SUNDAY, 10 NOVEMBER 2013 02:00 JAMES MILLER Penticton Herald
The Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce has asked Penticton City Council to put an abrupt end to its legal actions against the Penticton Hospitality Association. In a letter sent to Mayor Garry Litke and members of council, Friday, Chamber president Andre Martin described it as "a losing situation for everyone." The PHA, which represents 40 hoteliers, was in negotiations with Tourism Penticton on amalgamating the two organizations. Meetings were facilitated by Ingrid Jarrett, vice-president of the Watermark Beach Resort in Osoyoos. In an unexpected move, council sent a letter to the PHA last week demanding they return $300,000 in unspent tourism marketing revenues generated from a hotel room tax. Both the PHA and City have since hired lawyers with the City's bill being $21,700 to date. The PHA disputes many of the claims made by the City on "breach of contract" allegations and countered with a series of lengthy press releases. In his letter to Litke, Martin said it was the Chamber's understanding both sides were "very close to an agreement" in forming one organization. "The end result of pursuing legal action will only be a further wasting of resources, fracturing of the community, and likely the loss of the Hotel Tax Revenues all together," he wrote. "We strongly encourage the City of Penticton to reverse its decision to pursue legal action and instead return to diplomacy, allowing Tourism Penticton and the PHA to complete their negotiations." "I'm extremely pleased the Chamber has come out in support of the PHA and Tourism Penticton," said David Prystay, general manager of the Penticton Lakeside Resort. "The City should keep their fingers out of the pie. The Chamber has its own history in understanding the complexities of dealing with the City and tourism at the same time." Prystay strongly supports the tourism model used in Kelowna where the stakeholders control where the hotel room tax is spent.
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