C-19 BULLETIN - March 31, 2021

CEO Message

As tourism in our province steadily grew post-Olympics, so too did Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT) receipts that were largely used by destination marketing/management organizations (DMOs) for sales and marketing efforts on behalf of their communities. Aside from the fact that four or five destinations generated close to two-thirds of total provincial MRDT revenues (via hotel stays) in 2019, the collective DMO system benefitted from some $75 million in funds overall, just before COVID-19 decimated our visitor economy.

As the MRDT pot grew, so did the scrutiny of bureaucrats and politicians who saw fit in a previous budget to repurpose a portion of the funds to initiatives such as affordable housing. They argued that between community, regional and our provincial DMO there was more than enough marketing money to promote our province to the world.

Wait. What? A combined $130+ million in Canadian dollars sounds like a lot until one begins to compare to what other destinations annually invest. For example, in 2019 the Las Vegas Convention & Visitor Authority spent in excess of $100 million US just on advertising (against a total operating budget of $360 million). Considering the currency, that’s approximately 40% more than the entire annual budget of Destination Canada.

In our province, we're fortunate that private tourism and hospitality companies supplement destination marketing efforts each year to pick up some of the slack. While I don’t have any data to quantify the collective spend by these independent businesses and chains, I know of one large operator that invests upwards of $40 million on sales and marketing activities each year to generate demand for his attraction and for British Columbia.

Obviously without the ability for many businesses to market or even open during COVID-19, combined with the lack of funds and limitations for DMOs while travel restrictions remain in place, generating international demand for BC experiences will be a major hurdle when travel opens up again, factoring in the highly competitive landscape the tourism industry operates within. It will be months and perhaps years of diligent efforts to again realize a fully functional, coordinated and effective marketing regime…and that’s not taking anything away from the skills and professionalism of any DMO or private business marketing guru.

The fact is that we need both visitor bureaus and tourism enterprises to be healthy, operating and marketing when we emerge from the pandemic in the months ahead. While many DMOs within the provincial MRDT system have received some financial assistance over the past year and need more to at least keep their doors open (as well as for marketing), most large tourism operators have not received any support whatsoever. It's even more acute for many seasonal tourism businesses who have yet to welcome a guest since the fall of 2019. So no matter how well they did prior to the pandemic, without customers, zero revenues, and ongoing fixed cost expenses, no large or small operator can remain viable over the long term. 

To be sure, programs like the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy have helped, but other measures such as LEEFF have not primarily because borrowing rates, qualification criteria and payback terms fail to recognize the serious predicament most businesses are in (i.e. travel restrictions, increasing debt load).

Recognizing the gap, TIABC, together with our partners at BCHA and Indigenous Tourism BC recently submitted a brief to both the federal and provincial governments calling for a new or revised program to help large operators to the other side of COVID-19.

The proposal (BC Tourism Recovery Investment Program – BC TRIP) calls for a combination of grants and government secured loans that would ensure large businesses are given every opportunity to re-open, put thousands of employees back to work, generate demand for our province, and support communities and countless other businesses as part of the entire tourism and hospitality eco-system.

Importantly, while these larger operators represent major attractions, transportation providers, hotels and resorts, as well as other entities, BC TRIP could also work for any size tourism business, particularly if adjustments are made to current measures such as the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP).

It’s also worth acknowledging that many businesses are already fully leveraged, and any further borrowing is not exactly the desired route for support. Nonetheless, (aside from lifting travel restrictions) access to relief funds is absolutely necessary to survive a second straight challenging year.

After months of consultation with input from TIABC, our sector partners, individual businesses and other stakeholders, the federal and provincial budgets will be tabled in just under three weeks. Never has a single budget in either BC or Canada been so critical for our industry. 

It’s absolutely vital that large operators (& all tourism & hospitality businesses for that matter) receive the help they need now, especially in view of this week’s provincial orders that have left our sector reeling yet again. Without support, sadly it's only a matter of time before more going out of business signs start popping up for many in our industry.

Walt Judas
CEO, TIABC
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New Proposal Submitted to Federal Government to Help Larger Operators

On March 26th, TIABC, the BCHA, and Indigenous Tourism BC submitted the BC Trip proposal to the Honourable Minster Melanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, and the Honourable Minister Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. The proposals requests that the Federal Government assist some 200 large and iconic BC tourism and hospitality businesses that have largely fallen through the cracks vis-a-vis substantive relief measures and cannot survive another season without provincial and federal government support.

The proposal outlines the need, rationale and key components of a BC Tourism Recovery Investment Program (BC TRIP) to adapt the HASCAP program. These needs and components have been identified by large employers that own and operate iconic attractions, transportation companies, hotels/resorts and other key assets that drive the visitor economy in our province and in Canada more broadly given BC’s role as a gateway for international visitors.

Download the BC Trip - Federal Government Proposal here.
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TIABC, BCHA, ABLE BC, Restaurants Canada
Write Province, Dr. Henry on Latest Restrictions and the Impact
on Tourism & Hospitality Businesses

In the letter, the four sector associations representing thousands of businesses and tens of thousands of employees around the province say they are extremely disappointed and concerned about further measures announced this week that have forced more layoffs, led to widespread reservation cancellations at restaurants and hotels, and put thousands of businesses in peril yet again without adequate government support to remain solvent.

The letter goes on to say that government measures announced earlier this week have frustrated our member businesses throughout the province who question why tourism and hospitality was again singled out for restrictions in spite of recently being lauded by government for implementing strict health and safety measures to keep guests safe.

The organizations also suggest it would be extremely helpful to understand the rationale and the data that support the decision to double down on travel restrictions and ban in-dining experiences in restaurants, bars and pubs. Our industry has many questions that have not been answered vis-à-vis the orders issued on Monday.

Importantly, TIABC, BCHA, ABLE BC and Restaurants Canada are committed to working with government on finding a path forward that both protects residents, workers and visitors, but also allows tourism and hospitality businesses to remain viable.
 
A full copy of the letter will be available in next week's C-19 Bulletin.
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Premier Horgan & Dr. Bonnie Henry Excerpts from March 29th News Conference

Reporter: With the decision to still allow the outdoor social gatherings, are you confident that is not a source of transmission, and that it's mostly the indoor social gatherings? Can you give some examples -- for the restaurant industry, have we seen high numbers of transmissions and can you give us some examples of that?

Dr. Henry: Sure. We need to find that balance and this is something we've been trying to do and there are some areas where we are seeing transmission events. They're not when we're outdoors, when we're maintaining our distance, when we're being safe and we've said that from the very beginning. We know this virus doesn't transmit as well when we're outside, it doesn't last as well outside and we can protect each other by having that distance between us outside. Those are the things we need to focus on now. How we do that and do that safely? If we are out in our own backyard making sure we're not crowding a whole bunch of people under a small tent. We've seen some of those things -- those are not safe activities.

What we are seeing...it's not all restaurants by any means, most of them are doing a really good job, but I am hearing more and more and we've had the support of many in the restaurant and beverage association, the understanding in the last few weeks in particular...there's a lot of frustration, especially among younger people about the restrictions and the restrictions on social connections. With March break and universities being out of session for a while, we're seeing that lead to augmentation of transmission through places like restaurants, bars and pubs. It's unfortunate, but right now that indoor setting is where we're seeing most transmission happening.

We've talked about what happened with the pub that had the event in Fraser Heath, but we have many such examples. We did some targeted WorkSafe inspections in Whistler a couple weeks ago and found that it was very challenging for staff to manage groups of people later in the evening, and that was what was leading to transmission. Often people live together in common, crowded housing like some of the staff accommodations in Whistler, for example. But we're seeing that in places all around the province, mostly in urban areas. Now is the time to give people a break, to step back from those indoors environments where we see this risk being greatest.

Reporter: Premier, I'm just wondering if there's any aid packages from the province coming for the restaurant sector, the people who are potentially going to lose their jobs? Is the province considering anything, picking up part of their salaries, anything like that?

Premier Horgan: Yes, we are. As of this morning, Dr Henry, Minister Kahlon, Minister Bains, and Minister Mark met with our table of business leaders in hospitality, tourism and other sectors to advise them of the orders that were coming in.

Obviously, there was disappointment around the table but an understanding that the circumstances require the actions that we're taking. As a result, we have an obligation in government to be where we have been from the beginning. That is at the side of people, businesses and communities.

Minister Kahlon's gone away and is working with his staff and my deputy to put in place any additions to the programs that are already in place, as well as looking at how we can bridge these next three weeks, particularly for the hospitality sector, which was gearing up as we saw the better weather in the south of BC. We need to break the cycle. We need to ensure that everyone's in this together and the government will be there for those businesses who are affected by this.

Reporter: I'm just wondering if you could flesh it out in any more detail. If someone who is watching their shifts at a restaurant disappear as of tomorrow, potentially, when would they see whatever it is that you're working on? How quickly will that help them pay their rent or whatever bills are on their plate?

Premier Horgan: The challenge is, as you know, is that government usually take a lot of time to put these types of initiatives in place. We've been moving with significant speed to put in place programs to fill gaps at the federal level, to assist municipal partners with respect to other initiatives like transit, and providing services to people. We're going to keep doing that.

I don't want to get into specifics about the next three weeks, other than to say that the minister's on it. The government's on it. We'll have more to say once the programs have been developed.

Reporter: I'm just wondering if you can talk a little bit more about places that have had test positivity rates of more than 50%. Is it just Whistler? Other parts in the province as well? If you can kind of paint a picture of what that's like right now in the province.

Dr. Henry: We've been talking about the epicentre of the pandemic continues to be the most populous areas of the province, particularly in the Lower Mainland. It's not a test positivity of 50%. It's been a 50% increase in the test positivity.

On a day-to-day basis, one single day doesn't make necessarily a difference. Same with the numbers. We look at the seven-day rolling average as a way of smoothing out what's happening over time. As you know, we've been seeing a steady increase over weeks. In the last week, what we've seen is that start to inflect upwards, both in the numbers of cases, the seven-day rolling average number of cases, but also in the percent of those tested that are positive over time.

We've gone on average in the province from about 5% to close to almost 10%. It is much higher in some parts of the province than others. We start to see a slow increase and then a rapid take-off. It starts where the population is greatest, where the numbers of cases are greatest, but it very rapidly spreads. We've started to see an increase on Vancouver Island over this weekend and in the Interior. The north has remained very high and we've been targeting different communities in the north.

Whistler is particularly concerning. As you know, we've had an outbreak there, started over the winter holidays, Christmas season. We've seen to come under control but we've had waxing and waning. In the last week, it started to take off again. We've seen that people who had travelled to Whistler and gone home, both to the Lower Mainland, to parts of the Interior and here on Vancouver Island, we're starting to see cases pop up here that are related.

It really is looking at it as a whole and recognizing that we are very connected as a province, despite our geography, that people move. This virus moves with people. We need to take these measures across the board to be able to keep things down so that we don't put our hospital system at risk and we're able to focus on those important services in our communities, our workplaces and keeping schools open.

Reporter: I'd like to ask about, first, travel -- this may be for Premier Horgan as well. Is this the same advice that we've heard all along or is there specific measures in place to ensure that people do not travel from health authority to health authority, and is there part of this order that requires people who did travel that aren't feeling well to get tested? I'm a little bit unclear on the language there.

Dr. Henry: It is the same as what we've been saying, but we are reinforcing it now. I've said it myself that over the Easter break, if families wanted to go, in a self-contained way, to communities, we're now seeing the impact of that. So I am appealing to everybody you should not travel unless it's necessary -- for work, for medical reasons.

We need to hunker down for this next few weeks. Stay close to home. It is movement of people that moves the virus, and we've seen that happen. It is sometimes travel from other provinces, and we'll be signalling very clearly that that's not acceptable any more. We don't want you here right now. And we need to stay close to home as well.

Reporter: Given what we know now, is that positive messaging or, as some have called it in the recent weeks, mixed messaging a mistake? Are there any regrets there, especially when many experts warned this is where we were headed?

Dr. Henry: I think we have recognized from the very beginning of our reopening that we have tried to find as much of a balance as we can, recognizing that this pandemic has differentially affected different parts of our community, whether it's the food and beverage industry; travel and tourism we know are most affected.

When we started our restart program, we put in place COVID safety plans that were very specific to different businesses. And what we are seeing is the data does not show that we're seeing transmission in retail environments and small retail, the small shops and stores that we have around the province

We have been taking more active measures to support businesses in safely staying open, but now is the time again to review your COVID safety plan, to make sure that you're limiting the numbers of people, that you're having those meetings at home, remotely as much as possible. And we will be working with WorkSafe to help enforce those in the coming weeks as well. So it is a multi-pronged approach, Recognizing that we all need that balance, But controlling the virus is what allows us to get back to all of the workplaces and social activities That we need and want. And the quickest way to do that is by stopping the rapid spread that we're seeing right now.
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State of Emergency Extended
to Continue BC’s COVID-19 Response

The Province of British Columbia has formally extended the provincial State of Emergency, allowing health and emergency management officials to continue to use extraordinary powers under the Emergency Program Act (EPA) to support the Province's COVID-19 pandemic response. The SOE is extended through the end of the day on April 13th to allow staff to take the necessary actions to keep British Columbians safe and manage immediate concerns and COVID-19 outbreaks.
More Commercial Recreation Businesses Get a Break on Rent

The BC Government is providing an additional $1.87 million to assist more businesses that hold eligible tenures for fishing and hunting lodges, guest ranches, ecotourism lodges, seasonal campgrounds and other commercial recreation operators during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commercial recreation operators that hold Land Act tenures or Park Act permits may be eligible to have the annual base rent that they pay to the Province waived for one year. This is on top of the $1.36 million allocated for rent forgiveness in September 2020, which benefited 592 Land Act tenure holders and 443 Park Act permit holders.

Many commercial recreation businesses operating on crown land continue to be impacted by travel restrictions during the current pandemic. This rent forgiveness will assist another 398 Land Act tenure holders ($1.84 million in rent forgiveness) and 40 Park Act permit holders ($31,525 in rent forgiveness).

Learn more at:
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TELL US YOUR STORY
 
A growing coalition of tourism and hospitality businesses and sectors from around the province is adding its voice to a BC version of the “Hardest Hit” campaign to compel federal and provincial governments to work with our sector on a restart plan that includes the lifting of travel restrictions for immunized people and for those that have tested negative for the COVID-19 virus.
 
As part of our advocacy efforts, we’re aiming to collect information in the form of stories from businesses like yours to inform government on the extent of the impact that travel restrictions have had on the visitor economy since the start of the pandemic.
 
We encourage you to write your story using the format (template) below to a maximum of two pages. Be as candid as you feel comfortable. By telling your story, you give us permission to share the information with government. We may also call on you to tell your story through social and/or traditional media channels, as well as via industry communiques.
 
Please send your (maximum 2-page) summary to [email protected] by April 10, 2021.
  
Background: Business name; location/s in BC; date established; ownership structure; # of full and/or part-time employees.
 
Primary Customers: Where your customers are from; demographics; who your booking partners are; what primary marketing channels you use.
 
Revenue Base:  State pre and post-COVID revenues (actual or range & % drop); how much longer you can afford to remain in operation; support programs you’ve applied for and either received or been rejected (state reasons for rejection).
 
Tourism Supply Chain: List other tourism businesses or other sectors that you work with and how your business supports these enterprises.
 
Government Decisions: State how federal and/or provincial government orders, directives and measures have affected your business; provide recommendations on what government can do differently or better to lessen the impact on your business.
 
Community Contribution: Illustrate why your business is a key part of your community and how travel restrictions have impacted you, your employees, your business in general, as well as the community you call home.
 
Personal Implications: Illustrate the ways the pandemic has affected you personally, professionally, mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually.
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ABLE BC Provides Guidance on New Restrictions

Bars, pubs, restaurants, and food courts are closed for indoor dining until April 19th at 11:59 pm. Patio seating and takeout or delivery is allowed.

A copy of the public order is still not available but will be posted when ready. More information is available on this government website.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Do these restrictions impact winery, brewery, or distillery tasting rooms?
Yes, they do. Breweries, wineries, and distilleries are allowed to remain open provided they offer full meal service - for takeout, delivery, or service on the patio.

Sampling: we have confirmed that a customer can sample product inside a manufacturing facility for the purposes of determining if they wish to purchase it. I.e., having a sample of wine before buying a bottle. But customers cannot come into the facility, sit down, and have a drink.

Do these restrictions impact private clubs?
It is our understanding these restrictions impact all licensed establishments, including private clubs. In all prior orders for food and liquor-serving establishments, private clubs have been included in the restrictions.

Do I need to serve a full meal or do appetizers and snacks suffice?
We have not seen the public order yet, but yesterday Dr. Henry verbally announced that if you don't offer full meal service, you must close. Serving only snacks and appetizers is not sufficient. While there is no specific definition of a 'meal' available, packaged snacks for instance do not count as a meal.

What is considered a patio?
The intention is to have an area with open, unimpeded air flow. A glassed-in or winterized patio or solarium would not qualify unless the barriers to airflow are removed. We expect a clearer definition of a patio from the PHO shortly.

Can I set up a temporary patio? How do I get government approval?
To set up a temporary patio, you need to apply for a Temporary Expanded Service Area through the LCRB. You can do so until October 31, 2021. If you already have a TESA, it is valid until October 31.

Food primaries, liquor primaries, and manufacturers can apply for TESA here.

The LCRB has been reviewing and approving completed applications for TESAs in approximately five days.

The permanent structural change process is also available and work is currently being completed to streamline and identify efficiencies to improve this process.

How do I expand my redline boundaries?
You will need LCRB approval to do so. Login via your BCeID, click temporary expansion, and follow the steps from there. We also recommend contacting your municipality to find out how they're handling temporary expansions. Many municipalities have elected to defer to the Province, but the City of Vancouver, for example has a different process.

Do patrons have to wear a mask while on the patio? 
Patrons must wear a mask whenever they are not seated.

Can patrons use the washrooms indoors? 
Yes, but patrons must wear a mask when going to and from the washroom.

Do I have to layoff staff? What options do I have?
First and foremost, we encourage employers to provide lots of open, transparent, and ongoing communication with your staff.

Make it clear to staff this is not an option, but a public order: indoor dining is not allowed and you have no choice but to close your indoor service. Continue to communicate with your staff throughout the next several weeks.

Employers may want to consider working with staff to adjust schedules, reduce hours, have staff take vacation, or encourage work-sharing.

The EI Work-Sharing Program helps employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary decrease in business activity beyond the control of the employer. The program provides EI benefits to eligible employees who agree to reduce their normal working hours and share the available work while their employer recovers.

If you have not already applied for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and are eligible to do so, consider applying.

If you do not qualify for the wage subsidy and have to lay employees off, a temporary layoff is when an employee earns less than 50% of their regular weekly wages (averaged over the previous eight weeks that they worked), with the plan that the employee will return to a regular work schedule.

Layoffs are not automatic. Important to note:

  • Employees must agree to be laid off or layoffs must be part of the employment contract.
  • If an employee doesn't agree to the layoff, it may be considered a termination of the employment.
  • If the employee won't be returning to work, the layoff is a termination of employment.
  • If an employee is laid off, they're still considered to be employed. Any benefits and entitlements, including vacation and leaves of absence, are protected.
  • Laid off employees may choose to file for EI

Depending on each individual's situation, an employee may or may not qualify for regular EI benefitsNew EI benefits include the Canada Recovery Benefit and Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit.

If you have any other questions about employment and layoffs, we encourage you to contact Ginger Brunner (Regional HR Specialist, go2HR): [email protected].
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Some Ski Resorts Closing for the Season

On Monday, the province announced that the Whistler-Blackcomb ski resort will be closed through to April 19, 2021, to address and prevent community spread related to non-essential travel.

Whistler Blackcomb has now announced that will be closed for the remainder of the season and is now preparing for summer operations. 

Big White Ski Resort has made the difficult decision to close for the season on Monday, April 5th at 4pm, six days earlier than the scheduled date of April 11th, to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and the recent surge in P.1 variant cases in British Columbia.

Learn more at:
Tourism Whistler Communication to Members

Dear Members,

Yesterday, our provincial health authorities announced new public health orders to address the rising COVID-19 case counts in British Columbia. These new measures are in effect until April 19 at midnight and include the suspension of indoor dining at restaurants, pubs and bars, as well as the closure of Whistler Blackcomb to prevent community spread of COVID-19 related to non-essential travel.

Unfortunately today, after careful consideration, Whistler Blackcomb has now had to make the even further difficult decision to not re-open for winter operations, so has officially confirmed that their last day of the 2020-21 winter season was yesterday. Whistler Blackcomb is scheduled to open for summer operations on May 21, 2021.

The news over the past few days has been difficult to hear, especially after the monumental challenges local businesses have had to face over the past winter, and past year; but health and safety remain our top priority as we navigate this final leg of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are hopeful this circuit breaker will be successful in bending our curve back down, and with vaccines ramping up, and the warmer weather approaching, we are optimistic that the non-essential travel advisory will be lifted once again soon – but now with our focus on spring and summer operations.

As has been communicated previously, Tourism Whistler suspended all short-term winter paid advertising efforts in November to support the province’s recommendation against non-essential travel. We will continue to act in accordance with public health officials and will not stimulate travel to Whistler until the travel advisory is lifted.

In the meantime, we continue to share inspirational content through our owned channels to keep people dreaming of Whistler and planning for future travel. We have also planned and created multiple spring and summer marketing campaigns to support local, regional and national markets for when the time is right. As always, full overviews of our seasonal marketing plans are available in the Campaign Toolkit section of the member website.

Details of these recent announcements are being shared through our web, digital, social and database channels, and we are proactively contacting all travellers who have upcoming reservations booked through our Whistler.com sales channel to assist them with modifying and rebooking their travel plans as appropriate. Please note, though, we are not an enforcement agency, nor are we the end-supplier, so it is not our place to proactively cancel reservations. That said, I can confirm Whistler is seeing many cancellations across the resort since the recent news broke yesterday afternoon. 

Despite this most recent blow, our sights are set on the upcoming summer season. I would like to remind all Members that information and resources for travellers is available at whistler.com/covid, and we have a COVID-19 information and resources for Members available on the member website. I would also like to remind all Member businesses to keep their Doors Open Directory listings up to date using the COVID-19 Member Information form.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me, or any member of our team, if you have any questions or if there is anything we can do to support you during this difficult time. With the accelerated rollout of the vaccine underway, take comfort in knowing there is light at the end of this very long tunnel.

Barrett Fisher
President & CEO, Tourism Whistler
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Inter-city Bus Operators, Regional Airports
Receive Funding From Province

The Province has issued a one-time investment of $6.2 million to a number of inter-city bus operators and $16.5 million for regional airports to support operations between April 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022. The bus operators and airports will use the funds to pay for operating costs, like maintenance expenses for buses, air terminals and runways. The funds will also go toward payroll, rent and other overhead costs to keep these services operating.

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Tourism in the News

TIABC Director Michael J Ballingall of Big White Ski Resort was interviewed on News 1150 regarding the new travel restrictions and the closure of Whistler Blackcomb.
Listen here
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BC Tourism and Hospitality Conference
Recordings of Free Workshops

Thank you again for all those who joined us for day of Free workshops that took place on Friday March 12th as part of our 2021 Tourism & Hospitality Conference.
 
Each workshop registrant was emailed a link to the recordings from each day of our conference. If you have not received your email or have questions, please send an email to: [email protected]
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Tourism Prince George
Seeks Tourism Development Coordinator

The Tourism Development Coordinator will work collaboratively with the Northern BC Tourism Destination Development team and partners to support the development of Northern BC as a remarkable and sustainable travel destination. 

This position is responsible for the effective coordination and project management of the Targeted Regional Tourism Development Fund including stakeholder outreach and Indigenous engagement, project management, updating data and product inventory, budget reconciliation and performance reporting.
 
Learn more at:
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Moments of Levity

As an industry that continues to face enormous challenges during COVID-19, every once in a while it's important to share a laugh, a good story, a beautiful image, or an interesting anecdote to provide moments of levity during this most difficult time. Feel free to share your photos, etc. with TIABC to be published in our C-19 Bulletin each week.
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Global Meetings Industry Day 2021

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel and as an industry, it’s time to take a future forward look at where we go from here.

Join MPI BC, FVEPA, ILEA and PCMA West for Global Meetings Industry Day where we’ll be broadcasting a very timely conversation on how we can proactively plan for and contribute to the restart of the industry in BC.

Thursday April 8th 9am to 10:30am (PT)

Register here


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Conflict De-Escalation for Frontline Staff
and Customer Service Professionals

Retail workers, receptionists, hospital unit clerks, customer service professionals, and others that interact with the public on a frequent basis often experience conflict in various forms from verbal attacks to violent, physical altercations. Their safety and security are a top priority, yet few are equipped with the proper tools and techniques to safely de-fuse these incidents. Mandatory mask requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic have heightened the importance of this topic, unfortunately, as some customers refuse to comply with these policies. 

Course ID: MSCD 002
April 8th 10:30am to noon (online via Zoom)
$150 plus GST

To learn more and to register:
 
Companies may also qualify for a provincial workforce training grant which would cover a portion of the tuition for any staff that they send: www.workbc.ca/employer-resources/bc-employer-training-grant/what-is-the-b-c-employer-training-grant
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TIAC & Destination Canada
Update on Industry Support Efforts and Marketing Plans

Friday, April 9th from 11am to 12pm EDT (8am to 9am PDT)
 
Beth Potter, TIAC President and CEO will provide an overview of advocacy efforts aimed at the survival and recovery of the Tourism Industry and a snapshot of the road ahead.
 
Marsha Walden, DC President and CEO will share a strategy update and next steps from Destination Canada.
 
The webinar will end with a question and answer period. While you can ask questions live, we encourage you to submit your questions at registration.
 
To register, click here. Space is available on a first-come-first-serve basis and is limited to 500 participants.
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Due to Good Friday, we will not be publishing a Bulletin on April 2nd.
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 [email protected].