Houses up for sale often used in bogus listings

Damian Inwood
Sun

The Better Business Bureau is warning renters to watch out for online Olympic rental scams — after a U.S. group of sports fans was almost bilked out of $2,000.

“Online classifieds like Craigslist have made it easier for people to find things like home rentals, but the listings are not vetted and [are] prone to scams,” said Lynda Pasacreta, the bureau’s president.

“People from across the world want to come to Vancouver-Whistler for the Olympics and, with a short supply of accommodation, it is a recipe for disaster.”

According to the bureau, phony ads for rental properties across the province are cropping up, aimed specifically at stealing money from unsuspecting renters.

One RCMP report said that the U.S. group had tried to rent a Whistler property and was asked to send a $2,000 deposit via wire transfer to secure the property.

The bureau said that Western Union halted the transaction because of a problem with the information provided by the bogus landlord.

The scam victims were told they would receive the keys to the rental home after wiring the deposit.

When the victims asked if they could check out the property first, the landlords claimed that they were out of the country and could not show the house.

The bureau said homeowners are sometimes shocked when they answer a knock on the door, only to find people standing there who are planning to move into their “new rental home.”

Often the real homeowners have had their house up for sale and scammers stole the photos for a bogus listing, the bureau said.

It recommended people use the official Olympic accommodation website at www.2010destinationplanner.com.

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81 per cent of marketers plan to boost spending online

Matt Hartley
Sun

The recession has forced marketers to rethink how they’re divvying up their advertising budgets, allocating more money than ever to digital marketing, a new survey shows.

Thanks to improvements in technology, the economic downturn and increasing demand from their audiences, 81 per cent of marketers said they planned to increase their spending online, while 49 per cent said they expected to boost what they were shelling out for mobile marketing on cellphones and smartphones, according to a Media Mix survey from Ipsos Reid, presented Wednesday at Marketing Week’s Digital Day conference in Toronto.

“We’re seeing a shuffle in the deck,” said Steve Levy, head of Eastern Canada market research for Ipsos Reid, who added that the survey’s results were more of a barometer for looking at the year ahead rather than in the rearview mirror. “We’ve been seeing a shuffle in the deck for some time, but it seems like it’s gaining pace.”

Advertisers said they planned to cut their spending on traditional media in the coming year, with 41 per cent of advertisers expecting to cut back on print marketing, while 26 per cent anticipated slashing their spending on radio ads and 22 per cent planned to pare back their television advertising budgets.

“In a lot of senses, the tough economy has been pretty good for digital marketers,” said Adrian Capobianco, president of Toronto marketing firm Quizative Inc. “The tough economy has challenged inertia. Everything is being evaluated. New things are being evaluated and what you’ve done for the last 10 years is being evaluated in the same way. The dollars are shifting.”

Ipsos Reid conducted the Media Mix survey in early September in conjunction with the Canadian Marketing Association and Marketing magazine, polling 540 Canadian marketers and agencies.

In a separate survey, Ipsos Reid found that Canadians are warming up to Twitter, but that the social-networking phenomenon has a long way to go before it reaches Facebook-like levels of familiarity.

About nine out of 10 Canadians have heard of Twitter, up from just 26 per cent of Canadians who were aware of Twitter back in March, according to the survey, unveiled at the conference.

However, only five per cent of Canadians say they are active users of the micro-blogging service, where users can post updates about what they’re doing in 140 characters or less. Still, that’s up from the estimated one per cent of Canadians who were using Twitter in March.

“If Facebook is mainstream, Twitter certainly is not,” Levy said. “It’s not uncommon that sometimes there is a gulf between what people know about, or more importantly what they think they know about, and what they do.”

Although Twitter has experienced meteoric growth over the past 18 months — the site boasted nearly 60 million worldwide visitors in September, according to ComScore Inc. — it still trails Facebook’s estimated 325 million global users. In Canada alone, there are more than 12 million Facebook users.

While Canadians are increasingly embracing the Web and social media, advertisers are still figuring out how to market to them online.

Although more than $1.6 billion was spent in Canada on online marketing in 2008, marketers only allotted 11 per cent of their overall budgets to Internet advertising, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada.

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Kelly Sinoski
Sun

The B.C. government plans to introduce rules for off-road vehicles in the next two years to clamp down on all-terrain vehicle problems.

The new rules, which apply to dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles, will require all riders on Crown land to get a one-time registration with a licence plate, and to wear helmets and use night lights.

Off-road vehicles will have to be registered and licensed when they are sold or resold. The rules do not apply on private lands.

“This initiative, in part, is about allowing law enforcement officials to track stolen ORVs, something almost impossible today. It is absolutely not about taking away anyone’s safe, responsible fun,” Minister of Community and Rural Development Bill Bennett said in a statement.

The move was lauded Tuesday by the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, which said it will boost B.C. as a tourist destination because the province will no longer be seen as a dumping ground for stolen all-terrain vehicles.

Chamber president John Winter said he hopes the move will lure people back from other places such as Alberta, Washington, Montana and Idaho.

“Tourists are staying away from B.C. because of the lack of registration and lack of safety,” he said.

The province is also proposing new standards for mufflers to minimize noise impact on wildlife and spark arrestors to reduce the risk of forest fires.

For more information, visit www.tca.gov.bc.ca/ORV.

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Larry Pynn
Sun

The Bob and Kay Ackles YMCA Nanook House officially opens today to help disadvantaged children living in the Mount Pleasant community.

Ackles, the late B.C. Lions president and chief executive officer who served on the YMCA’s board of directors, and his wife Kay raised $2.2 million toward the $3.8-million goal. Ackles died of a heart attack on July 6, 2008, at age 69.

Nanook House opened in 1979 in a 1,500-square-foot portable building capable of handling 25 preschoolers. The fundraising campaign has allowed for construction of a new 5,600-square-foot building plus two outdoor play fields capable of handling 12 more children and providing additional programs for parents.

Susan Low, vice-president and general manager of YMCA child care, said in an interview that Ackles, once an east-end kid himself, took a genuine interest in the program.

“He came down on a regular basis, he’d play football with the kids,” she said. “He brought a bus down many times and took them to the football games. He really connected with them.”

Nanook House, at 1255 East 10th Ave., is a child care and family development centre for children aged 18 months to five years. The program involves nutrition, physical activity, communication skills, and literacy aimed at preparing children for success in school.

Programs are also offered for parents, who may be impoverished, suffering from mental illness, raising children on their own, or victims of abusive relationships.

According to Human Early Learning Partnership, a collaboration of six universities, Mount Pleasant is among the Lower Mainland’s most vulnerable areas, with 34 to 66 per cent of children developmentally vulnerable. The YMCA still needs $315,000 to finish Nanook House as well as $100,000 to operate it each year. To donate, visit www.vanymca.org or call 604-681-9622.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Frank O’Brien
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All ready for 3,000 athletes to call home for two weeks

Sam Cooper
Province

VANOC boss John Furlong looked relieved as he accepted the giant key to Vancouver’s Olympic Village from Mayor Gregor Robertson on Wednesday.

At the official handover ceremony in the cavernous Salt Building — with construction crews still working outside to finish the $1-billion-plus, eight-block development — Robertson quipped about delays, saying, “I know you’ve been waiting for this — welcome to your new digs John.”

Furlong called the facility a “platinum-level performer” and waxed poetic in a speech before a throng of media and officials, saying “the atmosphere of these Games will be lifted so much by this village.

“To get up and look across False Creek to the skyline and the mountains will propel athletes to the performance of their careers,” Furlong said.

Later, Furlong said Vancouver’s Olympic Village is head and shoulders above any other in the world.

He noted that other countries are already studying the facility.

In February and March 2010, more than 3,000 of the world’s top winter athletes and team officials will make the village their home, with access to extensive amenities and services. The Salt Building, a refurbished barn-like heritage structure with exposed wooden beams and a towering ceiling, is where athletes will meet and mingle.

Following the Games, unsold Millennium Water condo units valued at $600,000-plus each will be put on sale as part of marketer Bob Rennie’s revised strategy.

As developer Millennium ran into financing problems in the middle of 2008’s world financial crisis, the city was forced to take over the project and has had difficulty selling pricey units in a real-estate downturn.

Robertson pushed the “exceptional value” of the project’s green features, predicting the village will propel Vancouver to the goal of being the world’s leading “green city.”

“It’s hard to imagine we are standing on what was once the industrial heartland of the city, and now it’s our vision of a more sustainable future,” he said.

The mixed-use, mixed-income neighbourhood will have 1,100 residential units, incorporating sustainable infrastructure, high-performance green buildings and easy transit access, the city says.

© Copyright (c) The Province

 

Larry Pynn
Sun

You’ve probably never heard of it, but you will likely find it on a map soon.

The Washington state Board on Geographic Names on Friday approved the name Salish Sea as a new official placename.

The move has the backing of B.C.’s member on the Washington board’s Canadian counterpart.

The Salish Sea name honours the region’s aboriginal people and recognizes the shared marine ecosystem, comprised of the protected waters of the Strait of Georgia, Juan de Fuca Strait and Puget Sound.

Caleb Maki, executive secretary of the Washington board, said in an interview from Olympia he received a letter from Janet Mason, the B.C. member of the Geographical Names Board of Canada, with the recommendation the board “endorse the name Salish Sea in principle, with the view to adopting the name as a joint decision with the United States Board on Geographic Names, if upcoming deliberations by USBGN are conclusive.”

Mason’s letter states the name has “extensive positive support,” including from first nations, and does not replace any existing place names but is meant only to represent a “collective name for the entire inland waters.”

The U.S. board could hear the matter in November.

Bert Webber, a retired Western Washington University marine biologist, is the driving force behind the name.

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Internet marketer hit for $711.2m damages

Sun

Social networking website Facebook was awarded $711.2 million in damages relating to an anti-spam case against Internet marketer Sanford Wallace, court documents show.

Wallace did not oppose the motion or appear at the hearing on Sept. 18, 2009, according to a filing on Thursday in a San Jose, California federal court.

The site filed an anti-spamming case against Wallace in February for accessing people’s Facebook accounts without their permission and sending phony mail and posts to the individuals’ public message wall, the company said in a blog post.

“While we don’t expect to receive the vast majority of the award, we hope that this will act as a continued deterrent,” Facebook said in a blog post.

Wallace did not immediately respond to a Reuters e-mail seeking comment. His e-mail address was obtained from the court documents.

The case is In re Facebook Inc. vs. Sanford Wallace, et al, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. C 09-798 JF.

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Travel executive is looking at viability of bringing Shuswap houseboats to Vancouver

Bruce Constantineau
Sun

When more than 250,000 visitors come for a 17-day party, sleeping arrangements become creative.

Olympic travellers heading to Vancouver and Whistler will stay in hotels, motels, hostels, private homes, mobile homes, recreational vehicles, tents and on cruise ships.

They may even soon have an option to sleep in drylanded houseboats near False Creek.

Exposure Travel co-founder Nick Gudewill wants to bring houseboats from the Shuswap region and create a “houseboat city” on property near Main and Terminal in Vancouver. He’s negotiating with the land-owner and the City of Vancouver and will assess market reaction to the concept by Dec. 15, when he will either proceed with the project or cancel it. “People are looking at paying 500 bucks a night for a motel,” Gudewill said. “This will provide a lower-cost, affordable housing option for a younger crowd.”

Prices would range from $150 a night for a single bed in a shared bunk room to $1,500 a night for an entire vessel that can sleep up to 15 people.

Gudewill said the houseboat city should attract visitors who leave things until the last minute as he expects many people will show up in Vancouver without confirmed accommodation. “We thought about doing this in Whistler or Squamish but if we want walk-ins, we have to be close to the action in Vancouver,” he said.

Not everyone has embraced the concept of providing relatively affordable rooms during a period of high demand. A change of branding at the former Quality Inn Vancouver Airport has left many Olympic visitors scrambling for new rooms, as the hotel says rooms booked months ago for as little as $79 a night will now cost $350 a night or more.

The Happy Day Inn in Burnaby — where rooms are available for as little as $60 a night this winter — has listed rooms on Expedia for $625 a night during the Olympics. The hotel’s website says suites available for $111 a night during the peak summer season will cost $775 a night during the Games.

Tourism Vancouver vice-president Walt Judas said price gouging is still an anomaly as most hoteliers understand the need to build long-term relationships with visitors. “It’s not just about two weeks during the Games,” he said. “It’s about future business and getting people to come back again and again.”

(The Paralympic Games in March will not have the same impact on hotel prices as the Olympics. A Best Western hotel on Kingsway, for example, has rooms available for $109 a night for much of the Paralympics, compared with $250 or more during the Olympics.)

Judas said most downtown Vancouver hotels have few, if any, rooms available during the Games but noted 28 hotels and motels listed on www.2010destinationplanner.com currently have more than 1,900 rooms. The hotels are spread over a wide geographic area from Vancouver Island to Chilliwack.

He noted tour operators secured a lot of Vancouver hotel rooms for clients awhile ago and previous Olympic experience shows some of those rooms will become available as the Games draw closer. But he expects it will still be hard to find rooms in downtown Vancouver.

St. Regis Hotel general manager Jeremy Roncoroni said the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee secured 58 of the 65 rooms at his newly renovated Dunsmuir Street property and he has sold six of the seven rooms he was allowed to market during the Games.

Two of the rooms were sold to large companies for the entire month of February and Roncoroni expects the final room — a 600-square-foot suite — will soon sell for $1,100 a night during the 17-day Games period. It is usually available for $595 a night at that time of year.

“We’ve had a lot of inquiries about it and should sell it soon,” he said. “Somebody called me the other day looking for 40 rooms and I said you’re smoking out of the wrong pipe at the wrong time.”

Admiral Hotel owner Amir Sadath is renovating the north Burnaby hotel’s 25 rooms for a cost of $15,000 to $20,000 each and recently listed them on Expedia for $690 a night during the Games. The regular off-season room rate will be around $150 a night, he said.

“We discussed this with Expedia and determined that’s the price we should ask,” he said. “The few rooms left around Vancouver are going for that.”

Games chief executive officer Martin Schoenberg, whose company lists private homes for rent during the Olympics, said he knows of a few smaller hotels that have left clients stranded in the same manner as the former Quality Inn.

“People have contacted us looking for help because some hotel has left them stranded or a homeowner has decided to sell so they can no longer rent them a suite,” he said.

Rent for the Games properties start at about $500 a night for a one-bedroom condo. The organization currently has about 500 properties available during the Games, down from 1,500 two years ago.

“We thought demand would have levelled off by now but we’re dealing with major corporations that still don’t have their accommodation plans finalized — names like Yahoo, Samsung, Rona and the NHL,” Schoenberg said. “We thought this would be really late in the game for them.”

Canada‘s two major airlines said they have noticed a spike in interest for flights in and out of Vancouver during the Olympics.

WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said the airline has received several requests for special charter flights to Vancouver during the Games and it plans to fly as many as it can, depending on the availability of aircraft.

Air Canada said it is closely monitoring demand and will add capacity to Vancouver when required. It will also introduce non-stop service from Vancouver to Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva and Zurich during the Games and will bring several hundred more employees to Vancouver during the Olympics to ensure it can handle the increased traffic.

Global Travel managing partner Scott Clute expects a lot of regular winter-season visitors to the Vancouver/Whistler region will travel instead to resorts like Sun Peaks or Big White during the Olympics.

He also said several Vancouver residents will leave town to avoid the Olympic hoopla and many will fly out of Seattle or Bellingham to escape the perceived congestion and security issues at Vancouver International Airport.

Jubilee Travel owner Claire Newell expects a lot of people will want to get out of Vancouver during the Games. She noted reading week — the annual one-week break for university students — happens during the Olympics. “I don’t think people are being ‘bah humbug’ about the Olympics,” she said. “I just think a lot of people on the west side and in downtown Vancouver are worried about the traffic situation.”

Newell said tour operators know there will be a strong demand for warm-weather getaways in February and have priced their products accordingly, noting a seven-day all-inclusive trip to Puerto Vallarta, departing Feb. 14, will cost $1,649.

“I don’t expect they will go on sale too much because a lot of people will book well in advance,” she said.

Newell expects many Vancouver residents will follow her own personal Olympic strategy — stay in the city for a week to take in some Olympic events and then get the heck out of town.

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