Victorian inn earns tourism technology award

By Lawrence Powell

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

Paul Stackhouse and Val Peterson have combined Victorian elegance with modern Internet technology to offer visitors to Annapolis Royal a tourism experience second to none in Nova Scotia – and on December 2 they won an award for their efforts.

Stackhouse and Peterson, co-owners and operators of Hillsdale House Inn, were presented with the Tourism Atlantic Technology Award at the 2008 Tourism Summit hosted by the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia in Halifax.

Stackhouse said that in the past two years he and Peterson have made a significant commitment to providing a web-based presence for Hillsdale House Inn, particularly through a computer-based property technology system hooked into an online reservation system. The system gives prospective lodgers all the information they require, including a room inventory, to make decisions and offers various reservation options.

Stackhouse said they worked with a web designer and IT consultant to make sure the inn’s website could be properly found by search engines. He described Internet technology as such a moving target that it’s necessary to seek some outside expert assistance, at least initially. “You have to decide where to seek out the help and make the investment there,” he said.

But although they relied on some expert IT help, Stackhouse and Peterson immersed themselves in technology in an ongoing self-training program through online study, attending workshops, investigation of social media, and the phenomenon of blogging which can drive people to the website as well.

Besides attracting clientele, employing Internet technology for a small business is economically feasible compared to some other media, Stackhouse said, and the Internet is virtually free. “Statistics show that people use the Internet,” he said. “It’s a logical place to put a lot of your focus.”

Stackhouse believes that in such a local setting as Annapolis Royal, the co-operative use of the web and Internet technology can have a synergistic impact through reciprocal links and feature articles that help owners and attractions drive business to each other.

And in that vein, Stackhouse believes it is important to share ideas and technology locally.

Hillsdale House, built in 1859, can be found easily from anywhere in the world using 21st Century Internet technology. Google Hillsdale House Inn or go to www.hillsdalehouseinn.ca