New faces at Oliver’s Visitor’s Info Centre

A new Tourism Manager, a new OTA executive – maybe a new look at Oliver’s potential…..

In late 2018 the board of directors of the Oliver Tourism Association undertook a rigorous strategic review. That review included operations and building maintenance, and it was determined at that time that the Oliver Visitor’s Centre would be required to close for a period of time for renovations.

The repairs took longer than expected and the Visitor’s Centre re-opened on April 13. During that time, the board hired an Executive Director, Cait Wills, who began on April 1, and moved forward with its Annual General Meeting on April 3. There were also some changes at the Annual General Meeting,

where the following board was elected:

• Danielle Hutton, Chair
• Carol Sheridan, Treasurer
• Melissa Fowler, Secretary
• Chris Temos, member at large
• Jill Lawson, member at large
• Clive Macmillan, member at large
• Troy Ravndahl, member at large
• Bill Eggert, member at large (owner of Fairview Cellars appointed to the board as a liaison to the Oliver Osoyoos Winery Association, one of the organization’s key stakeholders).
• Two council members, Larry Schwartzenberger and David Mattes, are also member of the OTA board.

In the last several months, and for 2019, the focus of the board and the executive director will be on developing the tools to promote Oliver to the rest of the world – including a mobile-friendly web presence, social media engagement and the execution of the Fall Festival Weekend, which includes the 23rd annual Festival of the Grape and the 4th annual Cask & Keg.

Tickets for the two events are now on sale and volunteers for the Visitor’s Centre and the Fall Festival weekend are always welcome. The other exciting opportunity coming up is a visit from one of Oliver’s sister cities, Bandai Japan, where a group of students will be visiting Oliver August 4 -6.

For more information on the Oliver Tourism Association, to volunteer at the Visitor’s Centre or the Fall Festival, or to participate in showcasing Oliver to our Japanese sister city delegation, please contact the executive director at info@winecapitalofcanada.com