C-19 BULLETIN -
April 2, 2020
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British Columbia has a Travel Assurance Fund that is intended to reimburse guests for cancelled travel. Our partners at HeliCat Canada have reviewed fund parameters and provided important information for industry colleagues below in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
BC Travel Assurance Fund Definition:
The Travel Assurance Fund is a possible source of compensation for consumers if they did not receive the travel services they purchased due to the fault of a third party (e.g. airline bankruptcy) or a contributor to the fund (e.g. licensed travel agent or wholesaler). It's a fund of last resort and to be eligible, consumers must have booked with a licensed BC agent or wholesaler. All licensed travel agencies, wholesalers and accommodation providers must make payments to the Fund.
Conditions Where the Fund Does Not Apply:
- If travel bookings are cancelled voluntarily.
- During a natural disaster or a force majeure, which is an unforeseeable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a contract. COVID-19 is considered a force majeure.
- Offering a refund to your customers for booked travel is your decision and contingent on your business refund policy. Remember that your refund policy should be clear to your customers when booking travel.
BC Travel Industry Regulation re: Travel Assurance Fund
This site describes regulations that apply to travel agents and travel wholesalers, what they must pay in fees when getting a travel agent/wholesaler license, that the agent/wholesaler must use a trust account for fees collected, the amount of security they must provide to the Regulator, how much they must contribute to the fund each year, who may claim against the fund, when they can claim against the fund, and the maximum payable ($5,000).
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A Hidden Priority:
Travel Advisories, Durations, Cancellation Insurance and British Columbia’s Wilderness Adventure Travel Sector During COVID-19
The Commercial Bear Viewing Association BC has also produced a Briefing Note to advise its members on addressing critical issues, particularly related to trip cancellations.
Executive Summary
- BC’s wilderness adventure travel industry needs the federal government (Health Ministry) to enact clear travel advisories, with realistic time windows associated for travel into Canada and for non-essential travel within Canada.
- This action could remove the need for tens of millions of dollars of loans from companies caught between uncertain travel advisories, local-level policies on banning travel that do not rise to the federal level, and the refusal of trip cancellation insurance providers to pay out fares for cancelled trips until federal advisories are in effect and proven to affect specific trip dates.
Download the document
here
.
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Estimating Potential COVID-19 Impacts on BC Wine & Tourism
The hospitality, agriculture and tourism sectors in BC and the Thompson-Okanagan region can anticipate a painful contraction throughout 2020, with potential economic losses between $6.0 billion and $10.5 billion provincially, and between $693 million and $1.02 billion in the Thompson-Okanagan.
Employment curtailments or job losses could range from 130,000 to 193,000 people around B.C., and from 9,700 to 14,700 people in the Thompson-Okanagan.
The following four (largely external) factors will likely contribute to a slower and more muted recovery in B.C.’s hospitality, agriculture and tourism sectors over the course of 2020:
- prolonged closure of the Canada-U.S. border (perhaps extending into the summer)
- prolonged curtailment of international air travel
- reluctance by Canadians to travel domestically for health and financial reasons
- protracted restrictions on gatherings including conferences, large weddings and other family events
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Premier's Task Force Announced
A new Economic Recovery Task Force will bring together leaders from business, labour, First Nations and not-for-profits to help ensure the Province’s economic response to COVID-19 is effective and responsive to the needs of British Columbians.
The task force, which will help advise the cross-government economic response to the COVID-19 crisis, will take the form of a weekly conference call between Premier Horgan; Carole James, Minister of Finance; Michelle Mungall, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Competitiveness; other members of cabinet and leaders from business organizations, including the Business Council of B.C., BC Chamber of Commerce, Vancouver Board of Trade, Surrey Board of Trade, the BC Federation of Labour, First Nations organizations and the not-for-profit sector. After an introductory conference call last week, the task force began its work today
Although no tourism sector representative has been appointed to the Task Force to date, TIABC has strong relationships with several members of the committee and will ensure that the needs of BC's visitor economy are an integral part of the deliberations on response and recovery.
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Our industry is full of innovative, caring and helpful people.
Share your stories with us and we will showcase them here in our daily bulletin.
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Anxiety, stress, worry, fear, uncertainty, dread, sadness, grief: these are all normal and expected responses to a massive disruptive event like a pandemic.
Fear is contagious. But calmness, care, and support are also contagious.
The Canadian Mental Health Association offers resources on their website for staying well, staying informed, managing anxiety and taking care of yourself.
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Our friends at Tourism Dawson shared some great ideas for helping us all feel better during these trying times.
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Helijet Offers No Charge Flights For
British Columbia’s Health Care Responders
Recognizing the important work of British Columbia’s health care responders during the current COVID-19 crisis, Helijet has announced that it will provide seats at no cost between Vancouver and its Vancouver Island terminals in Victoria and Nanaimo for health care responders travelling on business.
The initiative is aimed at medical personnel including doctors, nurses or others in the health care sector who may need to travel quickly to provide direct patient care, or to attend urgent medical strategy sessions or briefings on the outbreak.
Read more at:
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Feel free to send us your ideas on what information would be valuable for TIABC to share through our COVID-19 Bulletin going forward. Drop us a line at [email protected].
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