The Travel Industry News - Editorial Archives

January / February, 2006

OH CANADA ...

Canada is without doubt one of the most beautiful and diversified countries in the world ... and it isn’t overcrowded!

Through circumstance and opportunity Canada has played a great role in both my business life and my personal life.

In this edition of TIN I have attempted to include information that will be useful to you and your staff when selling Canada. Remember - right or wrong - there are still people out there who shy away from traveling overseas, Canada is the perfect answer.

When Darlene and I first formed our wholesale company, Us Inc. it was Canada that was our ‘bread and butter’. We introduced MIni - Overnight packages to Victoria via ‘The Princess Marguerite’, to that point the only option was a ‘Triangular Tour’ by Grayline of Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver. It was an instant hit and the BC Steamship folks worked with us 100%. Then we started Whistler packages for Skiing and for golf. It was Us Inc that began the push to have an ‘American Thanksgiving’ skiing vacation complete with turkey dinner and for three years we were the #1 wholesaler. As Whistler began to push for summer business we went along and eventually two of our golf clients were in the the first foursome to play on the Arnold Palmer designed course, imagine their thrill when one of their foursome was - Arnold Palmer.

Us Inc was formed around ‘Adventure/Active’ Travel and because of all that Canada has to offer many of our packages sent your clients fishing, ice fishing, kayaking, river rafting, horse riding, cycling, skiing, golfing and to working ranches. Oh, yes Canada is a haven to the outdoor enthusiast. But there is more to Canada than communing with nature!

We sold Vancouver’s EXPO 86 and they put on quite a show and no doubt they will again for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Canada holds wonderful memories for me. Edmonton’s Klondike Days, Calgary’s world renowned ‘Stampede’, fine restaurants in YVR, the Rocky Mountaineer train journey into the majestic Canadian Rockies, Lake Chilco Wilderness Ranch where my daughter Keeley and I made the rest of the world disappear. Darlene and I traveled from Vancouver across Canada to Montreal and Toronto, via air, train, bus , cruise boat and rental car. The cruise was through the unforgettable ’1000 Islands’ region. Did I mention Helicopter rides at Whistler ... breathtaking!

And of course Victoria! We built our company around it and it was from there that I also became Marketing Director & stockholder for the ill fated ’Island Jet Foil’... a wonderful experience that was destined to outspend its income ... very costly to D & D but very memorable. Clipper Navigation took over the route and I’m pleased to say that through business savvy they never looked back. They celebrate 20 years of service this year.

It just seems Canada was destined to lure David Bond. Oh, did I mention that when I first came to Seattle, I played cricket for Seattle ... in the Canadian League of course which meant every other weekend was spent in and around Vancouver ... B.C. that is.

I thought I’d share a little of the article I wrote after the ‘Princess Marguerite’s’ last voyage which I took with my daughter Keeley who worked for BC Steamship while in high school.

THE MARGUERITE CRIES ... and So Do I ...

“As we sailed from Victoria throngs of people gathered along the shore, waving and bowing to ‘Her Royal Highness’. The captain sounded the horn again and again, while the flotilla of small ships that followed echoed with smaller voices. As we left the harbor the Marguerite’s final horn blast seemed to hang in the air ... like the cry of a lonely child. As we sailed towards Seattle, the crew was strangely quiet as passengers recalled “Weddings on board”, trips with their grandparents, special adventures shared by fathers, daughters and raggedy lambs ... memories flooded the deck.

As we approached Seattle the skyline that had grown up watching the ‘Princess’, beckoned her “home”. Flashlights filled the evening as the media awaited her coming. Once again, her mournful sound pierced the darkness and as the sound faded she cried again, for she heard the wail of the bagpipes and a lament that came from her motherland ... and from the people of the Pacific Northwest”.

Farewell Maggie ...

David (Honoree Captain) Bond

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