to the women of the hotel industry. Boasting five times the number of last year’s attendees, the room was filled with a diverse representation of Canada’s lodging industry – women and men willing to take charge on a matter of deep importance. Your participation in this event speaks to an appetite within the HAC membership for attention to such matters.Author of “Too Busy to Be Happy”, Christine Laperierre, spoke to delegates about how to combat burnout and successfully utilize emotional real estate to make conscious choices and ignite change. Learn more about Christine Laperierre and to get your copy of “Too Busy to Be Happy”, released March 19, 2019. See the photos from the Sip+Social >

A Compelling Program

The HAC Conference addressed a range of topics currently impacting to the hotel and lodging sector. We heard from Suhana Merharchand, award-winning CBC news anchor, who kicked-off the morning and lead an insightful conversation on the direction of tourism with David Goldstein, Destination Canada and Nik Nanos of Nanos research. Michelle Romanow shared her insight on the hotel industry through an entrepreneurial lens. The Destination Employment session, featuring representation from across the industry, highlighted how the program will address the labour shortage. Additional key industry issues, such as sustainability, cannabis tourism and human trafficking were also addressed in the breakout sessions. Access the presentations by completing a short survey>

HAC Conference: Photo Album

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