TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – August 9, 2024

I recall being in a meeting with a cabinet minister several years ago and she asked me who my local MLA was. I drew a blank and stared at her without expression because I couldn’t think of his name. Eventually it came to me but not before being somewhat embarrassed at the momentary memory lapse.

To be fair, politicians come and go every three or four years depending on which level of government. However, keeping track of MLAs and MPs, who’s in cabinet or on council, not to mention which party or riding they represent, is essential for advocacy organizations like TIABC given that knowing the players is paramount to achieving results.

The political landscape is about to shift in British Columbia come October when residents go to the polls to elect a new government. Four parties are fielding the bulk of candidates – NDP, BC United, the Conservatives, and the Green Party. Even though the writ has yet to be dropped, electioneering has been underway for months

In recent weeks we’ve seen politicians switch parties or announce they’re not running again. Some key members of Cabinet including Transportation Minister Rob Fleming, Forests Minister Bruce Ralston, Labour Minister Harry Bains, Indigenous Relations Minister Murray Rankin, Finance Minister Katrine Conroy, and Environment Minister George Heyman are all stepping aside, along with well over a dozen other MLAs from three of the four aforementioned parties. It goes without saying that our provincial government will look decidedly different in the coming months no matter who takes the helm.

In the lead-up to the last election, TIABC and some of our key sector partners – ABLE BC, Restaurants Canada, BCHA – produced an election toolkit to help our members draw attention to important tourism and hospitality issues for candidates to address as part of the campaign.

As you recall, COVID was at its peak in 2020. Industry-wide revenue was down an average of 69% and in some sectors as much as 95%; hotel occupancy plummeted by an average of 55%; 50,000 employees lost their jobs; and businesses were incurring major debt with each passing month.

Issues such as relief measures for tourism businesses, prohibitions on large gatherings, wholesale pricing for liquor licensees, rebuilding a skilled workforce, support for festivals and events, investment in infrastructure, and many others were all referenced in the form of questions for candidates as part of our 2020 election toolkit.

Although we’ve made huge progress on the advocacy front and many of the challenges that COVID caused have been addressed, there remain some issues that need to be resolved going forward to allow the tourism sector to continue to grow and prosper.

For example, in the 2024 election toolkit currently in development, I anticipate including the following questions for candidates leftover from 2020:

A). Would your government consider compensating adventure tourism operators that are displaced from their tenures on crown land due to government priorities that favour other users?

B). How will your government maintain and/or further develop the province’s transportation infrastructure to ensure safe, cost-efficient and convenient access to all regions?

C). What will your government do to encourage further tourism and hospitality product development and investment to ensure new, export-ready experiences for visitors to all regions of BC?

D). How would your government help BC’s tourism and hospitality industry build a skilled workforce for the future?

E). What will your government do to build and strengthen tourism and hospitality programs in BC’s post-secondary institutions?

To be sure, there are many other issues and questions to be included in the 2024 version of the toolkit which we aim to introduce next month before the writ is dropped. In the meantime, if you’d like to offer some suggestions on what tourism priorities candidates should speak to, I’m all ears. Please drop me a line at your earliest convenience.

I keep a little cheat sheet on my office wall that I picked up at the Legislature which shows the MLAs for each riding, as well as cabinet ministers and their respective portfolios. On it I’ve put a big yellow circle around my local MLA. Heaven forbid I forget who it is again…although I may need to memorize a new name come October 19th.

Walt Judas
CEO, TIABC