When my youngest son graduated from the tourism program at Vancouver Community College and parlayed his education into his first job as a tour bus driver and guide, people would say to me, “he’s a chip off the old block, isn’t he?”

Yes, I was proud that my boy followed his old man into the tourism industry…albeit in a much different capacity from the various roles I’ve held in my career. Every time I would spot one of his company’s vehicles on the highway, I would look to see if my son was at the wheel. The distinct blue, white and green tour buses were everywhere. In fact, the company was expanding at mach speed with seemingly no end in sight for growth potential.

Then COVID put the brakes on business literally overnight, not just for my son’s company but for virtually all motor coach operators in British Columbia and across Canada. Obviously without guests to transport due to prolonged travel restrictions, buses remained largely parked for the better part of two years. Consequently, some ground transportation providers were forced to liquidate most of their assets to try to survive while others closed up shop entirely.

Although we’re starting to see more motor coaches on streets and highways ferrying passengers to and within cities, towns, and rural communities across British Columbia, the sector is not yet up to full speed and still requires government assistance to offer the services that visitors and residents have come to rely on.

Recently, TIABC, as part of the Provincial & Territorial Tourism Industry Association (PTTIA), met with Motor Coach Canada (MCC) to determine how we as sector associations can advocate for government support to help tour bus operators rebound from the impacts of the pandemic. In the meeting, we affirmed the recommendations put forward by MCC as logical, sensible, and practical, and ideas that PTTIA members across the country can get on board with to help inform Canada’s new Tourism Growth Strategy.

Among the recommendations, MCC has proposed that the federal government invest in the development of a coast-to-coast motor coach network given that at present, many rural tourism destinations are cut off from essential ground transportation services and visitors have lost their ability to travel by bus across Canada.

Because motor coach companies were unable to access some federal grant programs to restart operations and are carrying a significant debt load, a government secured loan program would be welcome to help operators get more buses safely back on the road, refinance debt, or for capital expenditure purposes.

Given that motor coach operators do not benefit from GST/HST fuel rebates offered to public transit service providers, providing reimbursements to private bus companies would mostly certainly help with cash flow and debt servicing obligations in the near term.

As an industry that relies on the movement of people, securing a healthy, stable and sustainable ground transportation sector is paramount to the full recovery of the visitor economy in British Columbia and across Canada, and TIABC is keen to assist where possible.

As I referenced earlier, there are positive signs and optimism that the motor coach sector is driving forward. Many of our tour bus members are sufficiently back on the road, others have started services previously unavailable in the marketplace, and some have introduced new equipment such as fully electric vehicles. At the same time, several obstacles remain that need to be addressed to see the sector thrive and ultimately help drive visitation to communities throughout the province.

When my son was a driver and guide, he thoroughly enjoyed his job, earned a decent living, and was proud to be working for a reputable and stable tour and transportation company. Although he left the tourism industry to join a technology company, I foresee a time when he’ll return to the sector where he started his career. After all, he’s still ‘his father’s son’ as I've been told.

Walt Judas

CEO, TIABC

The Ministry of Finance has released changes surrounding PST & MRDT reporting from online travel agencies (OTAs), which came into effect on July 1st.

As announced in British Columbia’s Budget 2022, certain marketplace facilitators must charge and collect provincial sales tax (PST) and the Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT) on taxable sales and leases that they facilitate through an online marketplace. This includes taxable sales of accommodation facilitated through an online marketplace by an online marketplace facilitator.

See the attached backgrounder from our partners at the BC Hotel Association (BCHA) for additional information.

TIABC continues to engage with government and industry stakeholders on this important issue and encourage you to reach out to info@tiabc.ca should you have any questions or concerns.

After more than 29 years devoted to the tourism industry, Ted Lee, CFO and VP of Destination Stewardship for Destination Vancouver is moving on.

Throughout his time with Destination Vancouver, he has seen the tourism industry grow and evolve, along with the city. During his long tenure, he experienced many significant events such as the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the Vancouver Convention Centre expansion.

Ted served as Acting CEO when the pandemic threatened to decimate our industry, and helped create and then co-chaired the Tourism and Hospitality Response and Recovery Task Force that successfully pushed for measures to counter the devastating impact of Covid restrictions.

Many in the industry have had the opportunity to work with Ted over the years and TIABC joins in the best of wishes as he embarks on the new adventures that await him.

TIABC joins tourism colleagues on both sides of the border in extending condolences to the family of Ryan Malane and colleagues at Black Ball Ferry Line since learning of his recent passing.

Ryan Burles, president of Black Ball Ferry Line said in a Times Colonist article on June 21st, "The company’s co-owner played a key role working with lawmakers in the U.S. to keep the lights on at Black Ball — which operates the Coho ferry — during the pandemic."

He also noted that Malane was a multi-talented man with a depth of knowledge that made him invaluable for the company. "As a careful decision maker, he made a point of maintaining and strengthening the company culture when he joined and was essential when it came to ensuring the company was a part of festivals and events on both sides of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as well as enhancing marketing schemes in both regions."

A memorial will be held in mid-July in Port Angeles.

Read the full story here.

With the completion of their newly constructed dock, Harbour Air is excited to announce that they can now provide service to the Squamish community. Located in the traditional territory of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw nation, Harbour Air’s dock is located on the east side of the new Oceanfront Squamish development and will be available for pick-up and drop-off service when connecting to a seaplane flight.

With over 40 aircraft on the coast, Harbour Air will begin by offering on-demand flight service. They hope to also introduce year-round connection to Whistler via Squamish, as well as regular scheduled flights between their flagship location in Downtown Vancouver’s Coal Harbour and Squamish.

The airline also announced that effective July 9th, for a limited time only, direct flights between downtown Vancouver and Kelowna will return. This seasonal service will feature one round-trip flight twice a week (Saturday & Tuesday) through to September 6th. Flights will land at Eldorado Resort’s marina, in front of the Mateo Hotel.

Click here for more information about Harbour Air and their schedules.

Summer is camping season in BC, and Recycle BC is encouraging everyone to leave nature the way they found it with Pack Lean, Leave Clean.

Based on the ‘take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints’ maxim, the Pack Lean, Leave Clean campaign raises awareness about recycling camping packaging, specifically soft plastics. The campaign teaches campers how to prepare, pack up and sort recyclables, making sure our parks are beautiful for decades to come.

The campaign has tips and advice to offer for everyone. Recycle BC is inviting you to follow their social channels on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, share tips, tricks and blogs, and learn more about how to minimize waste by recycling camping packaging.

Last week, the Government of Canada, announced details of a new two-year, up to $166-million Wine Sector Support Program to help strengthen the future of the wine sector.

In making the announcement, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, acknowledged the vibrant wine sector as a significant contributor to the country's economy, with growth taking place in all areas of the value chain, from grape growing to retail sales and tourism.

All licensed wineries in Canada that produce or contract out the production of bulk wine from primary agricultural products will be eligible for support under the program.

Wineries are asked to thoroughly review the application process in advance. Applications for the first year of the program can be submitted between July 4th and August 12th.

Details of the Federal Wine Sector Support Program can also be found in this on online webinar, recording (session begins at the 2 minute mark.)

Read the official announcement here.

According to WorkSafeBC’s claims data, new and young workers are at the highest risk of being injured on the job.

Employers can prevent injuries by conducting a thorough orientation with all new hires. This will also allow workers to feel more confident about their tasks and be empowered to speak up and ask questions.

The Health and Safety Orientation Checklist was developed by the health and safety team at go2HR as a template for implementing an adequate Health and Safety Orientation for new hires, specifically in a tourism and hospitality setting. It is customizable and adaptable to fit your unique workplace. This checklist includes topics that are legally required to be covered, as well as industry best practices.

Just launched by Tourism Fernie, the new, iconic Fernie App brings together and enhances local experiences into various thematic self-guided tours for both visitors and residents starting with six unique themes.

The ‘App’ way of exploring Fernie uses your GPS map function on your device to easily find all the locations desired and at one’s own pace, plus you can also choose to collect points for local rewards.

As explained by Tourism Fernie Executive Director Jikke Gyorki, the idea started before COVID-19 hit to create a self-guided tour App to enrich a visitors experience in their community, to encourage a greater knowledge and appreciation of everything Fernie, to encourage shoulder season visitation, visitor dispersion and shopping local. The plan is to expand the current six themed tours.

The App can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and Google Play. Click here for more information.

The July/August 2022 edition of the BC Camping News is now available. Readers will receive trips and tips for RVers and campers, suggested itineraries, information about the Camper's Code, and more.

Click here to receive up to date information about camping and RV'ing in BC, and to become a registered newsletter subscriber.

Waterhouse Executive Search, on behalf of Tourism Tofino is seeking an outstanding person to serve as Executive Director (ED).

Reporting to the Board of Directors and leading a team of seven staff, the ED for Tourism Tofino is responsible for the leadership and management of all daily operations of the organization and will work in collaboration with industry, regional, community and Indigenous partners to establish strategies that fulfill the organization’s mission.

The ideal candidate for this position would be a dynamic tourism or not-for-profit professional with great interpersonal and communications skills and substantial leadership experience in a resort community.

Click here for more information and to apply.

The BC Destination Marketing Organization Association (BCDMOA) held their Annual General Meeting on July 27th.

Chair, Nancy Small (Tourism Richmond) delivered a summary of the year's activities that included recognizing the challenges community destination marketing/management organizations (CDMO's) continued to face, as well as the role the organization has had to help mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, environmental issues and other challenges by working with industry leaders such as the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, go2HR, TIABC, BCHA, and presence on the provincial Tourism Emergency Management Committee.

She also acknowledged that as the industry moves into the next phase of rebound, building community resiliency will be critical for DMO's in the months and years ahead.

Elected to the Board for the 2022 term was Colin Carson, Executive Director for Tourism Prince George.

He joins the following Directors who are mid-way through their term and will continue on the Board.

The new BCDMOA Board of Directors reconvened on July 6th to appoint their Executive. Nancy Small will return as Board Chair, Blain Sepos, Past Chair, and Craig Nichols as Treasurer.

TIABC looks forward to continued work with the BCDMOA and the new Board in the months and years ahead.

The 2022 Canadian Tourism Award (CTA) nomination process is now open, accepting applications in nine categories.

The CTAs are presented annually by TIAC to recognize success, leadership, and innovation in Canada's tourism industry and have become the standard of excellence for businesses and organizations in the travel industry, showcasing the nation's best in tourism.

The 2022 CTAs will take place this year on November 23rd during TIAC’s annual Tourism Congress Award categories include:

With Canadian consumers moving online at a rapid pace, the Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) can help get your business online, grow your e-commerce presence, or help digitalize your business’ operations.

The Grow Your Business Online program is designed to help small businesses take advantage of e-commerce opportunities and reach more customers online.

Eligible businesses will receive:

•  A micro-grant of up to $2,400

•  Support from a network of E-commerce Advisors

•  Improved digital strategies

The Province is providing $500,000 to viaSport’s Play Safe BC program, which aims to prevent and address harassment, abuse, discrimination and other negative behaviours in amateur sport in the province.

This funding builds on a $250,000 investment in 2019-20 to support Play Safe B.C.

ViaSport has also created several toolkits and held several workshops to educate sport organizations in BC and inform them about the requirements of the BC Universal Code of Conduct.

With this additional funding, viaSport will continue its efforts in prevention by delivering awareness and education programs that help make positive changes to sport culture.

The Play Safe BC program will include practical, accessible tools and resources to help participants at all levels understand and apply the BC Universal Code of Conduct in amateur sport. For sport organizations, Play Safe BC aims to bridge the gap between policy and implementation and to provide training opportunities, collaborative workshops, engagement opportunities for athletes and coaches, and conflict- and complaint-management tools.

Read the official announcement here.

The union representing 2400 VIA Rail workers in negotiations with Canada’s national passenger rail service provider issued a 72-hour strike notice late last night. As a result, VIA Rail has issued a statement advising that it may be forced to suspend service “across its network” at 12:01 a.m. (ET) on Monday, July 11th “should no agreement be reached by that time.”

Conciliators are working with VIA Rail and the union, who are continuing to negotiate today and through the weekend prior to the deadline that hits just after midnight Sunday. VIA “remains committed to holding these negotiations in good faith in an effort to reach a new agreement without any disruption of service before the deadline,” the statement says.

VIA Rail advises affected passengers that they may change their reservation at no cost (service charges will be waived during any work stoppage) or may opt for a full refund of unused tickets.

The company says its web site, will be updated regularly with news about service suspensions as a result of any strike, should it occur. People can also call 1-888-VIA-RAIL (842-7245) with individual inquiries about reservations or affected travel plans.

Read the official statement from VIA Rail here.

Travel Penticton and the Penticton Visitor Centre recently received the Rainbow Registered Accreditation and are now looking to double the amount of Rainbow Registered businesses in BC.

Travel Penticton is excited to be part of a national network of LGBT+ inclusive organizations. They are one of 10 accredited businesses in BC, and one of only three in the Okanagan Valley, but would like to see that number continue to grow.

To support this growth, Travel Penticton is providing funding for Penticton tourism and hospitality businesses to support inclusive tourism. The funding will assist up to 10 local Travel Penticton member businesses in obtaining their Rainbow Registered accreditation (Canada's only national standard for 2SLGBTQIA+ safe and welcoming spaces), to double the number of accredited businesses in BC.

For more information on 2SLGBTQIA+ tourism in Penticton click here.

Learn more about Canada's Rainbow Registered Accreditation Program here.

On behalf of TIABC and Board of Directors, we are pleased to acknowledge the following member. We appreciate their support and investment in our advocacy efforts. It's a pleasure to introduce them to our industry network and readership.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Vancouver. Native Vancouverite Nancy Stibbard purchased Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in 1983 and has spearheaded the attraction’s development and phenomenal success over the past 30 years.

It is a simple suspension bridge crossing the Capilano River in the District of North Vancouver. The current bridge is 140 metres (460 ft)[1] long and 70 metres (230 ft) above the river. The unique attraction draws over 1.2 million visitors per year

Learn more about the Capilano Suspension Bridge here.

We strongly encourage you to consider membership or renew your membership with TIABC to support our important advocacy efforts on behalf of the entire visitor economy. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic TIABC has identified your concerns, raised your voice, championed your needs, pushing for support and programs while encouraging policy changes.

More than ever, businesses are becoming increasingly aware of the critical importance of mental health and creating psychologically healthy and safe work environments. Civility and respect is one of the 13 psychosocial factors that are encompassed within the best practice frame of the CSA National Standard for Psychological Health & Safety in the Workplace.

This webinar will prepare participants to foster a civil and respectful workplace by being able to:

Bonus! Includes a practical psychological health & wellness toolkit developed by My Workplace Health

Date: July 13th, 9am - 10am (PT)

Click here to learn more and to register for this free webinar.

Join the Association of Marina Industries upcoming webinar on “Design Considerations For A Cleaner Marina”. The speaker is Margaret Boshek, Senior Coastal Engineer at Moffatt & Nichol and she will talk about clean and green design considerations that improve the quality of your marina. Using concepts pulled from clean marina best management practices, you’ll learn about the latest in marina design.

Date: July 13th, 9am - 10am (PT)

Click here to learn more and to register.

TIABC would like to remind industry of the Safer Spaces course: Creating Sexual Harassment-Free Workplaces in BC's Tourism and Hospitality Industry. This free online course has been extremely well-received by industry as it addresses one of today's concerning topics and supports employers and supervisors in creating workplaces that are free from sexual harassment.

Wine Growers British Columbia along with Wine Growers Canada, Wine Growers Ontario and Wine Growers Nova Scotia are pleased to invite you to attend the annual Canadian Wine Growers Symposium and Annual Awards Ceremony.

The symposium will have high profile speakers addressing emerging political and market trends and impacts of the pandemic, followed by the host organizations Award Ceremonies.

Virtual Event

Date: Monday, July 11th, 10:00am-2:00pm

Registration is complimentary to industry professionals

Click HERE to learn more and to register.

The 2022 Canada 55+ Games are coming to Kamloops August 23–26.

The Canada 55+ Games is a large multi-sport event with over 2500 participants competing in 26 different events.

The Games focus on the social, physical and psychological well being of the participants through participation in a multi-day event. The Games are held over four days and participants must qualify through their provincial 55+ games competitions.

The Games offer opportunities for enrichment, fulfillment and improved quality of life provided by participation in a broad variety of athletic, recreational and social events. Although the very nature of the Games is to declare a winner or winners, the aspect of winning is secondary to the social side related to reuniting with friends from Games past.

Yes Shef returns! At this long-table dinner, guests will be served five unique courses with wine pairings.

Each course is co-created by a notable Chef and their student apprentice. Women of the wine world will select a pairing to compliment the flavour profiles. This inspirational fundraiser features the best Chefs, Sommeliers and Student Apprentices in BC. Proceeds benefit a scholarship fund for the future generation of Shefs.

Your ticket includes a welcome cocktail, five wine pairings and five unique courses created and served by the phenomenal female talent in Vancouver’s food and beverage community. For group seating requests, please email yesshef@worthassociation.com

Date: August 15th, 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Place: Chambar Restaurant, 568 Beatty Street, Vancouver

Purchase tickets here.

The culmination of WGBC activities, including marketing, communications, advocacy and more over the Fiscal Year 2022 will be reported on in the Annual Report released at the Annual General Meeting. As quorum is critical for this meeting to proceed, please add this date to your calendar.

Date: Wednesday, September 7th - 10am-noon

Virtual Event: Add to calendar HERE

The Meaningful Travel Summit is an event connecting industry professionals with local change-makers in places around North America. The goal is to learn from one another, infuse more sustainability into our businesses with the knowledge we’ve gained and roll up our sleeves to volunteer in and with the local community.

The North America Meaningful Travel Summit provides:

Date: September 28th - 30th, Victoria

Click here to learn more and to register.

Sport Tourism Canada and Edmonton Events have announced that Sport Events Congress 2022 will be held November 2-4 in Edmonton.

SEC22 promises to be everything that attendees know and love about Congress – interactive, educational, opportunities for business-to-business networking, evening social events (including an Edmonton Oilers NHL match-up at Rogers Place). View the preliminary schedule here.

Feel free to send us your ideas on what information would be valuable for TIABC to share through our Bulletin going forward. Drop us a line at info@tiabc.ca.

TIABC recognizes that our members, stakeholders and staff occupy the ceded, unceded and traditional territories of Indigenous Nations across British Columbia. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to live, work and play on the lands that our Indigenous friends and First Nations ancestors honour and care for.