TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – December 5, 2025

While out for dinner with professional colleagues in Ottawa last month, I had a long conversation with the owner of a large St. John’s trucking firm who joined a tourism contingent on Parliament Hill to lobby the feds to invest in two additional ferries to service Newfoundland and the other Maritime provinces to ease supply chain disruptions and meet traveller needs.

I listened to fascinating tales of the operator’s exploits, including an incident last summer in which he defied government and police evacuation orders in favour of remaining on-site to protect his 8-acre storage facility and office from an encroaching wildfire. Over a period of 24 hours, he rallied his drivers and everyone he knew with a Class 1 commercial license to relocate dozens of rigs and over 100 trailers to a safer part of town.

Despite the threat of being injured, killed, arrested, or fined (none of which happened), the operator chose to fight for his business and the families it supports throughout the Maritimes. His experience reminded me of what I’ve been telling audiences during recent travels around the province: sometimes tourism operators may be forced to deploy alternate tactics during emergencies where government help is insufficient or non-existent. To be clear, I generally don’t encourage ignoring official orders, especially when it comes to safety, but occasionally more drastic measures supersede directives in order for businesses to survive.

Because the stories of Newfoundland’s wildfires were still fresh, one of the first things I noticed after returning to the office after vacation was a BC government news release regarding a National Wildfire Symposium in Vancouver that is taking place today. The Province has invited Indigenous partners, wildfire experts, and government representatives to review what happened across the country this year, as well as to explore wildfire technology, active forest management, and national readiness for future wildfires with a goal to develop a cross-Canada leadership strategy to help shape the framework of wildfire resiliency.

According to the Province, wildfires in 2025 affected nearly every region in BC despite being less destructive than other years. In its release, the Ministry of Forests also stated that BC is conducting research into the health impacts of wildfire smoke, ash and dust to wildland firefighters; evaluating automated wildfire risk and fire-growth modelling software to enhance wildfire planning and response; and studying the best ways to create FireSmart structures and communities.

Given the audience for the symposium and its focus on forestry, no one representing the tourism sector received a formal invitation to the gathering but perhaps we should have to offer another perspective.

While it’s fair to say that virtually every politician would acknowledge that wildfires have a devastating and visible impact on the landscape and forestry, I’m not convinced they recognize the magnitude of the impacts on the visitor economy.

As much as we’ve made great strides in recent years through the work of the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture & Sport (MTACS), as well as the Tourism Emergency Management Committee (TEMC) and autodidact experts such as Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism CEO Amy Thacker (who recently presented on the topic of emergency management to the Canadian Council of Tourism Ministers in Winnipeg), we still have more ground to gain with all levels of government to ensure the tourism sector’s role and needs are recognized as part of crisis management. Our requests and recommendations have remained consistent and include:

A). An emergency fund (grants or low-interest loans) for businesses that are damaged or forced to close during an emergency in situations where business resumption insurance does not apply.

B). Annual funding for an online portal to help secure accommodation for displaced residents and visitors, as well as for First Responders.

C). Dedicated and sustained funding for regional and community DMOs to educate and train members (e.g. business operators) on how to develop and implement an emergency operations plan, as well as to support Emergency Operations Centres with dedicated staff to provide guest services as required (e.g. transportation, food, accommodation, communication).

D). Ubiquitous access to real-time data for communities and operators with actions that help business recovery and reputation management efforts.

E). Coordinated and consistent information and messaging by government and industry for media, residents, visitors, customers and other stakeholders.

F). Incremental investment in marketing campaigns to assist communities and businesses with recovery efforts.

G). Tourism input into decisions (e.g. travel bans) that impact communities and businesses.

H). Full tourism industry integration into the Ministry of Emergency Management & Climate Readiness’ emergency management structure and execution of crisis plans.

On a related note, the TEMC, which is responsible for oversight of BC’s Tourism Emergency Management Framework, will undergo some personnel changes next year at the leadership level, as well as within the committee itself, to complement structural changes to set up for the next evolution of tourism emergency management. Importantly, the TEMC remains committed to helping BC’s tourism sector execute on the four pillars of emergency management – preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery – to ensure we are able to handle whatever crisis comes our way in 2026 and beyond.

As you can imagine, my long chat with the St. John’s trucking firm owner was both entertaining and fun. At the same time it was also insightful as I learned about how Newfoundlanders responded to their unprecedented wildfire crisis this past summer with a view to evaluate which lessons could be applied in BC. At the very least, my new friend from The Rock inspired me to consider all the practical ways I might be able to help friends, colleagues, visitors, or neighbours during a major emergency. Unfortunately I don’t possess a Class 1 driver’s license to drive truck but perhaps my boating license might come in handy some day.

Walt Judas,

CEO, TIABC