Fall 2010 was a busy season!We continue to mobilize our HAC network with the grassrootscampaign. We have met with more than 100 MPs focusing on our two overriding government relations issues: access to Canada andthe availability of workers in the industry.Concurrently we have met with officials in many departments on anumber of additional policy issues including:air routesemployment insurancereplacement workersvisas,the Foreign Convention Tour and Incentive Program,and the proposed Sound Tariff 3 and SOCAN Tariff 15.We are delighted that Bill S226, which would have limited VLTs to casinos and racetracks, finallydied on the order table.Working with several of the HAC’s corporate members, we successfully defeated a proposal fromPublic Works and Government Services which would have severely limited some of our members'market share with the government of Canada.ADS is now well established, with the first group having arrived from China. The fourth edition of the HAC’s report "Canadian Hospitality for Chinese Guests" has been in high demand.In November, the National Travel and Tourism Coalition made up of the HAC, TIAC, the CanadianAirports Council and the National Airlines Council of Canada released the report "Looking to 2020 – The Future of Travel and Tourism in Canada – Whitepaper." As Richard Dicerni, the DeputyMinister of Industry, told TIAC President David Goldstein, "It’s not one of the best pieces I haveseen come out of your sector...it is the best piece I have seen come out of your sector."The HAC Board of Directors met in Ottawa on November 1 in conjunction with the TIAC TourismSummit. The result was a very focused and productive discussion surrounding the topics of government relations, the HAC Green Key Eco-Rating Program and our 2011 National Conference.I enjoyed the opportunity to address several national conferences last fall, including Best Western

RooMersHotel Association of CanadaAssociation Des Hotels DuCanada

January, 2011

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

From the Desk of the President

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International, Travelodge Canada and Choice Hotels Canada, in addition to the Ontario RestaurantHotel and Motel Association, the British Columbia Hotel Association and the Sustainable TourismConference.I have also had the pleasure of lecturing to hotel and hospitality students at the University of Ottawa, Algonquin College, Carleton University and Royal Roads University. Today’s students areour industry leaders of tomorrow.On behalf of the HAC Board of Directors and staff I thank you for your support in 2010 and look forward to a prosperous 2011.

Anthony P. Pollard

PresidentA Couple of Chicks strives to providesolutions and options to Internet tourismmarketing in a fun and non-intimidatingway, so we’ve put together 11 tips tohelp hoteliers with their 2011 budget planning.

Tip #1 • SEO Your Website with Instant Caffeine

Pour yourself a cup of coffee – the real stuff,and we like medium, double, double -- because it all starts with caffeine. In particular, Caffeine fromGoogle. No, they haven’t purchased Starbucks (yet) but in June 2010, Google launched a newindexing system called Caffeine, which basically means that the Google Search Engine can now crawlfaster and deeper. Internal links (linking pages to one another within your website) are moreimportant than ever as this helps your site visitors and search engine spiders to move deeper throughout your website whilst discovering and indexing all of your content.Google says that with Caffeine "you can now find links to relevant content much sooner after it is published than was possible ever before." Not only has searching been injected with Caffeine, it’snow being served instantly. With the launch of Google Instant, two to five seconds are being shavedoff each and every search. The functionality of Google can now predict what it is you will besearching for after you type the first few letters of your search word. You instantly receive searchresults as you type.

Tip #2 • Bing-hoo? Use Paid Search

Lesser known Google rivals, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing, are merging -- hence the nickname `Bing-hoo` has been coined within the industry. This merger undoubtedly positions Microsoft to gainmarketshare in the paid search market that has been dominated by Google for quite some time.Within two weeks all paid search ads appearing on Yahoo will be powered by Bing throughMicrosoft’s AdCenter servers. Those options combined with programs like Google AdWords andGoogle Remarketing – as well as Facebook and Twitter paid search programs – are providing amyriad of opportunities for advertising via paid search. It is also notable to point out that Facebook and Bing in recent days have announced a search and social networking partnership to makesearching more social and even more personal. This partnership will undoubtedly raise Bing’s sharein search, and the industry is abuzz with what this could mean for the allocation of dollars for paidsearch advertising.

Tip #3 • Localize

Each search engine has Local Search as part of their results. Are you maximizing your exposure viaLocal Search? Many who use Local Search are last minute bookers. Ensure your listings via Google

FEATURES

11 Hotelier Budget Planning Tips for 2011

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Places & Maps are claimed and that you are managing the information contained in your local listing.Leverage all aspects of your listing to ensure you are presenting your property accurately andattractively by including up-to-date images. Google is looking to corroborate your information soattention to detail is important.

Tip #4 • Socialize

Facebook has now surpassed Google in terms of how much time people spend online. Use thischannel to engage your audience. Make your Facebook page a useful place to visit full of value andinformation that your fans (i.e. potential guests) can appreciate and use. To be sure you are keepingup with the ever-changing landscape of Facebook (rules, terms of use, features – new and those being disabled), ensure you have resources available to create, monitor, and manage your socialmedia presence. Don’t ignore other social media sites and tools - especially Twitter, LinkedIn,Flickr, YouTube and TripAdvisor! Your hotel should be actively engaged with comments madeabout your hotel – the good, the bad and the ugly.

Tip #5 • Analyze

There are a few good analysis packages out there, but we love Google Analytics – mostly becauseit’s free, and quite frankly, it’s the best there is. Make sure you have resources in place that will bemonitoring your Google Analytics Reports on a regular basis. Watch for peaks or valleys in thenumber of visitors visiting your website, see how long they spend on your site and what pages theyvisit. These analytics will be your compass for giving you the direction as to what’s working andwhat’s not.

Tip #6 • Get Smart, Go Mobile

Smartphones are making the web The Hub. Interactions with web content reaches beyond the personal computer to the hand-held, hip-held, and tablets used by people on the go. Be sure thatyou have repurposed your content so that it is available across multiple platforms. Mobile-readysites and apps are a few examples of how consumers are engaging with content on the go. Get smart!Set aside resources to ensure that your web content is accessible and viewable on mobile devices.Think outside the box when creating mobile-ready content: blogs offer mobile plug-ins for a costeffective solution. Apps add a cool factor when done properly and can be very valuable to the enduser.

Tip #7 • Work it! Get Blogging

Blogging has become a very effective way to engage your audience while at the same time creatingspider bait for search engines and offer SEO advantages. A relatively cost effective tool, there aremany options for creating a blog with minimal graphic design. For a more seamless look you maywant to design a custom template that mirrors the look and feel of your site. Blog postings shouldalso be SEO`d and your Blog URL should be submitted to blog search engines for maximumexposure.

Tip #8 • Push it, Syndicate Your Content

Content Syndication is the syndication of content (e.g. press releases and articles) through relevantthird-party websites and Web 2.0 channels. Content syndication can help raise a website’s profileand secure higher search engine listings. This is yummy spider food that attracts search enginespiders to your site to discover new (or even old) content and understand its relevancy to certainkeyword phrases.Press releases often get indexed in regular Google, Yahoo (and other engines) natural or free searchresults – and act as a link back to your website, allowing you to control the free search results for your own keywords. As well, press releases can be put onto your own website in an RSS feed toincrease the optimized content you have on the site, which will also raise your search enginerankings.

Tip #9 • Link It

Consistently increase the number of links to your website to retain your search engine positioningfor a longer period of time. The process of link building is crucial to the success of any website.Having reputable, relevant links is one indication of popularity and success in the eyes of the generalonline public. As long as these links are from a quality source then the website page rank will