C-19 BULLETIN - June 22, 2020

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Businesses Continue to Press for an Extension to Temporary Layoff Timeframe

Labour Minister Harry Bains received another letter today from BC's business community with a request for an extension to the temporary layoff provisions.

The signatories included TIABC, the BC Hotel Association, Restaurants Canada, ABLE BC, the BC Chamber of Commerce, Surrey Board of Trade, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, Business Council of British Columbia, Retail Council of Canada, and BC Trucking Association.

View the press release here
View the June 22 letter to Minister Bains here
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Temporary Layoff Deadline Fast Approaching
How will forced terminations and severance payouts impact your recovery?

The Province has declined to extend the 16-week period for temporary layoffs. This means that in a couple of weeks many employers in BC will be faced with the prospect of terminating employees (and delivering severance payouts) before they are fully reopen. We want to know what impact this will have on your business and team.

This survey will take under 2 minutes to complete and closes on June 26th.

Take the survey here:
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Hotel Association of Canada
Liquidity Survey

BC Hotel Association Update:

As the end of the temporary layoff period approaches, we along with our industry partners, continue to aggressively pressure our government to extend the temporary layoff provision until at least August 31st, requesting the provision to run for the full duration of the Province's emergency order, plus an additional six weeks beyond expiry.

We are also facing an unprecedented impact of the pandemic on the insurance industry.
As such, we are doing our best, working with our provincial counterparts to navigate this difficult landscape to ensure you, as our industry have access to insurance and that we mitigate the impact of yet another potential premium increase.

The Hotel Association of Canada and the BC Hotel Association are actively working alongside the government to identify and make improvements, but they need the participation of the hotel sector. It is critical that they have at least 500 hotels complete the survey linked below.

Take the survey here:   www.surveymonkey.com/r/FSCF6B8
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COVID-19 Tourism Workforce Impact Survey
Closes June 26th

Tourism HR Canada appreciates that tourism businesses have been asked to fill out many survey forms and provide various types of information. However, this research will assist in making policy and program recommendations specific to workforce needs during and post COVID-19.

Your feedback will help to:
  • Determine how deeply the workforce has been affected by COVID-19
  • Assess the effect of government programs like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RFFF) in mitigating the effects of COVID-19
  • Identify the capacity of tourism businesses to reopen, rehire, and recover as restrictions are lifted
  • Identify the extent to which tourism businesses understand the protocols and policies they are being asked to implement in order to reopen
  • Augment other research and data collected through various means including new data from Statistics Canada.

Take the survey here:   www.research.net/r/Covidworkforceimpact
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What's Open in BC?

As we wait to move into Phase 3 and travel restrictions begin to ease, BC residents are becoming more eager to learn about what’s open in the province.

To help answer this question, Destination BC has compiled a list of communities who are maintaining lists of businesses that are open in their communities:  hellobc.com/whats-open-in-bc.

If you are a community destination marketing organization or a chamber of commerce, and you’re maintaining a list on your website of open businesses in your community, please  email Destination BC  to be included.
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Tourism & Hospitality Online Auction
in Support of the BC Hospitality Foundation

An online silent auction will be featured as part of the  Reconnect 2020  event being held at the Harbour Convention Centre on June 27 th  from 5 to 7 pm.  Reconnect 2020  is a hybrid virtual / in-person event focusing on the hospitality, tourism, meeting, conference, and event industries. Click  here  to learn more about the event, or to purchase tickets (attending by Zoom is FREE and you will be able to interact through chat by joining the ZOOM meeting  here !). 

The  online silent auction will benefit the BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF). The list of fantastic items to bid on includes:

  • a VIP suite for a game at BC Place
  • a personalized tour and tasting at Mission Hill Family Estate
  • accommodation for 2 in a unique treehouse on Vancouver Island
  • a case of premium BC wines

…and many more great options. The auction will accept bids until June 30 th at 6pm. The full list of auction items may be viewed   here, and you can register on Givergy and the place bids at the same site.
$3,750 raised so far!

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BC Tourism Resiliency Program Update

The BC Tourism Resiliency Network is available to support the 19,000 tourism-related businesses in the province and is delivered through BC’s regional destination management organizations. These organizations have extensive knowledge of the tourism sector and local challenges, and strong relationships with tourism operators. The network was supported through an additional $600,000 from the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and culture.  

To date, over 1,192 tourism businesses have registered in the BC Tourism Resiliency Network, with more registering each week.

The network is a province-wide expansion of the Vancouver Island Coastal Tourism Resiliency Program, funded in partnership with Island Coastal Economic Trust.

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TIABC's national counterparts, TIAC have launched a Tourism Recovery campaign seeking government support so Canada has a tourism industry post-pandemic. The work doesn’t stop there. We all need to step-up and convince the government to act, send your MP a letter today : www.tourismcounts.ca

#TourismCounts
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Virtually Yours

The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) has launched their new Destination Indigenous marketing campaign in an effort to encourage, highlight and educate travellers about the many Indigenous experiences that will welcome Canadians this summer.

Launched yesterday in conjunction with National Indigenous Peoples Day, the marketing campaign includes the release of an experience Web booking platform that will link travellers with export-ready Indigenous tourism businesses who will be accepting visitors this summer; a series of Zoom backgrounds showcasing Indigenous-experience imagery from each province and territory; and a video campaign called Virtually Yours to entice tourists.

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TAKEcare Travel Program at YVR

YVR TAKEcare is a health and safety program designed to help people move through the airport safely and with confidence. It places industry-leading health, safety and cleaning practices and protocols at the forefront of airport processes.

Under TAKEcare, YVR is investing in new technologies and reconfiguring airport infrastructure, expanding on existing measures and implementing new ones. Current measures include:

  • Asking that face coverings be worn at all times while in the public areas of the terminal
  • Requesting that only travellers with a valid ticket and employees enter YVR, with exceptions made for those requiring extra assistance.
  • Increasing cleaning across all high-touch areas
  • Providing additional hand sanitizer throughout the airport
  • Installing plexiglass at counters
  • Placing TAKEcare team members at key locations throughout the airport
  • Displaying clear physical distancing signage throughout the passenger journey
  • Facilitating temperature screening
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BC Hotel Association Webinar

A concise and open discussion about hotel property assessment and taxation. Join BCHA’s Ingrid Jarrett along with Phil Gertsman and Robert Blouin, hotel assessment experts with Canada’s leading real estate services firm, Altus Group, as they address hoteliers’ concerns about property taxes and property tax assessments, as well as the levels of taxation levied by the Provincial and municipal governments.

Wednesday, June 24 @10am (PT)
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Tourism HR Webinar

Hosted by Tourism HR Canada President and CEO, Philip Mondor, this one-hour webinar will provide guidance, support and practical tools to the 200,000 tourism operators across the country devastated by the impacts of COVID-19. With a focus on labour-related challenges and opportunities key to moving from recovery to renewed growth and innovation, this webinar will also serve as the formal launch of the free web-based Tourism Workforce Recovery Toolkit. The session will introduce participants to crucial features in the Toolkit as well as actionable advice on how to implement the content most relevant to their recovery needs.

Wednesday, June 24 @10am (PT)
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Destination BC Webinars

Destination BC is hosting a series of webinars to support BC’s tourism industry in areas of response, recovery, and resilience from COVID-19. The Road to Recovery webinar series has reached over 1,700 participants since launching on May 12th.

  • June 23: Facebook + Instagram for Travel: Building a Strong Foundation | Register here
  • June 25: Returning to Work: Protecting Mental Health | Register here
  • July 7: Revisiting your COVID-19 Safety Plan | Register here

Watch recordings of previous webinars:
  • May 12: Business After Re-opening: A Look at the Post-closure Traveller | View recording here
  • May 14: Essential Strategies to Innovate your Visitor Experience and Offerings | View recording here
  • May 19: Planning for Doors Open | View recording here
  • May 21: Managing Expectations and Reputation through Effective Communication | View recording here
  • May 26: Using Social Media to Support Re-opening | View recording here
  • May 28: Building a Digital Marketing Strategy for Re-opening | View recording here
  • June 4: ExploreBC… Virtually | View recording here
  • June 9: Restart Safely: Health & Safety Essentials to Support Re-opening | View recording here
  • June 11: Work Refusal & Other HR Challenges Amid the Restart | View recording here
  • June 16: SEO in Uncertain Times: How it can Help Recovery Efforts | View recording here
  • June 18: Adapting Customer Service & Guest Communication in a Pandemic Impacted Business Environment | View recording here

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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.