C-19 BULLETIN -
May 8, 2020
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Do you ever find yourself playing the
shoulda, coulda, woulda
game after an argument or conversation? As you replay the discussion in your mind, you tell yourself I should have said this or could have said that.
It happened to me this week after a meeting with Honourable Melanie Joly, federal Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages who also holds the tourism portfolio.
As you might expect during this crisis, Minister Joly spends each day in dozens of phone or zoom meetings where advocates like me have limited time to download recommendations and present issues
for government attention .
During our meeting, I spoke with Minister Joly about the efficacy of various federal government measures like the rent relief program and the fact that many tourism operators were concerned that landlords were not applying on behalf of their tenants and instead compelling them to pay rent in full even if their businesses were closed.
I thanked Minister Joly for government’s effort to assist with liquidity challenges and said that while loan programs were helpful, many small business operators, including sole proprietors, didn’t qualify. Similarly, the wage subsidy program also left out individual operators. I asked the Minister to consider both opening up the wage subsidy program to those that didn't currently qualify, and extending it until at least September, or better still, through the end of 2020 considering the seasonal nature of our industry and the fact that most businesses weren’t opening anytime soon. (As noted below, government announced an extension with further details to be released soon).
I made a pitch on behalf of community destination marketing/management organizations (CDMOs) that are desperate for operating funds. I also suggested that government should consider covering the cost of exorbitant risk assessments that chartered banks are imposing on operators in order for tourism businesses to qualify for financing options.
Minister Joly intimated that help for sole proprietors, CDMOs and other businesses is likely forthcoming through federal agencies such as Western Economic Diversification.
Finally, aside from discussing the most pressing concern around business liquidity and solvency, I planted an idea (thanks to Val Litwin at the BC Chamber of Commerce) for government to consider immediate stimulus funding for tourism product development opportunities. The timing is right given that many businesses are not yet focused on operations.
After our conversation and true to form, I thought of all the things I should have and could have said but didn’t get to because of time constraints. Fortunately, Minister Beare amplifies our concerns and recommendations in weekly conversations with Minister Joly, and I will have the chance to meet with her again soon to download all the things I
woulda, coulda, shoulda
said.
Walt Judas
CEO, TIABC
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Federal Government Update
Federal Wage Subsidy Extension Beyond June
The federal government's emergency wage-subsidy program is going to be extended beyond June. The program covers 75% of employees' pay, up to $847, to help employers who are facing plummeting revenues due to pandemic measures keep their workers on the payroll for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. The program was set to end June 6th. Prime Minister Trudeau said today he'll offer more details about the extension next week.
Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations
The Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, shared further details regarding the Government of Canada’s April 17th announcement of temporary relief measures to support the culture, heritage and sport sectors as they manage the challenges and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and plan for the future. A total of up to $500 million has been set aside to help alleviate the financial pressures of affected organizations.
Partner organizations will be contacted so that funds can begin to flow to cultural and sport organizations. Canadian Heritage is working closely with its partners – in particular, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Canada Media Fund, FACTOR, Musicaction, and Telefilm Canada – to distribute the funds as quickly as possible using existing channels.
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Canada's Labour Survey
Shows Unprecedented drops in April
Following a drop of over one million in March, employment fell by nearly two million in April, bringing the total employment decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 economic shutdown to over three million. This drop in employment is unprecedented. The magnitude of the decline in employment since February (-15.7%) far exceeds declines observed in previous labour market downturns. For example, the 1981-1982 recession resulted in a total employment decline of 612,000 (-5.4%) over approximately 17 months.
Tourism HR Canada shared some tourism specific data with TIABC and the following information will be part of the Tourism HR Insider Newsletter next week (
www.TourismHR.ca
):
- The number of individuals employed in tourism decreased by 433,100 in April, following a decrease of 448,600 in March. Since COVID shutdowns began tourism employment has decreased by 881,700, or 43.3%.
- In March, the drop in part-time employment was significantly larger than the drop in full-time employment. In April, decreases in full-time employment slightly exceeded those in part-time employment. Overall full-time employment has decreased by almost 390,000 and part-time employment has decreased almost 495,000 since February.
- From February to April, employment in accommodations is down 78,200 (the majority in full-time), food services is down 487,000 (mostly in part-time), recreation is down 185,000 (majority part-time), transportation is down 108,800 (majority part-time), travel services is down 21,600 (mostly in full-time).
- Tourism’s unemployment rate is now 28.8%
- The highest unemployment rate is in the Accommodations industry group (35.5%), followed by Food services (34.3%), Recreation (28.0%), Travel Services (22.3%) and Transportation (14.8%)
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TIABC Responds to BC's Restart Plan
Walt Judas joined CKNW's Mike Smyth yesterday for a discussion on BC's Restart Plan and the COVID-19 impact on the tourism and hospitality industry.
Listen here:
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Destination BC
Messaging Guide
May 7-13
To support industry, Destination BC provides weekly messaging guidance and other materials to industry so we can collectively work together to "plank the curve" of the virus infection rate.
In addition to messaging for Destination BC, guidance is provided for RDMOs, CDMOs, sector associations and businesses
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Destination BC
Industry Call
May 7
Destination BC hosted its weekly industry call on May 7th, hosting guest speakers including Honourable M
elanie Joly
, Federal Minister of Economic Development & Official Languages, and Honourable L
isa Beare
, Minister of Tourism, Arts & Culture.
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Small Business BC Webinars
Small Business BC are hosting a series of specialized free webinars to tackle the challenges faced by COVID-19. The webinars are geared at equipping businesses in our province with the skills and knowledge they need to survive the new realities of our COVID economy.
Wednesday May 13 @ 10:00 am PT
Friday May 22 @ 9:00 am PT
Wednesday May 27 @ 10:00 am PT
Friday June 5 @ 10:30 am PT
To view previous webinars, visit:
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Destination BC Webinars
Destination BC is hosting a series of webinars to support BC’s tourism industry on the road to recovery. This series supports response, recovery, and resilience from COVID-19.
Speaker: Conner Galway, Junction Consulting
Tuesday, May 12 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)
Speaker: Joe Veneto, Veneto Collaboratory
Thursday, May 14 @2:00 pm PT (90 minutes)
Speaker: Eva Gutsche, Stem Consulting
Tuesday, May 19 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)
Speaker: Daniel Craig, Reknown
Thursday, May 21 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)
Speaker: Conner Galway, Junction Consulting
Tuesday, May 26 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)
Speaker: Conner Galway, Junction Consulting
Thursday, May 28 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)
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Women of Recreation, Tourism &
Hospitality (WORTH) Webinars
Worth
is hosting a two-part Zoom series about navigating the heightened levels of uncertainty and change that many of us are experiencing today. You will be equipped with tangible tools and ideas to empower you to make this time work to your advantage.
Monday, May 11 @ 2:00 pm PT
Living with Uncertainty and Change
Monday, May 18 at 2:00 pm PT
Making Uncertainty Work For You
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Destination Canada Webinars
Tuesday, May 12 @ 3:30 pm PT
- Speakers: The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages; Destination Canada; and Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
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Saving Main Street Today. Reimagining it Tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 13 @ 8:00 am PT
Main Streets and commercial districts with their restaurants and shops punch far above their weight in contributing to the overall prosperity of our cities and the economy as a whole. So what can be done to put our Main Streets and commercial neighbourhoods back on their feet—and make them more resilient to changing threats in the future? In this webinar, Resonance Consultancy President Chris Fair and University of Texas Professor and Urban Lab Director Steven Pedigo will share research on why small shops and restaurants are important to our urban economies, with recommendations on how business owners, real estate developers, cities, economic developers, business improvement districts and destination marketers can work together to respond, reboot and reimagine the streets and neighbourhoods we love.
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Using STR Data in Times of Crisis and Recovery
Thursday, May 21 @ 11:00 am PT
STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for global hospitality sectors. STR is working to increase participation in their hotel benchmarking platform to provide organizations like BC Hotel Association with the information they need to successfully lobby on behalf of their members and create effective marketing strategies to drive tourism. Join STR and the BCHA for their
Using STR Data in Times of Crisis and Recovery
webinar.
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Our industry is full of innovative, caring and helpful people.
Share your stories with us and we will share them here in our daily bulletin.
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Granville Island Brewing Supports Entertainment Industry
When COVID-19 shut down BC’s film industry, the Vancouver-based brewery wanted to support its friends and neighbours in arts and entertainment. So GIB hired two local comedic actors and a film crew—and challenged them to create beer commercials without leaving home. The resulting
quarantine ads
will put a smile on the face of anyone who’s been self-isolating alone or tried to collaborate via Zoom. GIB is also donating to the Actors’ Fund of Canada’s
emergency financial aid program
, which offers short-term assistance to members of the entertainment industry. In the past month, the program has received some $460,000 that will go toward helping 600-plus applicants—three times more than in a typical year.
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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 info@tiabc.ca.
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