TIABC C-19 Bulletin - April 28, 2021

C-19 BULLETIN - April 30, 2021

CEO Message

In the good old days, while backpacking through Europe, I spent over an hour attempting to place a phone call from Rome to Richmond to speak with my girlfriend. Figuring out how to navigate the Italian telecom system while depositing the right amount of Lira into the pay phone was an exercise in futility.

Decades later while in southern Turkey, I placed a call to my wife in southwest Surrey, only this time using WIFI to connect instantly through FaceTime where we could actually see each other and feel as though we were at the same resort together.

In a similar context, as recently as 2019, TIABC’s Board of Directors had been meeting every other month by conference call where it was somewhat difficult to manage the proceedings given that participants couldn’t see each other or raise a hand to speak. Barely anyone uses a conference line anymore. Now of course, nearly every multi-person meeting in the COVID-era is conducted via Zoom, Microsoft Teams or whatever other platform where it’s as close to meeting face-to-face as it gets these days.

To be sure, visiting with out-of-town friends and family via a computer screen was a novelty at the start of the pandemic but frankly it’s getting old. While it may be all we have for the moment, it falls far short of being in a room together or sitting across an actual table enjoying conversation and coffee. For travel and tourism, looking at vacation photos may bring back fond memories, but it certainly doesn't substitute for the in-destination experience we all desire.

Like some folks reading this note, I haven’t seen (in-person) or hugged my three children and their spouses (all of whom live in other regions or provinces) for more than seven and nine months respectfully. Same for my grandkids. My 21-month-old granddaughter only knows me via FaceTime. For her, the difference between grandpa and Paw Patrol is that at least I can respond to her show and tell.

So where am I going with all this? It’s simple: travel restrictions and small social bubbles suck. Not being able to visit or meet with a wider circle of friends, family and colleagues face-to-face is extremely hard for most of us, even for an introvert like me. So while I understand the rationale for the latest order and fully support the measures to flatten the curve and save our summer, it’s not without recognizing the further hardship on individuals and our already deflated sector.

Lately I’ve been hearing more stories from members about having to say farewell to long-time employees, selling personal assets like homes to prop up their businesses, declaring bankruptcy, or working two or three outside jobs to generate an income. It’s heartbreaking…and especially painful to see industry veterans who have worked their entire lives to create and sustain a viable business, now on the verge of losing what was to be their retirement nest egg.

As I heard in meetings with business owners this week, this latest setback could put more operators over the edge. Although further government relief measures were implemented and welcome to help hospitality businesses, they don’t apply to most tourism businesses that haven’t necessarily been ordered to close but have nonetheless suffered significant cancellations and have no bookings until at least the end of May.

However, the Province is willing to meet with TIABC to discuss the Circuit Breaker program and other options to find additional relief to get us to the other side of the enhanced travel restrictions. Importantly, we aim to propose further recommendations on ways to help the tourism and hospitality industry over the long term.

Clearly, our sector has again sacrificed much-needed revenue to see that virus transmission rates decline corresponding to the increase in vaccinations to relieve the pressure on health care workers and the health care system, as well as to protect residents. But at the same time, we are also desperate to see people traveling anywhere they choose, for whatever purpose soon. Our goal is to ensure that happens starting May 25^th.

In the meantime, I’m willing to stay close to home and remain within my tiny social bubble while entertaining grandkids or meeting with colleagues via Zoom or FaceTime...all for the sake of saving our summer, in addition to the aforementioned reasons.

Selfishly though, I’ve had more than enough of staring at a screen all day and desperately look forward to returning to the good old days of travelling to Rome, Turkey, or better still…throughout Super, Natural British Columbia to see family, friends, colleagues and places I’ve always wanted to visit.

Walt Judas

TIABC CEO

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Enforcement Measures Build on Success of Non-Essential Travel Restrictions

To help keep communities safe and protect British Columbia’s health-care system from COVID-19, the Province has authorized site-specific road checks on travel corridors between regions to help enforce the non-essential travel restrictions that were announced on April 23rd.

On the advice of BC’s provincial health officer (PHO), Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, issued an Emergency Program Act order to prohibit non-essential travel between three regional zones in the province. The regional zones are:

Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley (Fraser Health and Coastal Health regions);
Vancouver Island (Island Health region); and
Northern/Interior (Interior Health and Northern Health regions).

During the first weekend of the new travel restrictions, BC Ferries vehicle traffic was down more than 25% fleet-wide, and passenger traffic down more than 30% compared to the weekend before. Resort communities and accommodation businesses have contacted the Province to note significant declines in out-of-region visitors and bookings, and BC Parks has reported more than 5,000 cancellations in the past few weeks. Building off this success in limiting non-essential travel, the province will authorize site-specific, clearly marked police road checks to further curb recreational travel.

The road checks may be put in place at any time until the order is lifted at 12:01 a.m. on May 25th, (after the Victoria Day long weekend). The road checks may be set up on highway corridors that connect different regions of the province to remind travellers of the order.

When stopped at a road check restricting non-essential travel, police will only have the authority to request:

a driver’s name, address and driver’s license
any available documentation regarding driver’s name and address (for example, secondary identification that confirms a driver’s residential address if recently moved)
the purpose of the driver’s travel (documentation regarding travel is not required)

Read more here

Statement from Minister Farnworth - Friday April 30th

Last Friday, on the advice of Dr Bonnie Henry, I announced that we have created an order under the Emergency Program Act to prohibit non-essential travel within BC until 12:01 on May 25th. That means you need to stay within your regional zone for the next several weeks. These defined regions are the combined Fraser and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority regions, the combined Northern and Interior Health Authority regions, and the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

Those travelling for essential reasons, such as, but not limited to, moving to a new residence, going to work, receiving or assisting someone to receive health care services, and travelling for emergencies will not be impacted by these restrictions. And, in addition to the previous order, we've added two new reasons for essential travel. First, for the purpose of avoiding the risk of abuse or violence, and, second, to expand who can visit to long-term care and assisted living facilities to include social visits in addition to essential visitors.

A full list of reasons for essential travel can be found in the news release and on our website. Now, I would like to take a moment to recognize and thank the vast majority of BCers who are doing their part. In particular, I want to thank BC Ferries, hotels, and all of our partners in the tourism sector, for working closely with us to help their visitors cancel or rebook their reservations. And, to the RCMP, and all law enforcement, for their contributions and hard work on the frontline during this pandemic.

And I'm happy to say we're beginning to see impacts of the travel restrictions that we put in place last Friday. We're hearing from communities that this has already had an impact. Travel on BC Ferries was down this past weekend, and resorts and hotels are reporting that many people have taken the initiative to cancel or rebook their holiday plans until restrictions are lifted.

While travel within your health authority region is not legally restricted, the message is still clear, stay local. Don't travel from Victoria to the Comox Valley, or Kelowna to the Kootenays. If you have to ask, you shouldn't go. Government committed to the public that police will enforce these travel restrictions through the use of CounterAttack-style road checks. Within this new order, effective immediately, road checks can be set up on highway corridors that connect different regional zones of the order. But you will not see road checks in downtown Vancouver, or along Boundary Road.

Once stopped at a road check, drivers may be asked to provide the driver's name, address, and driver's licence, and any available documentation regarding the driver's name and address, for example, secondary identification that confirms driver's residential address if you've recently moved, and the purpose of driver's travel. Documentation regarding travel will not be required. And passengers in the vehicle are also not required to provide this information.

If police have reasonable grounds to believe you are about to leave your regional zone, or are already travelling outside of your health authority for non-essential purposes, they can direct you to stay within your region, or to leave the authority at that time. Failure to comply with the requirements at a road check, or the direction given by a police officer, may result in a $230 fine; violating the travel orders a $575 fine.

The primary goal of these road checks is to educate and deter people from travelling for non-essential reasons. I know that there have been concerns raised about police being given broad sweeping powers and the impacts this could have on many BCers, particularly the potential to disproportionately impact black, indigenous, and racialized and vulnerable communities. I want to ensure all BCers that we have been listening to these concerns. I want to be clear, there is no authority for pedestrians to be stopped on the streets, or for arbitrary inspections, or investigations to be conducted by police.

These enforcement orders apply to the site where the road checks are taking place. And, to be clear, police are not authorized to record personal information unless an enforcement action is taken. This means that police will only record information if a driver is in violation of the order. While these restrictions are in place, we'll continue and listen to feedback to make sure we get it right.

The intent of this order is not punishment, but rather to educate around travel. Spreading this message will continue to be more important than giving out tickets. Our goal will be to encourage behaviour that helps limit unnecessary travel, and, as a consequence, transmissions, and to protect us all from the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions we have implemented are unprecedented, yet so are the challenges we face during this pandemic.

We're happy that most BCers are continuing to do the right thing, and we need to work together to get through the next coming weeks. As we've been saying, you need to stay local. Our top priority right now is the health and safety of all BCers, and prohibiting travel outside of your community will help to limit the spread of COVID-19.

At this time, more than 38% of BCers have had their first dose of vaccination. And we are on track to 60% by the 25th of May. Hunkering down and staying local is what we all must do right now, so we can work to a summer that looks more like the kind that we're used to. We need to hold the line for now and we'll get through this. So thank you.

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Cruise Industry Update

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has released its 2019 Economic Impact Study as it relates to BC.

The cruise industry contributed $2.7 billion in economic activity and 17,000 jobs in British Columbia in 2019, along with $80 million in business taxes and $185 million in income taxes. These benefits flow to the hotel, transportation, agricultural, ship maintenance and small business sectors of the economy. Regrettably, all of that was lost last year with the COVID-19 induced shut down of the 2020 cruise season.

Download the study here

Cruise lines are still hoping to salvage part of the 2021 summer cruise season moving ships away to regions that have signalled resumption will take place. They continue to work through the Conditional Sail Order announced in October 2020 by the US Centre for Disease Control looking for revisions that recognized the successful vaccine roll out with considerations for all on board to be vaccinated. If cruising resumes in the US this summer and fall, and PVSA exemptions are passed, cruise ships will be bypassing British Columbia’s ports of call.

Many of our partners at Canadian ports, tourism businesses, and coastal communities are concerned that such measures – even if temporary – could evolve into permanent changes to U.S. maritime law, potentially a devastating impact on BC’s small businesses.

Read CLIA's letter to Hon. Melanie Mark here

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Guidance for Outside Dining Spaces

A guide has been produced by the Ministry of Health and the BC Centre for Disease Control to provide guidance on outside dining spaces.

The six-page guide contains information on the definition of patio space and and provides tips on the following:

capacity
walls and air flow
cooling and heating
image examples of acceptable and unacceptable dining spaces
how to determine if your patio meets the open vertical space requirement

Download the guide here

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TIABC/BCHA Industry Webinar

Thank you for joining us this past Tuesday for our partnered webinar with the BC Hotel Association (BCHA).

Following last weeks travel restriction order, it was important that we addressed your questions and provided the details of our toolkit, which was created in response.

Both the recording and the presentation from the webinar are available below. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us with any questions.

info@tiabc.ca

Watch Webinar Here

View Presentation Here

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As Canada grapples with a third wave of COVID-19, Canadians, businesses, and especially the tourism and hospitality sector are looking for a clear path out of the pandemic and a plan that will allow them to realistically navigate the future.

Over the last couple weeks, we have seen the federal government introduce new measures and its first budget in over two years that will have a direct impact on the tourism and hospitality sector. This is where you come in. The path forward post-pandemic is one where Canadians must be actively involved and be able to have input to ensure that policies are effective and pragmatic. With these recent changes, I would like to know your thoughts and hear your input and opinions.

Federal Airline Assistance

Recently, the federal government announced a financial package for one of Canada’s airlines, Air Canada. The package will offer up to $5.8 billion in liquidity though a mixture of low-interest loans and equity financing. In exchange, Air Canada has agreed to refund passengers who had flights cancelled due to the pandemic, as well as to restore many regional routes. You can see the full announcement here.

Unfortunately, this package is only with one airline and ignores thousands of workers who have already lost their jobs in the aviation sector due to the federal government’s inaction over the past year in this sector. It is far from the comprehensive relief program the Canadian airline sector requires to restore service in all regions of the country, and lacks a clear plan to ensure the sector is healthy and competitive as we recover from the pandemic.

Budget 2021

On April 19^th the federal government introduced Budget 2021. You can see the full budget document here. Some measures in the budget that will indirectly and directly impact the tourism and hospitality sector:

o $1 billion over three years, starting in 2021-22 to assist the tourism sector, including:

o $200 million delivered through the regional development agencies to ‘support major festivals’;

o $200 million delivered through Canadian Heritage to ‘support local festivals, community cultural events, outdoor theatre performances, heritage celebrations, local museums, amateur sport events, and more’;

o $100 million to Destination Canada ‘for marketing campaigns to help Canadians and other visitors discover and explore the country’;

o $500 million to establish a ‘Tourism Relief Fund’, which will be administered by the regional development agencies. (Details on eligibility were not provided);

o $101 million over two years, beginning in 2022-23, to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to implement a program for the wine sector that will support wineries in adapting to ongoing and emerging challenges;

o $2.4 million in 2021-22 towards the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada to help the Indigenous tourism industry rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19;

o The extension of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program from June 30 until September 25, with the subsidy rate will gradually decrease starting July 4 and eventually be replaced with a new Canada Recovery Hiring Program (see point below);

o $595 million for the Canada Recovery Hiring Program, which will run from June to November 2021 for businesses offset a portion of the extra costs they take on as they reopen and hire back laid-off workers or hire new workers.

However, while this budget is adding whopping deficits of $354.2 billion for 2020-21 and $154.7 billion in 2021-22 and the national debt is reaching over $1 trillion for the first time in Canadian history there were some things that were noticeably absent from the budget:

o No actual fiscal anchors or a concrete plan to bring the budget back to balance;

o The budget does not include actual fiscal anchors, and instead includes a new supposed ‘floating anchor’;

o No clear data driven plan for economic recovery and reopening;

o The budget lacks a clear, data driven plan to support the economy opening in a safe, gradual way, including a lack of any actual plan or any metrics to safely reopen the borders when the time comes;

o A fix for critical gaps that remain in many relief programs for many small and medium sized businesses;

o Nothing included to help address the rising debt burden many small and medium sized businesses are facing due to the pandemic;

o Nothing to address new businesses that opened in 2020 and remain ineligible for COVID relief.

Many of you have already reached out me with some of your concerns with the budget. Recently, I was able to question the government about some of these concerns, including from the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada.

I always appreciate your input and want to hear from you. As always, your thoughts and suggestions are imperative for the path forward for the recovery of the tourism and hospitality sector. P lease send me an email and let me know your thoughts.

Together we will continue to weather this pandemic storm and navigate to sunnier post-recovery days.

Sincerely,

Blake Richards, MP

Banff-Airdrie

Official Opposition Whip

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BC Hotel Association - Pulse Check

The BC Hotel Association (BCHA) is asking its accommodation partners for input to help understand the impact of recent travel restrictions. This past month has been exceptionally challenging for our industry and the BCHA needs your voices to help gather information.

Please submit your response by Thursday, May 6th

TAKE SURVEY HERE

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Fernie businesses, organizations and the tourism sector have endured many challenges and hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting April 29^th until June 20^th the LOYAL to LOCAL #FernieStrong initiative in partnership with the Fernie Chamber and sponsored by TECK aims to further support local by rewarding local spending.

PICK one, or many, local Fernie and area businesses or organizations.
SUPPORT it by spending, or purchasing a gift card, at that location(s) between April 29^th - June 20^th, 2021.
GET a free thank you gift & entry to win a $1000 Fernie Staycation.
SHARE* your support by posting on social media.
CHALLENGE your friends and/or family with a good ol’ friendly guilt-trip by getting them to participate.
WEAR your awesome shirt or hat around town! Be proud! Thank you for your support!

Are you from out-of-town and want to participate? YES, you can! Shop online with local Fernie businesses and email us the receipts to: ferniestrong@tourismfernie.com

Learn more here

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Shoreline Projects Tackling Marine Debris

and Abandoned Boats

Up to 1,200 kilometres of BC’s coastlines and more than 100 derelict vessels are the targets of new marine debris clean-up projects, in partnership with coastal Indigenous Nations.

This summer, more than $9.5 million from the Clean Coast, Clean Waters (CCCW) Initiative Fund will be used to tackle shoreline cleanups and/or derelict vessel removals from the north coast down to southern Vancouver Island. The funding is being distributed to four agencies: the Songhees Development Corporation, the Small Ship Tour Operators Association – Wilderness Tourism Association, the Coastal Restoration Society and the Ocean Legacy Foundation.