With the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Canada growing by leaps and bounds, hoteliers in major urban centres such as Vancouver and Toronto are learning it pays to cater to the cultural tastes of this increasingly important group. 

Vancouver’s growing tourism industry is becoming better equipped to host guests for longer, with the launch of the Residence Inn by Marriott Vancouver Downtown, the first branded, designated extended-stay hotel in the city.

We take a long-term view with less emphasis on short-term fixes and wins,” says Nora Duke, speaking about the company over which she presides. It’s a no-nonsense approach that has served Fortis Properties well, particularly through the last stretch of economic hardship that has sent many of its contemporaries tumbling — well enough, indeed, to score Company-of-the-Year honours in this year’s edition of Kostuch Media’s Pinnacle Awards.

Even as a young girl, Heather McCrory was always sociable. The affable McCrory laughs as she recalls school report cards that always featured the same comment: ‘Heather talks too much. Heather would do much better if she didn’t talk so much.’ “Almost every report card I have says that!” quips the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts executive. “I was an average student; I wasn’t top of the class. I hated high school because I was bored to tears,” says the tall, lean exec in a quickening pace. “I just wanted to get through it so I started working full-time after graduating Grade 12, as soon as I could,” she says, barely taking in a breath.