Yellowknife (Aug 20/03) - Even though two hotel managers have only lived in the Yellowknife for six months, they're already having an impact on how the industry will grow.

Paul Dodds, manager of the Super 8, and Rene Raque, general manager of the Yellowknife Inn, are founding members of the Yellowknife Hotel Association. So far, five city hotels have joined.

Up until now, there has been no formal hotel association within the Northwest Territories, Dodds said.

A 12-year veteran of the hotel industry, Dodds said the challenges of the local labour market and the potential development of a convention centre are the prime reasons behind formation of the association.

"I'm used to dealing with a turnover of 18 to 24 per cent," said Dodds.

"This property had a 240-per-cent turnover in 2002."

Proper management techniques and fair treatment of employees along with formal recognition are all methods that can be used to reduce turnover and hold on to staff, he said.

"There's nothing that tells me those things shouldn't work here," he replies, when asked what special initiatives he has put in place to retain employees.

Known on an interim basis as the Yellowknife Hotel Association, the organization was conceived in May, had its first meeting in June and will meet again in September.

"We have talked about the state of the labour force and having a mechanism in place to react, when and if the city gets a convention centre. We need to work quickly to bid for conventions and we need to be proactive on that," he said.

The association plans to share data with Pannell Kerr Foster, a national consulting association that produces trend reports and performs data warehousing for the government on the hospitality industry.

The association is registering as a nonprofit entity and expects membership fees to simply cover costs.

"What has worked well elsewhere is you tie into the number of rooms, expecting the big boys to pay a little more," said Dodds.

Rene Raque, general manager of the Yellowknife Inn and treasurer for the association, said in the past, everything has been "secret, secret, secret. But now, it pays to share information."

The association "will allow us to have more impact and more clout," he said.