C-19 BULLETIN - November 27, 2020

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TIABC Welcomes New Minister and Extends Meeting Invitation

Yesterday, Premier John Horgan unveiled his new cabinet that includes a new minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport...Honourable Melanie Mark.

First elected in 2016, Minister Mark is the first Indigenous female member of the legislative assembly (MLA) in BC's history, representing the riding of Vancouver Mount Pleasant.

In 2017, she was appointed as the Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training. Today, Minister Mark remains the only Indigenous woman to serve in BC’s Cabinet. Born and raised in East Vancouver, she is Nisga’a, Gitxsan, Cree and Ojibway.

TIABC has written Minister Mark extending our congratulations and inviting her to meet with industry soon to provide insight into the immediate needs of tourism operators and employees in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. See TIABC letter here.
Tourism Minister - Mandate Letter

The Hon. Melanie Mark received her Mandate letter yesterday from Premier Horgan. The letter outlines the following foundational principles:
  • Putting people first
  • Lasting and meaningful reconciliation
  • Equity and anti-racism
  • A better future through fighting climate change
  • A strong, sustainable economy that works for everyone

Minister Mark is expected to make progress on the following items:

  • Support the tourism, arts, culture and sport sectors

  • Work with the Tourism Task Force to bring together leaders from business, labour, First Nations and not-for-profits to support the tourism industry as it moves toward recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Continue to collaborate with sport organizations

  • Support the creation of dedicated arts and culture spaces

  • Continue the redevelopment of the Royal BC Museum

  • Work with the Minister of State for Trade to continue the development of the Chinese Canadian Museum

  • Start work to create a first-of-its-kind museum to document the history, art and contributions of South Asian people in BC 

  • Honour the Japanese-Canadian community by providing lasting recognition of the traumatic internment of more than 22,000 Japanese-Canadians during World War II in libraries, communities and at the BC Legislature

  • Provide provincial funding to support the redevelopment of the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, delivering a new state-of-the-art community centre along with hundreds of new child care spaces

Read the full letter here.

View all Minister Mandate letters at:
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Winter is Coming....

The government’s wording lent encouragement to some ski resort operators such as Big White Senior Vice-President, Michael J. Ballingall, who stressed to BIV that there was no official ban on travel and that the directive was merely advice. “They use the term ‘highly recommended,’” Ballingall said November 12th, before adding that his resort had pulled marketing initiatives in Metro Vancouver. “There’s no point in teasing the market when the right thing to do is not to travel. What we’ve always said is, ‘When the time is right, and you feel safe to travel, we’ll have a bed waiting for you.’”

Whistler Blackcomb Opens for the Ski Season as Day-trippers Told to Stay Away
After many months of planning, Whistler Blackcomb has opened for the ski season with pandemic protocols in place. But, for perhaps the first time in its history, the resort municipality is hoping that tourists and day-trippers will stay away.

Balance Between Community Safety and Tourism is a Delicate One: Mayor McCormick
McCormick says Resorts of the Rockies have done an awesome job if you look at all the protocols in place for the coming ski season, and also behind the scenes where they have created contingency plans. And make no mistake, the ski hill is very valuable to Kimberley’s economy.

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Attention TIABC Members:
Our AGM materials (agenda, past minutes, etc.) are now available on our website.

Please ensure you register before the end of day Dec 1st.
This year, TIABC is holding its AGM virtually.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020
3:00 PM (PST) - Guest Speaker Greg Klassen - Twenty31 (see below)
4:00 PM (via Zoom) AGM

Please register in advance HERE
Keynote Speaker: Greg Klassen
The Impact of Covid-19 on Global Tourism
Challenges and Opportunities

Greg Klassen is a marketing and tourism industry strategist with 25 years of leadership with blue chip organizations including Destination Canada. For almost a decade, Greg was the Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer at Destination Canada and became the organization’s Chief Executive Officer in 2013. During his tenure, Greg and his and team developed Canada’s tourism brand bringing it from 12th position worldwide to number one over five years and recognition of Canada as the most recommended destination in the world to visit. Greg also lead the organization through successive disruptive challenges from 9-11 to SARS to the 2009 global financial crisis as well as many opportunities include leveraging the tourism potential from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games.

Under Greg’s leadership, Destination Canada was recognized as Canada’s Marketer of the Year by Canada’s Marketing Magazine and Greg recognized as one of Canada’s top five marketers by Canada’s Strategy Magazine.

Greg is currently a Partner with tourism strategy consultancy, Twenty31 where he advises destinations around the world on how to achieve competitive advantage through leverage and mitigation of disruptive forces—whether they are technologies, traveller behaviour or global pandemics.  
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#RoamBCfromHome Social Media Toolkit

As we navigate the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the current Provincial Health Order, we have once again entered a time where non-essential travel is not recommended. As a result, we need to return to providing virtual experiences to many of our guests. Tourism Vancouver Island, and its BC Regional Tourism Secretariat partners (Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association, Kootenay Rockies Tourism Association, Northern BC Tourism Association, Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association), have updated the #RoamBCfromHome social media toolkit for your use.
 
This guide was developed to help you maintain engagement with your customers during this challenging time. While it is essential to stay informed on health and government guidelines, we can use our social media channels and other digital properties to continue to inspire followers to visit us when the time is right.
  
Download the guide here
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Hospitality Charity Ends Year with Fun Giveaway

Our friends at the BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF), believe that “it’s better to give than to receive” – and we hope you feel the same way. From December 1st to 25th, BCHF be giving away daily a $25 restaurant gift certificate. 

But it comes with a catch: to win, you have to:
  • be prepared to give the certificate away to a deserving person of your choice
  • follow the BC Hospitality Foundation on Instagram

They are giving away 25 gift cards to 25 deserving people!

All you need to do is any ONE of the following:

  • Create a post on Instagram noting what you are thankful for. Tag @BCHospitality and #BCHFpayitforward
  • Sign up for our newsletter

Then enter the contest by going to #BCHFpayitforward and completing a nomination form. If your name is drawn, the BCHF will contact you to arrange delivery of the gift certificate. This is a great way to show your appreciation for a coworker or medical practitioner, or to pleasantly surprise a friend or family member who could use a boost during the holiday season. Good luck and thanks for your support!

The BCHF is grateful for the tremendous support we’ve received over the course of 2020, and we’re thrilled to be able to spread some festive cheer with this year-end giveaway. Thanks to Gray Monk Estate Winery, Red Rooster Winery, and Sandhill Wines for their amazing generosity!

Suggested social media: Reward someone w/a #giftcard donated by @redroosterwine @graymonkwinery @sandhillwines @BChospitality #BCHFpayitforward https://tinyurl.com/y2b7tjkw
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The new Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) provides direct commercial rent or property expense support to tenants and property owners of qualifying organizations affected by COVID-19.

Restaurants Canada has organized Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) webinar on Monday, November 30th at 10am PST to ask your CERS questions to knowledgeable professionals, learn what support your business can benefit from with the new CERS program, and what the program eligibility requirements are.

The webinar will provide insights into:
  • What lockdown support is and if your business qualifies for it
  • How to apply for the CERS, what the process looks like, and what the financial benefits are for your operation 
  • How to retroactively apply for and claim the subsidy 

Have a question prepared for the panel of experts? Submit your inquiries in advance here.
Register now for our webinar Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) Q&A Session with CRA on Monday, November 30th 10am-11am PST.

Can't make it, but still interested? Register now and the CRA will send you the webinar recording afterwards so you can catch up on your own time.
Together with the Tourism Cafe, the BC Regional Tourism Secretariat is pleased to announce expanded support through the BC Tourism Resiliency Network. Launching this month, Ideas Labs are a series of 30 online sessions on nine original topics selected from requests from tourism operators across the province. The labs will bring small groups together in a business-to-business learning environment to address hot topics where solutions to common problems are discussed and shared, and new ideas are incubated. These are 1-hour online peer-to-peer discussions led by an inspiring industry topic specialist.

Each session is limited to only 12 participants and space is limited. Ideas Labs is a program created and produced by the Tourism Cafe.

Learn more at:
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December 2, 9am (PST)

BCHA AGM
December 2, 2:00pm (PST)

TIABC AGM
December 2, 3:00-5:00pm (PST)
TIABC's C-19 Bulletin is published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

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.