Last week's Clefs d'Or Congress may have taken place half a world away, but a strong contingent from Vancouver's hospitality and tourism industry ensured the city had a seat at the table.
The 59th annual conference was hosted by the Union Internationale des Concierges Hotels (Les Clefs d'Or), a professional association of more than 3,500 concierges from around the world.
The conference, held in London, England, brought concierges from 44 countries together to network and discuss emerging trends in the hospitality industry. It also gave them the opportunity to hone their skills with professional education and training sessions.
This year, Canada sent a total of 28 concierges to the conference, including 10 from British Columbia, representing some of the province's most prestigious hotel properties.
For Heather Crosby, chief concierge of Vancouver's boutique Rosewood Hotel Georgia, the gathering offered an opportunity to network with like-minded professionals from around the world, any one of whom could prove invaluable in solving a problem for one of Crosby's guests down the road.
"I can pick up the phone and if I need tickets to a show in London, I've met the concierge," Crosby said. "And I know it's done to the level that I would have done for my guest."
A professional network is an essential piece of equipment, without which the job would be near-impossible, she said.
"It's about who you know," Crosby said. "Anybody can Google a restaurant or a nightclub, but it's putting a personal experience behind it and be able to get people in when it's sold out. That's what makes the difference."
This year, conference topics included the use of social media in the hospitality industry, how to attract and retain talent, and the changing definition of "luxury" in an age of intercontinental travel.
Given Vancouver's tourist clientele, it was the last of these that Crosby found particularly interesting.
"Normally, we would focus on the North American culture," she said. "Now, we're looking at what does luxury mean to China or to Russia or to Brazil or to any of the Latin American countries [from which] we're seeing an influx of tourists."
Stéphane Mouttet, chief concierge at Vancouver's Shangri-La Hotel and director of the B.C. region of Les Clefs d'Or Canada agreed that the conference provided an outstanding opportunity for concierges to expand their professional network.
"I've used a lot of my connections in the past to assist many of our residents who travel around the world and stay in luxury hotels," he said. "My colleagues and I also get calls for assistance for their guests travelling to B.C."
Beyond networking, Mouttet also believes the strong representation from B.C. helped keep the province top of mind with its international counterparts, and educate industry insiders on the beauty and cultural value of the city.
"[It's an] opportunity for us to promote our hotels and region to colleagues around the world," Mouttet said. "We have 10 concierges attending the congress; each and every one of those is an ambassador for the B.C. region."
Rick Antonson, president and CEO of Tourism Vancouver, believes the congress is another example of the growing recognition of the value international travellers place on concierge services.
"It's about the growing stature of this role, recognized around the world, as chefs are recognized around the world, as senior leaders in hospitality or destination marketing or whatever field within tourism would be recognized."
Here at home, Antonson believes concierges play a crucial role in building and sustaining Vancouver's stature as a tourism destination. "They are the face of the Vancouver brand, they are the face of the community and, in many cases, they are the number 1 Vancouverite that a visitor to our city is interchanging with."
Because the quality of that interaction is a crucial factor in whether a visitor enjoys their stay in the city, Antonson is a strong supporter of the Clefs d'Or Association and its annual congress.
"Because [concierges] have such rich information and they know how to make everything happen, literally, they often extend a visitor's stay," he said. "They often are right at the forefront of the reason people decide why people decide to come back to Vancouver, to visit again." •
