C-19 BULLETIN - January 25, 2021

Dr. Henry Reminds All to Remain Vigilant
on One-year Anniversary of BC's First COVID-19 Case

“We are at the threshold of where we were in November when cases started rapidly escalating, and we need to put a stop to this before more people become severely ill and our health-care system faces even more strain. Getting to the brighter days, easing the public health restrictions in our province relies on what we do now. That is why we need your help.

We need everyone to remember that COVID-19 is still the unwelcome guest in our homes, at work and in our communities, and to take a step back; to stay home and stay away from others, and perhaps do more than what you have done before to slow the spread.

Fewer cases is where we want to go in B.C., and we need your help to get there. Our goal for the next two weeks is to push the number of new cases in our province down as low as we can go. Let’s unite in this common goal. We have the tools and the resources to do just that, so let’s show each other that we can make this happen.”


Premier marks anniversary of first case of COVID-19 in Canada: 'We must remain vigilant'
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TIABC Formally Outlines Recommendations
After Meeting with Premier Horgan & Minister Mark

Following last week's meeting with Premier Horgan and Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport Minister Melanie Mark, TIABC submitted a letter outlining industry's specific needs, as well as opportunities to work together on a path forward to re-open the visitor economy at the right time.

Along with a request to close gaps in financial relief, consultation on orders, and a restart strategy, the letter stated, "We believe it is critically important for government to allocate significant resources to accelerate the rate of vaccinations for British Columbians, as well as utilization of rapid testing/screening for both residents and visitors. These steps are vital to tourism and hospitality recovery efforts over the next few months and to avoid further erosion of the visitor economy."

Read the full letter here
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PNWER's Recommendations for the New U.S. Administration re: Canada-USA Relations & Re-opening the Border

The Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) has a 30-year history of working with public and private sector stakeholders in the Pacific Northwest to find regional solutions to cross border challenges. PNWER has developed numerous recommendations in collaboration with its executive committee members, key stakeholders, and input from 20 working groups, including one on tourism co-chair by Butchart Gardens CEO Dave Cowen.
Reopening the Border 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • The U.S. should work with Canada to develop a coordinated plan for the eventual safe reopening of the land border to non-essential travellers. This must include a discussion on reopening bi-national tourism.
  • The U.S. and Canada must present a strong, safe, and well-coordinated border reopening message. Reopening the land border between the U.S. and Canada to non-essential travellers will be vital for the economic recovery of the border region and the re-emergence of the bi-national tourism industry. Bi-national tourism brings sustainable income to small towns, especially as their economies move away from extractive industries. Coordinated re-openings with clear guidelines aligned with public health recommendations will allow businesses to safely bring customers across the border and generate consumer confidence.
  • PNWER supports the Future Borders Coalition’s Four Principles to Implement a Phased Approach for Easing Canada-U.S. Border Closures and Other Travel Restrictions:
 
  1. A bi-national and coordinated approach should be adopted with the objective to develop mutually accepted risk-mitigating measures and health protocols
  2. Both governments should adopt a layered risk-based approach when reviewing entry requirements and travel restrictions
  3. A phased approach for easing border restrictions should be informed by science-based criteria and communicated based on easily understood requirements.
  4. The economic impact of border closures on communities should be carefully assessed by both governments and inform the path towards the easing of border restrictions.

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BC’s Age-based COVID Vaccine Plan
Ian MacPhee, TIABC director and comptroller of Prince of Whales, a marine-tour company said the prospect of widespread vaccination in BC provides some “hopeful certainty” for his tourism business. But hope has a cost. He said his 27-year-old company faces the challenge of surviving to the point when many are vaccinated. 

Special report: Funding, communication and deferred taxes among embattled industry’s requests
TIABC and many of our industry partners are quoted in this article on the future needs of the tourism industry.
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Canadian Direct Delivery Petition
Closes February 14th

Industry seeks support for enabling Canadians to order wine, craft beer, and spirits from Canadian producers, using Canada Post.

Okanagan-Similkameen Member of Parliament, Dan Albas, has introduced a Private Member's Bill to amend the Canada Post Corporation Act so that Canadians can order wine, craft beer and spirits from Canadian producers, and be able to have those products shipped directly to them by Canada Post to support this important industry at a time when they need us the most.

Industry and consumer support is critical via signing the online petition 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 Wilderness Tourism Association of BC AGM. The agenda can be viewed at wilderness-tourism.bc.ca. 

The AGM will take place virtually via Zoom. To register, please email admin@wilderness-tourism.bc.ca to receive the meeting login details.
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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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Mark Your Calendars

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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BC Craft Brewers Conference

The BC Craft Brewers Conference brings together key stakeholders from the Canadian craft brewing industry for an annual networking and educational event. 

From February 3 to 5, brewery staff, brewing students and beer enthusiasts are invited to take part in various virtual educational seminars and keynotes to gear up 2021. The three days are divided into half-day tracks, broken out into Brewing, Marketing & Sales, Operations and Finance. 
Virtual BC Wine Industry Insight Conference 2021
Thursday, March 18th
Mark your calendars for the 2021 BC Wine Industry Insight Conference to be held virtually this year. 

The BC Wine Institute along with the BC Wine Grape Council, BC Grapegrowers' Association and the BC Wine Authority are once again coming together to provide a forum covering industry-related topics, issues, policies and opportunities that impact your business operations.

Stay tuned for the 2021 program and further details.
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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.

Log in as a TIAC member to learn more: tiac-aitc.ca/cgi/page.cgi/Webinars.html
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Over the past decade, the Indigenous Youth Mountain Bike Program has worked with dozens of First Nations throughout BC training youth to build trails and supporting efforts to use those trails to reconnect people to the land and assert Indigenous Rights and Title. A central goal has been to engage with the mountain bike community and encourage settler Canadians to evaluate our relationship with recreation and how it impacts and perpetuates colonial structures and institutions.

Co-Founder and Director Patrick Lucas and Tom Eustache of the Simpcw First Nation will share their lessons learned from working together and building trails.

Thursday January 28th 6:30pm to 7:30pm (PST)
Register at:

This Webinar is part of Trails BC's Greenways for All initiative. Greenways for All is focused on building partnerships with First Nations, rural communities, organizations and governments to help ensure everyone is able to incorporate walking, cycling and rolling into their daily lives. Thanks to the Real Estate Foundation of BC, Vancouver Foundation and Thompson River University for their generous support.
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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:
  1. Power of Context – Unconscious Bias
  2. Emotional Intelligence
  3. The Power of Coaching in Business
  4. Hire and manage a diverse team
  5. Improve experiences for colleagues and customers
  6. 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. 

Submit any questions you would like to have answered to Patrick.weiler@parl.gc.ca.
  
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.