C-19 BULLETIN - January 18, 2021
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Chair's Message
I spent much of the weekend and this morning in media interviews answering questions about TIABC and our industry’s position (as outlined in last Friday’s Bulletin) on the notion of a domestic travel ban that Premier Horgan was asked about during a news conference last week. I’ll come back to this topic in a moment.
In the meantime, TIABC’s CEO, Walt Judas and I met with Premier Horgan and Minister Mark earlier today to discuss the state of BC’s visitor economy and outline needs and opportunities to allow the sector to survive what is projected to be another extremely challenging year.
Among other priorities, we proposed three critical initiatives to build a path to success:
#1 – That a formal process be initiated immediately between our industry, government and the PHO to review current and impending orders that affect tourism and hospitality with the goal to inform businesses and stakeholders, to provide recommendations on other options, and to mitigate the ramifications of these directives.
#2 – To work with industry on a safe and competitive reopening plan outlining the necessary steps to restart the visitor economy when the time is right. The reopening plan would include key elements such as rapid-testing, border mobility, a workforce strategy, vaccines, marketing and other essentials.
#3 - Further assistance in the form of working capital grants or a government-secured loan program to help both large and small businesses, and in particular cornerstone businesses such as major attractions, hotels, transportation providers and others that have yet to qualify or receive relief funding.
Industry’s goal is to ensure businesses survive to get people working again and to provide the products, experiences and level of service that visitors have come to expect in BC.
One other point of information we discussed was the degree to which virtually every tourism and hospitality business has gone above and beyond the call with COVID-19 health and safety protocols to ensure that guests, workers and communities are safe and protected.
It was a very productive meeting that left us with confidence that Premier Horgan and Minister Mark clearly understood that our industry is still in a free-fall and desperately needs more help. For the record, they were also very receptive to the aforementioned recommendations.
Back to the travel ban. Both in the meeting with Premier Horgan and Minister Mark, as well as multiple media interviews, I conveyed several key messages that I trust were understood by listeners, viewers, readers and government. Briefly and in no particular order:
- Rather than an outright ban, we need to consider a more balanced approach and other ways to deal with current and prospective visitors like working together with government on messaging to travellers to respect and abide by our health and safety protocols
- In spite of our opposition to a ban, the industry has not and will not encourage non-essential travel to the province for the time being in keeping with PHO directives
- A ban has long-term and lingering effects that could propel visitors to go elsewhere once travel resumes
- A ban further pits residents against visitors…something we’ve seen far too often during the pandemic, regardless of the circumstances or reasons why visitors are here
- A ban further demonizes the beleaguered tourism sector and intimates that visitors are the culprits for spreading the virus…which is not true. There is no data to support that assertion.
As you can appreciate, I’ve provided only a summary of our discussion and interviews. In the coming days and weeks, we’ll continue to work closely with government on the components needed to help our industry and will communicate with you accordingly on ways to engage, as well as our progress.
Vivek Sharma
Chair, TIABC
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Petition to the Government of Canada
Tourism Recovery Plan
Tony Baldinelli, Conservative MP and Special Advisor to the Leader on Tourism Recovery, is sponsoring a petition calling on the federal government to present a tourism recovery plan on or before the 2021 federal budget.
The deadline to sign the petition is February 7th.
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Seeking Tourism & Hospitality Employers
As we enter a new year and reflect on the devastating and lasting effect that COVID-19 has had on our industry, it’s now time to look forward to the future resiliency of our workforce. How will the landscape change post-pandemic? How will we attract and retain skilled workers? How will the sector rise above perceived stigma?
Tourism HR Canada, MDB Insights and OTEC invite you to express your interest in participating in a cross-country focus group in February. Feedback will assist in predicting future challenges faced by the sector and recommendations on how to overcome them.
In order to understand the specific challenges you will face post-pandemic and how we can best support you, we need to hear from employers across the tourism and hospitality spectrum. Employers from all five distinct industry groups within the sector are encouraged to participate, including accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation and travel services.
Register here to be considered for participation in an online focus group for your province (schedule below.) While we will involve as many individuals as possible, we will select a representative sample of the industry from those who register.
British Columbia
Thursday February 4th
2:00 pm-3:30 pm Eastern (11am-12:30pm Pacific)
Learn more at:
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Tourism Coalition
A coalition of tourism partners, including TIABC, issued a news release on Friday on the proposed inter-provincial travel ban. As a group of concerned tourism organizations, the coalition aims to communicate the following:
- The industry is not promoting or encouraging non-essential travel within BC or from other provinces. We are completely aligned with the Province's directive and have not been marketing out-of-province during most of the pandemic.
- Several BC tourism operators cancelled reservations from other provinces to comply with the most recent directive to avoid non-essential travel (importantly, it was not an order).
- BC tourism businesses are working to educate guests...no matter where they are from...on expectations, as well as health and safety protocols.
- However, we should not be judging why people are visiting BC, nor should we prevent them from visiting. Many are here for business and other legitimate reasons and are taking advantage of our amenities while they're here.
- Some people with out of province license plates have second homes here, some are people who have returned home from other provinces during the pandemic, some are students and workers from other provinces.
- A ban sends the wrong message and further pits residents against visitors, no matter the reason people are visiting the province.
- Bans have lingering effects on a destination's reputation. People will choose other places that are more welcoming when travel resumes in earnest.
- It is not travel that is the culprit for the spread of the virus, it is individual behaviour.
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Our role as an industry is to work with government to educate prospective visitors and do our best to ensure they know, understand and comply with BC's stringent health and safety protocols.
TIABC and our industry partners have been busy with media interviews since the release. Below is a sample of the coverage.
BC Tourism Industry Decries Premier's Inquiries to Implement Travel Ban
Tourism Industry Says InterProvincial Travel Ban Would Cause 'Reputational Damage' to BC
BC Travel Ban Will Harm Struggling Tourism Sector Says Industry Coalition
Tourism Sector Fear 'Disastrous' Effects if BC Halts Leisure Travel from Alberta
Ban on Interprovincial Travel Would Be Unconstitutional: Tourism Association of BC
British Columbia Looks to Create Its Own Pandemic Bubble
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Meetings Mean Business Canada Update
Advocacy work: As the business events community faces ongoing lockdowns and other challenges, MMBC continues to advocate to all levels of government with key messaging:
- Face-to-face events bring business leaders together to create transactional opportunities that drive the economy, jobs, and other growth opportunities.
- The business events sector has decades of proven expertise in hosting controlled, safe gatherings, including sophisticated delegate tracing systems during and after events.
- The business events community is ready and willing to assist governments in their efforts to rebuild Canada's economy.
Provincial initiatives
- MMBC is a positive partner with provincial governments to help develop protocols to reopen safe and healthy business events.
- MMBC supports the efforts of provincial leadership groups as they advocate to reopen business events at the regional level.
- MMBC will communicate positive provincial initiatives to decision-makers in Ottawa as part of our ongoing federal advocacy work.
Global Meetings Industry Day (GMID), April 8, 2021
- Our online, Canada-wide event will focus on the topic of Reopening Business Events safely and in a controlled fashion.
- MMBC will extend personal invitations to high-level federal and provincial leaders as well as industry stakeholders.
- Key discussions include: Why business events are crucial to economic recovery in all industries; how our sector is supporting its hardest-hit members at this time; and protocols and ideas for reinstating safe events that will help drive Canada's economy forward.
Learn more at:
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NMMA Submits Recommendations to Transport Canada on PCL and PCOC
The National Marine Manufacturers Canada (NMMA Canada) and the Marine Trade associations across Canada, representing the entire recreational boating industry, recently wrote to the Director General of Marine Safety and Security at Transport Canada to provide feedback on the proposals to modernize the Pleasure Craft Licensing (PCL) and Pleasure Craft Operator Competency (PCOC) programs.
The expected economic damage of repealing the checklist is backed by hard data. Many boat rental companies and fishing lodges have just weathered the worst season on record with catastrophically low tourism numbers. The impact of removing a vital revenue stream from already beleaguered firms is frightening. Indeed, some marinas have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into rental boat inventory. Requiring a PCOC of every renter would decimate both the casual domestic customer and foreign visitors who do not have equivalent proof of competency from their home country.
Instead of repealing the RBSC, the letter proposes a more targeted approach: strengthen the RBSC standard and go after bad actors with more targeted enforcement and tougher penalties. Transport Canada should leverage existing resources such as the Rentalboatsafety.ca website. There is a need for clearer communications with boat rental companies and the public on the value of this tool and the importance of proper on-water training for new boaters. We also recommend Transport Canada require more detailed records and incident reporting by boat rental companies to ensure that good safety practices are being followed. For rental companies located near busy or hazardous waterways, Transport Canada may need to explore regional solutions to promote safety.
Read the full letter here
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Wilderness Tourism Association AGM
Thursday, January 28th, 1:00-4:00 PM
TIABC CEO Walt Judas will be a guest speaker at the upcoming AGM for the Wilderness Tourism Association of BC. The agenda can be viewed at wilderness-tourism.bc.ca.
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The BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF)has partnered with Destination Greater Victoria on a lottery with over $3,000 in prizes. Odds are GREAT!
Prizes are redeemable in 2021 and by purchasing a ticket you not only help the BCHF, but also help Greater Victoria’s tourism and hospitality industry in this trying time.
Lottery ticket sales are now LIVE and run through to 11:59 pm Sunday, February 7th. The draw will happen at noon on Monday, January 8th.
Check out the list of prizes here
Buy your tickets here - we wish you luck!
The British Columbia Hospitality Foundation is a charity that raises funds to support those in the hospitality industry facing financial crisis due to a health condition. Each year hundreds of hospitality workers across BC face financial challenges and have no where else to turn. The BCHF helps them when all other options have been exhausted. But that’s not all they do! Learn more at:
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BC Tourism & Hospitality Conference
TIABC and the BC Hotel Association will be co-hosting the BC Tourism & Hospitality Conference (virtually) during the week of March 8th to 12th, 2021.
Stay tuned for more details soon.
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Destination Canada Webinars
Virginie De Visscher, Senior Director of business development, Economic Sectors, will share details on the economic sector tactical plans and Jennifer Attersall, Director, Incentive Travel, will provide a deep dive on Destination Canada's incentive market plans.
Marketing Manager, Nancy Steward, will join both webinars to share the marketing plans, including partner co-investment opportunities. These webinars will include details on planned sales activations, how to use partner toolkits, strategic partnerships, and how the Destination Canada Business Events team will be working with Canadian partners to keep Canada top-of-mind within our audience.
Each webinar will include a presentation and ample time to answer your questions.
Incentive Canadian Partner Webinar
Tuesday January 19th 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM (PST)
For more information and to register, click here
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Join the BC Hotel Association for their upcoming webinar with FRESCo and learn about free energy efficiency upgrades, free energy assessments, engineering support, and rebates available!
FRESCo offers a free Fortis BC Program and is now available for hotels. The program will help you improve your overall energy efficiency, save money, save resources, and maximize your return on investments.
Tuesday, January 19th at 1:00pm PST
Hosted by Jordan Fisher, President of FRESCo Building Efficiency B.Sc., LEED® AP, RPP, MCIP
This webinar will be 45 minutes in length with 15 minutes Q&A.
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TIAC Members' Webinar Series
Join TIAC and Twenty31 on Tuesday January 26th at 8am PST for a candid conversation about how COVID-19 has impacted destinations and tourism operators in Canada, as well as globally, and what they're doing to manage the future of the tourism industry.
Tune in to hear Twenty31's take on high-level findings from the State of Tourism in Canada during COVID-19 dashboard report, joined by special guests to hear how they addressed some of the challenges and opportunities highlighted in the current report.
Panelists:
- Joe Naaman, Executive Vice President, Strategy, Twenty31 Consulting, Inc.
- Daniel Robert Gooch, President, Canada Airports Council
- Scott Beck, President & CEO, Destination Toronto
This webinar is available to all TIAC members. Please note the webinar has a maximum capacity of 500 participants, and a recording of the webinar will be available on the TIAC Members' portal Webinars page.
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Small Business Trends for 2021
What You Need to Know for the New Year
As we consign 2020 to the history books, thoughts inevitably turn to 2021 and the opportunities it will bring. There’s plenty of reasons for optimism in the coming year, with a return to normality on the horizon. What lessons can we learn from 2020? Which of our COVID-19 pivots are likely to stick around?
Join us for a fascinating panel discussion that gathers speakers from a wide variety of perspectives. Hear their insights, add your observations and expertise, and look forward to the coming year informed and optimistic about your future prospects.
What Will I Learn?
- Changes in store for how small businesses do things
- Emerging products, services, and opportunities
- Continually evolving consumer behaviours
- Interesting trends in marketing and selling
- Which 2020 trends are here to stay
Friday, January 29th
1:00pm to 2:00pm (PST)
As a valued partner of Destination BC, Small Business BC is offering free access to this January 29th webinar to BC tourism businesses with the code TRENDS2021.
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Online Training for Businesses
The Building Resilience to Thrive online training program will offer relief to businesses and help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19.
The Building Resilience to Thrive online training program will offer relief to businesses and help mitigate the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by teaching them how to adapt their business models, re-engage their customers and adjust their workplace cultures. Developed in partnership with the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business, this program will have one hour seminars once per week for 6 weeks and will be offered three times until the end of March 2021.
Program curriculum will focus on the three key themes of Strive, Build, and Create.
Seminar topics will be:
- Power of Context – Unconscious Bias
- Emotional Intelligence
- The Power of Coaching in Business
- Hire and manage a diverse team
- Improve experiences for colleagues and customers
- Adapt your service strategy for better outcomes
The final program will be offered on the following date:
Wednesdays at 11am-12pm PST, February 24th to March 31st
Registration for Cohort 3 closes on February 18th at 4pm
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Patrick Weiler, MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country is hosting a virtual town hall discussion with the Honourable Catherine McKenna, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities. They look forward to covering topics of high interest in the community, and across the country, such as how federal investments are supporting social, green and public transit infrastructure.
Wednesday, February 10th at 2:00pm PT
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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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