George Bartel receives Tourism Vancouver Lifetime Achievement Award!

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Lifetime achievement awards are great honours and on June 10th Tourism Vancouver bestowed theirs on our President, George Bartel. We are ecstatic! For the people that know George, and many do, this is a fitting recognition of a lifetime of dedication to tourism and promoting our destination. 

If you don't know George, he is a people's person who is at once enthusiastic, entertaining and energetic. It's undoubtedly why he has such a vast network of friends and contacts that extends locally, nationally and internationally.

George's commitment to both the customer and the destination is legendary. On top of this he embraces opportunity and is not afraid to take risks - which have both stung deeply and paid off handsomely!

It might sound like this is just sucking up to the boss, but don't just take our word for it. The introductory speech by Rick Baxter, Chair of Tourism Vancouver, says it all. Here is a copy of Mr. Baxter's words as he introduces George Bartel for the presentation of Tourism Vancouver's Lifetime Achievement Award:

Rick Baxter: Each year we present the Hugh B. Main Lifetime Achievement Award for the development and promotion of tourism in Greater Vancouver.

Hugh Main, a former Vice President of CP Air, served as General Manager of Tourism Vancouver from 1972 to 1981, and this award is named in recognition of his leadership and lifetime of achievement.

This year's recipient began his career in tourism at the Harrison Hot Springs Hotel in the early 1960's where he learned to do whatever it took to serve the customer. He rose quickly from "ask me George" at the Hotel (a sort of "know it all" position) to a bellhop so well tipped that his family suspected he had his hand in the till!

In the late 1960's and early ‘70's there was one true believer in what Vancouver had to offer to the world. He opened the eyes of a young tourism community to the impossible, such as:

• closing off the streets of Gastown for a party
• pitching tents on Jericho Beach for a BBQ, and
• flying clients to the top of the Lions Peak for a glass of champagne.

He knew then - and still knows today - everyone in town from the taxi driver to the doorman, from the cocktail waitress, to the hotel manager, and he challenges each of them to do more than they think is possible.

But most importantly, he knows the customer, and knows what it takes to bring convention and incentive business to the city. He has travelled extensively and has built relationships around the world. He listens to what the customer wants and convinces them that Vancouver can do it better than any competing destination.

Most recently, he worked with international sponsors, and even royalty, to coordinate their Olympic experiences. And he continues to successfully sell Vancouver as THE place to hold a meeting, to launch a new product, or to run an incentive program.

Never short of an opinion, he still espouses a vision of what Vancouver could and should be. Ladies & Gentlemen, this year's recipient of the Hugh B. Main Lifetime Achievement Award is the president of Cantrav Services, Mr. George Bartel.