DAWSON CITY After some initial trepidation about quorum and the problem of electing new executive members now that some of the former ones have been elected to public office, the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) held its annual general meeting Feb. 20.

The KVA has a policy of staggered terms of office, so that there are always, in theory, some experienced members on the board. Held over from the last board, with a year left to serve, are Karen Jenkins, David Millar, Jorn Meier and Eric Zalitis.

New members acclaimed to the board to fill six two-year terms and two one-year terms are Peggy Amendola, Brenda Caley, Barb Hanulik, Johnny Nunan, Heather Schmidt, Matt Van Nostrand, Kyler Mather, Mark Wickham and Brian Stetham.

The board will decide on executive positions at its first meeting.

On the operational side, the KVA will be developing a new business plan for the casino, which is its only stable source of revenue.

Total revenue for the KVA in 2006 was $2,964,075, with a profit of just $126,324 after salaries and other expenses.

Current chair Brenda Caley advised the audience of just under 20 people (quorum was 17 this year) that the organization is concerned with re-imagining itself on a fairly basic level, given the changes in the nature of tourist traffic over the last few years.

With a grant from the territorial Department of Economic Development, the organization has conducted a tourism needs assessment and decided on three priorities for the immediate future.

All three would involve partnerships between the KVA and some existing group.

Caley said there is a need to try to establish a receptive and tour operator, to package tours of the town in the manner that Gold City Tours used to do, such tours to include Diamond Tooth Gerties and other attractions.

There is a need to restore historic buildings, and to do so in such a way that the structures are of some use to the community once they have been restored.

The third priority was to develop or host some sort of extreme race or competition, which would involve a partnership with someone already involved in such an enterprise.

Caley noted that the KVA, like many Dawson businesses, had trouble finding and keeping staff in 2006.

This was an item for discussion at the second annual tourism futures meeting last fall, an event which began after a panic in 2005, but now seems to be a useful tool for debriefing the tourism season each year.

'We are not only competing with the rest of Canada for tourists, but also for our work force.'

Special events this summer will include the World Goldpanning Competition (in addition to the Yukon event on July 1) as well as the Klondike Run motorcycle event. The latter has just been turned over to the KVA by the event's founder.

On the expense side, the KVA will be spending money on the casino (Gerties) in a number of areas, including the north wall of the building, which needs some attention. The KVA leases the building from the City of Dawson, and this lease runs out in 2008.