The Sunshine Coast Bed and Breakfast and Cottage Owners Association (SCBBCOA) has amalgamated with Sunshine Coast Tourism (SCT) to better meet the needs of both groups.
The SCBBCOA members will now have their accommodations marketed through SCT and tourists will be able to book their stay through the SCT website, which means more traffic at www.sunshinecoastcanada.com.
The SCBBCOA will also dissolve their board and instead be led by the SCT board going forward.
“After 15 years of serving the bed and breakfast and cottage owners of the Sunshine Coast, we found ourselves at a crossroads,” said SCBBCOA president Mary Winn.
“When the SCBBCOA was founded, Internet and websites was a very new concept to most of us small accommodation providers. The SCBBCOA offered our members a means of marketing their cottages and B&Bs without having to go to the expense of individual websites.
“Over the next few years, the marketplace changed dramatically, with members not only developing their own websites, but also having ever-growing opportunities to advertise their property on other very large, powerful websites. This shift in the way our members marketed their properties brought us to the decision to move our assets to a place where they could be better utilized.”
The SCBBCOA was one of the founding members of SCT, according to SCT president Celia Robben, who noted, “it’s basically just like taking one level of bureaucracy out because really the two groups have been aligned in their goals all along.”
Winn agreed, adding the SCBBCOA felt the amalgamation was a “move forward for both organizations.”
“There are limited number of dollars on the Sunshine Coast to be spent on marketing, and by combining our assets, and our future marketing dollars, we have the opportunity to more effectively advertise the Sunshine Coast as a beautiful destination with quality accommodations,” Winn said.
