TIABC C-19 Bulletin - May 14, 2021

C-19 BULLETIN - May 14, 2021

CEO Message

If you’re regularly in the company of little kids, chances are you’ve been asked the why question dozens, if not hundreds of times. Why…is the sky blue? Why…do I have to wear a mask? Why…can’t I have another piece of chocolate cake? Why…can’t I have a dog?

Often our answers easily roll off the tongue; occasionally we make stuff up on the fly; and other times we respond with I don’t know or because I said so knowing full well the unsatisfactory retort is likely to evoke another why?

While I haven’t gotten the why question from little kids recently, I’ve heard it countless times from adults over the past year including TIABC members, media, various stakeholders, friends, family and the public who are desperate for answers to their most pressing queries. The following is but a small sample:

Why do Canadians returning home by airplane have to be quarantined in a designated hotel on their own dime but someone flying into Bellingham can show up on foot at the Peace Arch land border, clear customs, walk into Canada and not be subject to the same rules?
Why is there no plan to reopen the border when so many people from other countries are fully vaccinated and want to visit Canada but can’t?
Why don’t we employ rapid screening or proof of vaccination as a means to allow people to travel more freely to and within BC and Canada?
Why not just lock everyone down for two weeks to get a handle on virus transmission rates so we can fully reopen in time to save our summer.
Why can’t we issue a full travel ban on visitors from other provinces to prevent further spread of the virus?
Why doesn’t my business qualify for government support when I’ve lost all of my bookings and have no revenue due to the travel restrictions?
Why don’t governments seem to understand the importance of tourism or the benefits the industry provides to communities and respond with the support necessary to ensure our survival?
Why can hundreds of people congregate in close quarters indoors (e.g. big box retailer) yet 50 people can’t meet in a highly controlled setting such as a corporate meeting venue or restaurant?
Why is there no restart plan for the tourism industry?
Why is there be a labour shortage if so many tourism and hospitality workers remain unemployed?
Why not extend the Circuit Breaker program to include any and all tourism sub-sectors affected by the latest travel order?

For several months and again more recently, TIABC has been asking these and other questions of senior levels of government. Each time we receive a response, we’ve done our level best to keep you informed through this newsletter and other forums such as meetings or presentations. Although we don’t make stuff up, admittedly there are instances where we simply don’t know or can't find the answers. Most often when the answers aren't clear or are insufficient, we instead offer recommendations to decision-makers on ways to address the issues or opportunities.

Frankly, as annoying as the why question can be sometimes, TIABC and our sector partners will continue to press for answers so we can keep our industry top of mind when it comes to plans or decisions on relief and recovery measures to ensure tourism operators throughout the province make it to the other side of this debilitating crisis.

As it pertains to the COVID-19 pandemic, what’s your why question? Feel free to reach out and let us know. I look forward to hearing from you.

Walt Judas

CEO, TIABC

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Excerpts from Dr. Henry Briefing

What we are doing in BC is working. As more and more of our loved ones in our communities and our families are being protected and we are taking those measures to reduce the transmission. So let's keep that curve bending down. We look to brighter days ahead. But right now, we need to hold the line. We need to keep doing what we are doing as we get more and more people protected so we will not be seeing any changes to the measures that we have in place right now until after the May long weekend, and even then, it is not going to be flicking the switch. It is going to be gradually and slowly increasing the light.

And that is important for all of us. We can see a future where we don't have to have COVID-19 ruling our lives, when we can get back to doing the things that we know are so important for us as individuals, as families, and communities. So let's keep this momentum going and remember to continue to be kind, to be calm, and to be safe.

Reporter: You mentioned Restart 2.0 will come after the May long weekend. What sort of information should people expect to get around how this is going to work, how it's safe to unwrap ourselves and what sort of communication will be part of that?

Dr. Henry: There will be a communications plan, but I think what people need to know is that nothing is changing right now. We are in a place where we're in a good direction and we need to keep it up at least through the end of the May long weekend, so don't start thinking about making plans now until after that period of time. Then we'll be going back to the same approach that we took last May where we started gradually increasing our activities based on risk, based on monitoring what is going on, how many more people have been immunized, how our case and transmission rates are going down, and that will continue into the summer.

If things continue to go in the right direction, by the time we get to our July long weekend, I think we should be able to do even more in terms of having small gatherings, in terms of having those events that are so important. We think back to last summer and how we were able to do that successfully and safely, so people planning weddings and things like that -- we will still have the need to be cautious, and through a period of time make sure that we are keeping the virus down. Then as we move into the fall, if things continue to go the way we expect -- I put these caveats in because as we learn all the time, this virus has taught us that we cannot be complacent.

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MLA’s Consider Estimates for Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport

Earlier this week (May 10 & 11), the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport defended its 2021 operations budget and plan as part of committee proceedings (Estimates) that include all parties. The following are excerpts (statements and answers) by Minister Melanie Mark in response to opposition questions by Liberal Tourism Critic Teresa Wat and Green Party Tourism Critic Adam Olsen during the sessions. The statements provide insight into government policies to assist BC’s visitor economy in the coming weeks...plans that TIABC continues to advocate for.

I want to assure people working in the tourism industry that we have, and we will continue to work with the federal government on issues related to the border and international travel. In addition, Destination BC has a robust reopening marketing plan that will showcase all that our province has to offer to Canadian and international visitors. When our province reopens and it is safe to welcome visitors again, we will be ready.

I just want to state for the record that I'm aware of the issues around the cruise ship industry. Of course we want to be welcoming international visitors. But right at this moment in time, as we watch the news every day and we look at the counts, when we think about the vaccination rollout, cruise ships aren't on the radar right this second. They're going to be on the radar once we have a greater sense of confidence that we have the mobility for people to be travelling across our borders or in our ports. I can assure the member that we are going to still be a destination of choice, a magnet for people that are going to choose to come to Vancouver and to Prince Rupert and to Victoria.

I am alive to the issues of hotels. It's just that the restrictions to travel, internationally and domestically, have had a huge impact, which is why the campaign with Destination BC has also been to try to pivot and stay local as best you can, try to support local as best you can, in an effort to make sure that they're there when we move out of this pandemic.

The program (iconic attractions support) is still being finalized. I'll have, hopefully, more details to come to the member sooner than later, so stay tuned. But I'm just really glad that we got some money in the budget to acknowledge that some of these anchor attractions have been around for a very long time, and we hope they're going to be there for future generations.

This is definitely the question of the hour, the question of the day, from the sector around reopening and restart and the easing of the health order. Of course, these decisions aren't being made lightly by the provincial health officer. They're done, as the member appreciates, for the safety and best interests of British Columbians. Government doesn't make those unilateral decisions. We take the evidence-based approach from the PHO. In tandem, we are working with the sector. The member mentioned meetings and conventions and travel and tourism, etc. All of those folks are impacted because of gatherings and the limitations because of the health order. We've put together a tourism advisory table, in order to give us counsel. There's representation across the sector that's going to help inform government —We take that advice from the PHO and have an advisory table giving us the counsel, not only what the issues and concerns are but their advice on how and where we're going to start as those restrictions ease up.

The Premier has made it very clear. Who does he want to guide us through this pandemic? It's going to be those that have a background in medicine, those that have an understanding of epidemiology and how to roll out vaccinations and help a province navigate its way through a global health crisis. I have a role to play as an elected official, and we respect the lane of the PHO. But there's no single recipe that dictates what the PHO considers. I appreciate that the member, just like everyone in my sector, is looking for that one-two-three recipe, and it's going to lead us to the same conclusion. That's not the case, because there are so many factors, whether it's the size of places or how close you're going to be. Meanwhile, I would say unequivocally that the PHO is constantly thinking about trying to mitigate closure and trying to keep things as open as possible, knowing how devastating it is on all the sectors. Arts and culture — people probably didn't appreciate arts and culture as much till now, in the middle of a pandemic, when you can't go to the places that you wish to. I hope that helps satisfy the member opposite's question.

I will say, though, that there isn't going to be a sector-by-sector plan, a restart plan. There are some that have very similar challenges, and many have similar challenges because they can't gather. They can't have events. They can't go shoulder to shoulder. They can't sweat side by side. For all of those reasons, they're in a different category. Many of them under my ministry — sports, events, tourism — are being impacted. The Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation and I are working side by side. We're getting closer to making public announcements that will come from government with the advice and direction of the provincial health officer.

The first area that the member opposite was going with, talking about Walt Judas…. Since I became minister, Walt Judas has definitely been in my VIP lane. I lean on him heavily for his expertise. He is a champion for his trade. I've learned a lot from him. I respect his advice. It's why he's part of the tourism advisory table, has helped with the circuit breaker and has given us that counsel. To me, being a champion at the table is leaning on people that drive the expertise, being their advocate. Trust me. It's a negotiation, and that negotiation is the interests, sometimes the complementary interests and sometimes the competing interests. My whole ministry file is about people playing sports, gathering, going to events, music festivals, going to conferences, travelling, being shoulder to shoulder with people. Everyone in my file is impacted by this pandemic. To the second part of the member's question, whether it's around film or whether, for me, sports — skills and drills — every single day, all hours of the day, the question is: "When can we go back?" But part of the premise of the member's question is around who decides. And who decides and reviews and considers thoughtfully all of those safety plans and who can start or not start is done by public health officials.

Whether it's deferrals on hydro, whether it's subsidies for rent, whether it's the wage subsidy to help the worker, whether it's an ICBC rebate to help with your affordability, whether it's the emergency benefit to help you just have a bit more change in your pocket…all of those things collectively are decisions that government is making, while we also have to balance those measures of being fiscally responsible — stewards of taxpayers' dollars. We're going to have to pay it back. Someone has got to pay it back.

A full record of the proceedings can be found here:

www.leg.bc.ca/documents-data/debate-transcripts/42nd-parliament/2nd-session

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Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Responds to HASCAP Enquiry

On May 12th, TIABC, Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC), and the BC Hotel Association (BCHA) received a response from the Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade on a joint proposal to adjust the HASCAP program to allow more businesses to receive funding needed to sustain operations.

Read the letter here

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Coalition of BC Businesses Supports COVID Sick Leave

But Industry Should Not Bear the Cost

“The Coalition of BC Businesses is in favour of a temporary sick leave program that supports workers and helps maintain a safe workplace, but companies should not be asked to shoulder the financial burden resulting from a public health pandemic,” said Andrew Wynn-Williams, Chair of the Coalition and Divisional VP for BC of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME). “Other jurisdictions are covering the full cost of this measure and the Province of BC should do the same.”

TIABC, along with several partners are members of the Coalition.

Read the media release here

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More Than 84 Downtown Vancouver Businesses Closed Their Doors Forever in 2020

The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA) has released their 2020 State of Downtown report.

The economic impacts of COVID-19 were widespread. All conventions and public events were cancelled. Universities temporarily closed campuses. International travel virtually stopped. Working-from-home shrunk the daytime population, while downtown’s notoriously tight office market began to ease as smaller companies re-evaluated their space needs. At least 84 street-level businesses closed.

There is hope. Tech played an important role in supporting businesses, keeping people connected and activating public spaces in innovative ways. Businesses adapted to COVID-19 restrictions. The federal government spent over $150 billion in direct supports to help people and businesses impacted by the pandemic; while support from the BC government and City of Vancouver addressed the housing crisis and supported the tourism and the arts and culture sectors. Widespread vaccinations have begun, and Vancouver’s COVID-19 case count was relatively low compared to other major cities. Further, downtown has strong market fundamentals, a diversified economy and a robust destination brand, which will continue to attract businesses, visitors and residents into the future.

Read the full 2020 State of Downtown report here

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Minister of Transport Introduces New funding Programs to Support Canada's Airports

On May 11th, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Omar Alghabra, launched two new contribution funding programs to help Canada's airports recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic:

The Airport Critical Infrastructure Program (ACIP) is a new program providing close to $490 million to financially assist Canada's larger airports with investments in critical infrastructure-related to safety, security or connectivity

The Airport Relief Fund (ARF) is a new program providing almost $65 million in financial relief to targeted Canadian airports to help maintain operations.

In addition to launching these two new funding programs, the Minister announced that Transport Canada's Airports Capital Assistance Program (ACAP) is receiving a funding top-up of $186 million over two years. The ACAP is an existing contribution funding program which provides financial assistance to Canada's local and regional airports for safety-related infrastructure projects and equipment purchases.