The General Manager of the Delta Hotel by Marriott in downtown Kamloops is the new board chair of the BC Hotel Association.

Bryan Pilbeam is a 25-year veteran of the hotel industry, and he was named to the position earlier this month.

“It’s a hundred year old association and it’s really just advocating on behalf of that business, and making sure it can be the best that it needs to be for our community,” Pilbeam said, on the NL Morning News.

He says he is appreciative of the legacy set by two Kamloopsians, who have been board chairs in the past – Tim Rodgers and Mary Ann Milobar.

“It’s a very impressive group of people that I work with, and I’m so appreciative to do what I do,” Pilbeam noted. “We look to move it forward though. We want to be relevant, we want to make sure that we are providing value for our members, and make sure that the issues that are important to us are important going forward.”

In addition to his role at the Delta, Pilbeam is also vice-president of Invictus Properties. He is a past chair of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, as well as a former president of the Kamloops Accommodation Association.

He also sat on the board of directors for Tourism Whistler and the Hotel Association of Whistler.

Pilbeam says one of the board’s first tasks will be to find a new President and CEO, after the retirement of James Chase, who was in that role for 28 years, noting that work is already underway.

“We’ve had interviews already across the country,” he said. “It’s about getting the right person for the job at the right time.”