The Fall is upon us

This morning at around 5.45 am, a loon was singing out in the lake - I love that sound, at this time of year though it also is a harbinger of fall - we have lost all the heat on the lake it seems and that is a little sad - there are lots of things that I love about the fall but this summer has just whizzed by.

September is going to be fun though - we have several large tours arriving to take advantage of the fall wine season - which is nice - the wine season extends our tourist season well into October which really didn't use to be the case.

Some of our itineraries for both the north and south Okanagan have evolved nicely this year, in the south the 5 hour tour has really been better received by our guests - so next year, I will look at how often I offer the 3 hour "Simply Sipping"

The Map Book and Visitor Planner sales have gone well - so we should be finished up on time and start the distribution process - that does take more time and energy than I previously imagined - maybe I am just getting a little older. I am pleased with some of the new ideas in the book this year - so the product is evolving nicely to a premiem product in our marketplace. Yahoo!! it has been a lot of work over the years.

Wine Tours.... a great new season has started

It is a very exciting time for us. We have developed several new tours for the 2010 season and they are going great guns!!! - so..this is a pretty nice way to start our summer season.

The new"Discover the Gold in the Golden Mile" features lunch and a special tasting at Hester Creek. Kathy Mercier (of Hester Creek) gave us a great "discover your wine palate tasting" that was followed by lunch by the Dolci Deli - it was delectable.

Our guests had great comments "this is better than any wine tasting I had in Europe" and "I can't believe that this is available in the Okanagan" So it bodes well for the season this summer - I am very excited about all the new offerings this year.

Just yesterday, I completed a custom tour that incorporated the new comprehensive tasting at Black Hills Winery. WOW... this tour, which was conducted by Dan Yoja, was worth every penny, he is a very knowledgeable guide- we even had the unique opportunity of doing a barrel tasting!!! This is a great new product for Black Hills -and it was the highlight for many in our group.

Another, Great Discovery for me yesterday was the wines of Young and Wyse - Michelle Young presented thier new vintages at lunch - both the Merlot and the Shiraz were presented - I loved thier Merlot - it had great colour and aroma and worked perfectly with the Chicken and Camembert sandwich that I had chosen - I am going to work hard to find a way to incorporate this new winery into our tours - this is a great find for newcomers to the region.

Our new bus worked well - it is much nicer to be able to stand up getting on and off the bus and we have a real fridge on Board so our water and little snacks are just the perfect temperature - the speaker system also worked well yesterday - its nice to start the season with something new for our long time customers - MJ

Easter Week

The past couple of weeks have just gone by so fast - that I find it hard to hard to believe.

I attended the Calgary Golf Show and while attendance was a bit of a dissappointement - we did get good participation in our gift package so that was nice. While I worked that weekend, some people came by and said that they had already received the 2010 Map Book and Visitor Planner in the mail, so they didn't need to pick one up at the show. They were very complimentary about the Map Book - so I was pleased that our distribution is paying off - several said that they had already planned and booked trips to our area. Yahoo!!

We are now in the process of finishing up our Tear off Map - of the Vernon area - this is very popular locally and it should be out in early May so I have a rather large deadline looming for that project.

Wine Tour bookings have started - which is always a sign of the new season starting - we are excited about the development of a new Golden Mile Tour, which will feature lunch and pairings at Hester Creek and finish the day at Inniskilling for an ice wine vertical tasting - should be a wonderful day showcasing the wines in the region.

Finally Easter, which is one of my favorite times with the family. Spring is in the air and it is just nice to celebrate with the ones you love. We had a weekend full of family - one night at my mothers' with all my brothers and sister (we are all getting older, so it is nice to have occasion to visit all of them) followed by dinner at our home for all 8 of our grandchildren and thier parents - Easter Ham and Scallops Potatoes - easy and homey for me to share with the family - Happy Easter Everyone!!

Edmonton Golf Show and the Rocky Mountains showing off thier best

Spent last weekend at the Edmonton Golf Show. We are trying to be more aggressive this year with the distribution of the Vernon and North Okanagan Map Book- so we have really enhanced our direct mail campaign into our target markets of Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary - and we has supplemented these direct mail campaigns with attendance at trade shows in these same target markets.
Our give away contest was quite a nice weekend here in Vernon, that features; a round of golf for 2, a wine tour for 2 as well as 2 nights accommodation - people were directed to go to the website, in order to enter the draw. We had quite a good response which is great!!!- the more people who access http://www.virtualvernon.com/ for thier information, the better the exposure for our advertizers - so this is a great first step.
On the way back from Edmonton, I decided to turn off at Red Deer and take the road to Rocky Mountain House that connects to the Banff Parkway- luck was with me, because it was a sunny clear day and there had been recent snow in the pass - so the parkway was simply spectacular - breathtaking.
I think this drive is one of the most beautiful in the world - at least it is the most awe inspiring drive that I have every been on, the conditions could not have been better to see the Great Divide and the Glaciers in thier sparkling winter glory - it was worth the whole trip and the long drive home to get the opportunity to see the mountains at this time of year - simply wonderful.

Onwards to Edmonton and other spring initiatives

MJO Tours is going to the Edmonton Golf Show this weekend - March 9 and 10 - the potential number of visitors to that event is 10,000!!! So I am counting on this to be a great way to promote our Map Book and Visitor Planner as well as the tours we offer to the Okanagan - We have put a good giveaway package together (with golf and wine tours included- what could be better!!) so I am hoping that we see some great results. Have to admit though, that the weather here, which is simply wonderful now -is going to be hard to leave - Edmonton is still a little chilly for my tastes.

In order to augment the awareness of the North Okanagan in Alberta, we will also be doing a direct mail of our Map Book and Visitor Planner to over 25,000 households in the Edmonton region. yeh!! In another two weeks, we will be in Calgary with our direct mail as well as attend the Calgary Golf Show.

On another note the initial sales of "Eat Well" our local food and farm guide is going well. We are focusing on farms and local foods around Vernon and the concept has been very well received and our first edition every should be on the streets by May.

MJO Tours in the south Okanagan, will have a new 20 passenger bus this year!! Which is great news for our product down there, we will have a 3 hour scheduled tour every morning with pick up from all the hotels in the area and then in the afternoon - we will have a 4.5 hour hour which will include wine and food pairings, exclusive vertical tastings at a variety of wineries - this is our real show stopper because the experience is not available anywhere else and really provides a great wine country experience- this high end tour will change daily throughout the season rotating between the Black Sage Bench, to the Golden Mile and will also feature a day of touring the Similkameen Organic Wineries. Our first tour of the season has already booked whew!! but these tours will be great. Get your friends and join us if you can take the time

Spring is in the Air

We have been very lucky here in Vernon, our winter has been almost none existant and today it is sunny and bright. Today, we are finalizing some of our summer wine tours - it is always an exciting time to see what we can provide that is new and exciting. Our goal, of providing high end exclusive tours of the area, really depends on our suppliers and we are so lucky to be working with wineries that really get it and every year they seem to be increasing thier offerings and their special experiences - so simply wonderful to work with. http://www.booktheokanagan.com/okanagan-vacation-packages/index.php
Our first trade show is in Edmonton, Alberta - March 13-14 - a big crowd is expected and we have our website and brochures all ready to go- so I am looking forward to seeing the response.
I have decided to drive to Edmonton, in order to drop off the Map Books as I travel to Edmonton and just ensure that some of the high traffic area along the route have our maps - this is such an important time to get our message out - sometimes I have to stop and not get too overwhelmed there always seems to be so much to do and just not enough hours in the day.

The new 2010 Map book and Visitor Planner has arrived , distribution has started with 20,000 being delivered to homes in Vernon and another 25,000 to targeted homes in the Vancouver area. Response has been great!! - people have really liked the new clear photos and the easy to navigate sections in this year's guide. The Winter Cover wrap with our Winter Carnival photo has also been very well received - and ...now we have the e-book ready to distribute TAKE A LOOK!!http://epaperflip.com/aglaia/viewer.aspx?docid=1cd5b98a4d37464eac553c3310059b96 Send it to all your friend and family that are thinking of making Vernon thier next holiday destination!!!

Give us your input- we are starting to work on our next booklet right away so if there are articles that you would like to see, or images that you think we need to really showcase this area - just let us know