C-19 BULLETIN - October 23, 2020

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Businesses Encouraged to Complete Application Process Despite Challenges

Since the application process for recovery grant funds was launched two weeks ago, many tourism operators have found that the qualification criteria is too difficult to meet. TIABC has heard from several small and medium sized businesses regarding the criteria challenges and has presented a brief to government with recommended changes. While the options are being considered, and decisions will be made following the election, government has suggested that businesses complete as much of the application as possible (even if you don't meet all the criteria) to ensure it is in the system. Further details to come within the next couple of weeks.

Learn more at:
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BC Economic Recovery
Priorities for New Government

The Business Council of BC is offering a series of policy recommendations for the next provincial government, which are intended to put the province on a path towards a private sector led, job rich economic recovery which provides long term opportunity for families, employers and businesses.
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Province Responds to TIABC Submission

On September 16th, TIABC and the Metro Vancouver Tourism and Hospitality Industry Response and Recovery Task Force wrote to the Premier, several Ministers and Dr. Bonnie Henry regarding the Public Health Order on Pubs, Bars, and Restaurants. This order compels pubs, bars and restaurants to stop serving alcohol after 10 p.m. and in the case of liquor primaries, close their premises by 11 p.m. until further notice.
Download the letter here.

On October 22nd, TIABC received a response from the Deputy Minister explaining that the government is currently in a transition period due to the provincial general election. I will bring this matter to the attention of the Minister responsible at the earliest opportunity following the general election and the appointment of the Executive Council.
Download the response here.

All of TIABC's COVID-19 correspondence can be viewed on our website at:
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Global COVID-19 Recovery Projections

Global tourism has been one of the most affected sectors during the COVID-19 crisis. Tourism recovery model forecasts a cumulative drop of $3 trillion to $8 trillion before tourism expenditure returns to pre-COVID-19 levels. Recovery will be slow and driven by the underlying dependencies countries had on domestic and non-air travel. Different countries, therefore, should prepare for their own recovery curves and re-imagine their tourism sectors (as well as the support they provide) differently.

A recent article by By Urs Binggeli, Margaux Constantin, and Eliav Pollack outlines global recovery and covers five project trends in tourism:

  1. Address traveler concerns
  2. The recovery could be slow
  3. Domestic tourism will likely recover faster
  4. Recovery speeds will vary across markets
  5. Dependence on domestic travel and nonair travel will likely determine recovery
Read the full article at:
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TIABC Presents at BCLCA AGM

Earlier this week, Walt Judas presented on advocacy priorities, the 2020 election and other topics at the BC Lodging & Campgrounds Association annual general meeting.

The presentation can be viewed at the following link (starts at the 40 minute mark):


Passcode:
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BC Tour Operators
Remove 127 Tonnes of Trash From Shores of Great Bear Rainforest

“Millions of dollars had been spent getting the ships ready to go for the season,” said Kevin Smith, CEO of Maple Leaf Adventures. “Then the season was cancelled.”

With every tour ship operator in limbo, a group of five companies and five central coast First Nations got together and hashed out a plan to give back to the BC coastline that they love.

“We managed two 21-day expeditions,” said Smith. “Nine ships, each ship has a couple of small zodiacs. In total there was about 100 crew involved.”

Along with one helicopter and a giant barge, the group positioned themselves off the Great Bear Rainforest, collecting beach junk in remote locations that are inaccessible by roads.
“We thought we’d do 20 to 30 tonnes,” said Smith. “In the end we got 127 tonnes of marine debris off the coast and out of the ocean.”
The remote locations that crews were clearing meant they didn’t know what to expect when they arrived.

“They didn’t know what types of debris they would be encountering or how much,” said Scott Benton, executive director of the Wilderness Tourism Association. “When you think about in the last week of the expedition, they were pulling 10 tonnes of debris off the beaches everyday. That’s just unbelievable,” he said.

A lot of the debris pulled from the shoreline included Styrofoam, plastics, rope, fishing floats, tsunami debris and ghost fishing nets.

Learn more at:

PC: Small Ship Tour Operators Association of British Columbia
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Federal Consultation on Plastic Pollution Policy

The federal government wants to hear from Canadians and stakeholders on their approach to protect the environment from plastic pollution and reduce waste through a more circular economy. They are seeking comments on A Proposed Integrated Management Approach to Plastic Products to Prevent Waste and Pollution and the proposed Order to add “plastic manufactured items” to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA). Your comments will help inform actions to advance the comprehensive plastic agenda to achieve zero plastic waste by 2030 and foster a circular economy that keeps plastic in the economy and out of the environment.

The policy and consultations are open for public comment until December 9th and they are looking for specific input from the hospitality and tourism sector.

Learn more at:
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BC Weekly Domestic Overnight Visitor Insights

Key Findings:

The week of April 19 (Week 11) saw the largest drop in domestic overnight visitors in British Columbia, dropping 81% from the previous year. Findings are consistent across all BC sub-regions.

The week of September 6th saw the highest
number of domestic overnight visitation in British Columbia since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing by 2.6% compared to the same week in 2019.

While overnight travel is significantly down compared to 2019, an upward trend in movement and overnight stays on a week-over-week basis was apparent during Weeks 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 34, 35, 37. All of the BC regions saw an increase in visitation from Week 36 (October 5-11) to Week 37 (October 12-18).

The Thompson Okanagan, Kootenay Rockies and Northern BC saw an increase in visitation compared to British Columbia, The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Vancouver Island and Vancouver, Coast & Mountains saw a decrease during Week 37 (October 12-18).

Download the full report here
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Tourism Vancouver
Achieves WTTC Safe Travels Stamp

Tourism Vancouver has recently received the Safe Travels stamp from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which allows travellers to pinpoint global destinations where they can experience "safe travels”. 

The Safe Travels stamp is a signal to visitors that a destination is safe to visit, which will help rebuild consumer confidence and trust. This will also make Vancouver look more attractive to both domestic visitors and international travellers when the borders reopen. Over 50 destination authorities from all over the world have been awarded the Safe Travel Stamp, including destinations in Canada.

Learn more at:
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How Sustainable Tourism
Can Accelerate COVID-19 Recovery

For many in the tourism industry, sustainability is the last thing on people’s minds. More urgent priorities like solvency, staffing, and sheer survival are dominating the discourse and keeping thousands of tourism industry executives and small business owners up at night. 

Talk of sustainable tourism may seem like fluffy nonsense, even frivolous, for an industry that is one of the hardest hit by COVID-19. But what if sustainability can be leveraged as a strategy to speed our collective recovery while at the same time rebuilding the industry in a more competitive, yet thoughtful and responsible manner? 

Read the full article by Angela Nagy at:
Angela Nagy is the CEO of GreenStep Solutions and Sustainable Tourism 2030. She and her team work with tourism businesses and destinations to assess, accelerate and certify their sustainability performance. 
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Vancouver Airport Marriott
Named 2019 'Hotel of the Year' by Marriott International

The Vancouver Airport Marriott has been awarded the title of 2019 Hotel of the Year by Marriott International among all Classic Premium brand Marriott hotels in Canada. 

Marriott International’s Classic Premium brands include Delta Hotels, Marriott Hotels, and Sheraton Hotels. The criteria included the hotel’s guest and event satisfaction scores, financial performance, associate engagement; its performance in brand strategy, leadership, culture, overcoming challenges and integration; and executing its brand promise while in compliance with brand standards. 

The Vancouver Airport Marriott Hotel had been reimagined through a $14-million renovation completed in early 2019. It included a complete transformation of all the public areas, 236 guest rooms, event space and restaurant. In 2020, as part of Marriott’s Commitment to Clean, the hotel reinvented themselves again to meet the changing needs of their guests. A variety of new protocols and elevated practices were implemented keeping with their high standards of cleanliness and commitment to providing excellent service. 
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#WeAreTourism Movement Update

Launched over the summer by the Metro Vancouver Tourism & Hospitality Industry Response and Recovery Task Force #WeAreTourism was a call to tourism DMOs, sector associations and businesses to crowd-source and amplify diverse human stories of tourism in Metro Vancouver.

Now, a group of three volunteers from the tourism industry is taking the movement to tourism stakeholders across Metro Vancouver, looking for unique stories that demonstrate the spirit of this series: stories of challenge and hope - drawing attention to the individual human stories of our industry associates, reduce community fear and negativity while building a connection with our communities.

This special series has come together from interviews and photo sessions with businesses that have demonstrated this spirit through new partnerships or a unique pivot that were a result of the pandemic.

Stakeholders and their partner organizations are encouraged to share the content and support each other through this period by:
  • Following #WeAreTourism on your social channels to see the latest stories
  • Sharing and re-sharing the content
  • Suggesting other great stories for this series

Learn more at:
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Sport Fishing Institute
Conference and Webinar Series 2020

The Sport Fishing Intsitute is hosting a series of virtual discussions intended to seek pathways for recovery of salmon stocks and predictable opportunity and reliable access for BC’s public fishery. Each session will be approximately 90 minutes long and will cover topics within this year's theme, Charting a Predictable Path for Salmon and BC’s Public Fishery.


Attendance is free, with thanks to conference sponsors, but you must register in advance for each session. Please visit the SFI website and the 2020 Conference page for registration links and conference updates.
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Together with the Tourism Cafe, the BC Regional Tourism Secretariat is pleased to announce expanded support through the BC Tourism Resiliency Network. Launching this month, Ideas Labs are a series of 30 online sessions on nine original topics selected from requests from tourism operators across the province. The labs will bring small groups together in a business-to-business learning environment to address hot topics where solutions to common problems are discussed and shared, and new ideas are incubated. These are 1-hour online peer-to-peer discussions led by an inspiring industry topic specialist.

Each session is limited to only 12 participants and space is limited. Ideas Labs is a program created and produced by the Tourism Cafe.

Learn more at:
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Tourism & Hospitality in a Time of COVID

Hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade
November 2nd at 12 noon (PT)

The economic rebound of British Columbia hinges on the recovery of critical economic sectors such as tourism and hospitality.

Prior to the pandemic, tourism contributed $8.3 billion to provincial GDP and employed more than 160,000 people. For our region and province to recover, it is essential that government provide support measures to help the industry overcome and rebuild from the devastating impacts of COVID-19.

The keynote speaker and panellists will discuss the short- and long-term measures, programs and priorities that will help tourism-reliant businesses survive today and transform our region for the future.
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October 21

TIAC Congress (virtual, free event)
November 17 & 18

TIABC AGM
November 25

Indigenous Tourism BC AGM
November 25
TIABC's C-19 Bulletin is published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

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].