C-19 BULLETIN - May 25, 2020
Tourism Week Key Message to Locals
As you Explore BC locally during Tourism Week, go beyond the  free  activities and support open tourism businesses who depend on revenues from visitors to keep their doors open, employ workers, and contribute to their local communities.
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Letter to Stakeholders on How to Engage in Tourism Week 2020

TIABC, BC Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Destination BC, go2HR, Indigenous Tourism BC, and the BC Regional Tourism Secretariat recognized the start of Tourism Week by outlining how industry can join in on various initiatives. Download the letter  here .
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Province Supports Tourism Marketing Organizations to be Ready for Recovery

Fifty-nine BC community destination marketing organizations (DMOs) severely impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions will be supported with a $10-million grant from the Province.

BC’s community DMOs are not-for-profit organizations that rely on funds generated by the municipal and regional district tax (MRDT), which is charged to visitors by hotels and other types of accommodation. Without this relief funding, community DMOs would be unable to operate and support economic recovery efforts in the tourism sector.

Learn more at:
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Federal Government Update

Today, the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA)  program portal  opened for applications. As part of this program, property owners will reduce rent by at least 75% for the months of April, May and June (retroactively). CECRA will cover 50% of the rent, with tenants paying up to 25%.

Today, the Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, announced that the Government of Canada will support the launch of a four-week hotline service called the Business Resilience Service. This service will help entrepreneurs and small business owners in need of financial planning advice, particularly those who may not have access to an accountant. The service will also be open to not-for-profit organizations and charities.
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State of the Industry

The latest State of the Industry weekly report from Twenty31 is now available . Download the Dashboard Report #6   here .

These reports are made possible through Canadian Experiences Fund  funding.

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Tourism Industry Association of Canada Honours Tourism Week

Tourism Week is an annual week-long national recognition of the contributions that Canada’s typically-vibrant tourism sector makes to the economy and our communities. However, due to the global COVID-19 health pandemic, the sector has been decimated with no return to normalcy in sight and celebrations have been damped and moved online.

As an increasingly growing sector, the Government of Canada recognized the need to support and invest in tourism and travel through the launch of the new  Tourism Growth Strategy  in the 2019 Budget, as well as including Tourism as Canada’s 7th Economic Strategy Table. 

This is why TIAC is urging federal and provincial governments to consult and collaborate in developing much-needed recovery support and thoughtful measures for reopening the travel economy safely and help incentivize travel again as soon as it safe to do so. Canada simply cannot afford to lose the tourism industry.

TIAC invites all Canadians and tourism stakeholders to join together as we highlight our industry’s contributions to the Canadian economy and employment, and work together towards a safe recovery.
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Tourism & Hospitality Resource Forum

A team of 10 volunteers continue to post various tools and resources on the Royal Roads University website. The site includes links to resources, articles and recorded interviews that are 15-20 minutes with each question time-referenced for ease of reviewing content.   

New Content this week:
  • Operations: A New York Perspective. Jake Lynch, Director of Operations with Sheraton Times Square. With the hotel accommodating hospital staff, Jake has been in the thick of the pandemic response.What has he learned about operations?

  • Human Resources: Challenges of ‘Presenteeism.’ With Dr. Frances Jorgensen.  How do we prevent people from showing up to work sick?

  • Blue Sky: Resilience. With Dr. Thomas (Tad) Homer-Dickson. One of the leading thinkers in Canada in the field of climate change, Tad discusses resilience as ‘bounce back’ and as ‘adaptation’. 
(Download information about to register (free) here)
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Toolkit: Getting Your Business Ready to Open

During Phase 2 as businesses begin to re-open, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade has launched a Back to Work Toolkit as a resource for employers and small businesses. This simple guide offers thoughtful considerations on how to safely and effectively restart and reopen operations with a focus on businesses in office spaces and consumer-facing industries. This toolkit provides suggestions on preparing a business's physical workspace as well as considerations on how to manage employees to prioritize their health and safety.
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On the Road Again

With a new program called  Safely Clean , so that people can travel with the utmost confidence, Ebus will be launching a limited schedule on B.C. routes starting next Thursday, June 4 th .
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Fishing BC Update

As we move into the next phases of BC's Restart Plan, the Fishing BC marketing campaign will once again begin promotion of BC's amazing fishing experiences. Their approach will follow guidance from Destination BC and will undoubtedly focus on the domestic travel market for the foreseeable future.

Fishing tourism is well positioned to recover quickly. Here are a few reasons why:
1) Social Isolation is what we do best.  Angling guides, charters, and resorts specialize in small groups experiences in rural and remote locations that are away from the crowds.
2) Exploring Natural Places.  Once it is deemed safe, people will be very keen to leave their homes and get out into nature. Fishing is an activity that will appeal to families, especially given most organized sports like soccer, baseball, and hockey will be cancelled for the season.
3) Length of the Fishing Season.  In BC, we are blessed with a very long fishing season. In most areas of BC the lakes are ice free in April and the fishing season extends right into November. In other areas like the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island the season runs year round.
4) Fisherman are fanatics.  During the recent wildfire emergencies many resorts did not start seeing cancellations until the roads and back country were closed by government.
5) Fishing Tourism is resilient.  The fishing industry is a very self-sufficient group and have survived various combinations of wildfires, fishing closures, and economic recessions in the past.
6) Repeat Clientele.  The sector relies heavily on repeat visitors. Many are 2nd and 3rd generation visitors and are very passionate about continuing their family fishing trip tradition. A large majority of these visitors are also from the short-haul domestic markets of BC and Alberta which should rebound quickly.
The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC is reporting record sales in freshwater fishing licenses for the month of April despite COVID-19. Initially unsure as to how sales would evolve due to COVID-19, the success is likely due to sunny weather, primarily on the South Coast, British Columbians looking for new opportunities to physically distance themselves while outside as well as an increased awareness around food security. 
 
Recreational licence sales are up 11% over last April, with a 17% increase in BC resident sales offsetting the reduction in sales to non-residents.  Sales may be attributed to some anglers buying their license early, however there are a number of first time purchasers.

100% of the revenue generated from fishing licences directly benefits recreational fisheries in British Columbia, funding the provincial stocking program, research, conservation, outreach and marketing programs. The Freshwater Fisheries Society partners with the BC Fishing Resorts and Outfitters Association and the Sport Fishing Institute under Fishing BC as part of the Destination BC Co-op Marketing Partnership Program.
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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 26 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)

Speaker: Conner Galway, Junction Consulting
Thursday, May 28 @ 2:00 pm PT (60 minutes)

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

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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 27 @ 10:00 am PT

Friday June 5 @ 10:30 am PT

To view previous webinars, visit:
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The BC Hotel Association has worked hard behind the scenes with key stakeholders to develop and communicate essential guidelines to assist stakeholders in developing their own plan to restart or ramp up operations for Phase 3 of the Restart Plan.

This comprehensive document has been submitted to government and industry to support employee, guest, and business health and safety.

Thank you to our partner, go2HR, for their support in developing this document, using guidelines from BC CDC, HAC, WorkSafeBC, BCHA, BCLCA, BLBCA, lodges, condo hotels, hostels, motels, and bed & breakfasts.

To help set you up for success, BCHA is hosting a webinar  next Thursday, May 28 th  at 1pm PT (registration details below) to walk through the guidelines in detail and to answer questions.

To register:
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Capliano University Webinar

As one of the most affected sectors, the current COVID-19 pandemic presents the tourism industry with a major and evolving challenge. Join a conversation with industry experts to discuss how best to navigate the challenge, draw from lessons learned to reshape the tourism industry, and prepare for a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future.

Moderato r:
-Paul Dangerfield, President of Capilano University
Panelists :
-Bruce Poon Tip, Founder of G Adventures
-Daniel Dubois, Co-founder, Key Living
-Paula Amos, Chief Marketing and Development Officer, Indigenous Tourism BC
-Paolo Fresnoza, Instructor, Faculty of Global & Community Studies

Thursday, May 28 @ 5:00 pm PT
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Golden Re-launches Campaign

As travel restrictions begin to loosen as a part of the Restart BC plan, Tourism Golden has decided to resume their “Locals Lowdown” campaign to showcase the true spirit of the city.

The campaign, which originally launched in March but was shelved temporarily due to COVID-19, features 19 videos that showcase different residents and why they love Golden.

The re-launch coincides with reports that Alberta-registered vehicles were being targeted due to anti-travel sentiment, spurred by COVID-19, and hopes to help the negative impression left by those experiences.

The campaign also coincides with BC Tourism Week . Golden’s tourism industry contributes significant economic benefits to the area, as well as the rest of BC, with an average 75% of gross business revenues being generated from tourism, according to Tourism Golden.


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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.