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Nov 4, 2022

TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – November 4th, 2022

TIABC

CEO MESSAGE

When car manufacturers introduced vehicles with DVD players, I thought nothing of piling the kids into our new mini-van and driving 18 hours straight to Christopher Lake in Northern Saskatchewan to stay with family at the cottage. Playing videos as we travelled stopped the kids from asking, are we there yet? every 10 minutes and also kept me awake (along with several cups of coffee). We did that trip so often, I knew every line in the movie School of Rock even though I never actually saw the film.

For the most part, the days of long drives for vacation are over for me, but not necessarily so for business trips. Case in point…this week I put upwards of 1,700 kms on my rental car in three days travelling from the Vancouver Coast & Mountains region, to the Thompson Okanagan, on to the Kootenay Rockies region, then to the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, and back home again.

Given how difficult it was to find convenient flights, I chose to drive an average of seven hours each day to allow me to get to various destinations on time. Although it was somewhat tiring, I thoroughly enjoyed criss-crossing BC, while taking in the incredible scenery and experiencing fall and winter-like weather along the way.

In Castlegar, I had the good fortune of attending the Kootenay Rockies Tourism Association annual general meeting and conference where I met with and presented to colleagues/friends, many of whom I hadn’t seen since before COVID.

Same for 100 Mile House, where I presented to the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association (CCCTA) AGM and conference (along with Ingrid Jarrett & Richard Porges). Again, it was good to be among friends and colleagues, especially CCCTA CEO Amy Thacker who is back in the saddle after an extended leave.

My presentations focussed on seven areas with three main points in each. To begin with, I spoke about the changing political climate in BC with 70 new mayors taking their positions this month, along with a new premier about to assume the province’s top job, and a new tourism minister at the helm as of a few weeks ago.

I referenced three recent TIABC policies (camping reservations, short-term vacation rentals, highway signage); three budget requests to government (emergency management funding for tourism, RMI security, infrastructure funding); three challenges to tourism growth (transportation, housing, workforce); three requests to the federal government (develop tourism assets, improve visitor access; create Indigenous workforce strategy); three sector opportunities (tourism renewal, reconciliation, regenerative tourism); and three bits of information on TIABC (member survey, AGM, BC Tourism & Hospitality Conference).

It was a bit of a whirlwind trip to be sure but so worth it for many reasons. Contrary to the days when I listened to kids’ movies on road trips, there were long stretches where I had neither cell service or a radio station to listen to, let alone a DVD player. Even my hybrid rental car made little noise other than the sound of rubber on pavement at high speeds. I tried at times to recite lines from School of Rock to stay awake and alert. Sadly I couldn’t remember many.

Walt Judas,
CEO, TIABC

Related Posts

TIABC is pleased to release its 2022 Advocacy Report Card, which details the advocacy efforts and achievements and synopsis of some of the organization’s key initiatives last year. 

Read now through link in bio. 👆
Tourism leaders cheer on the @canucks in the Rogers Suite. 🏒👏

L-R: Destination Vancouver's Royce Chwin, TIABC's Walt Judas, Tourism Minister Lana Popham, Sport Hosting Vancouver's Michelle Collens, TIABC Director/VCC's Dennis Innes, Indigenous Tourism BC's Henry Tso.

#bctourismcounts #bctourism #tourismsector #bc #tourism #bcstrong #explorebc #hellobc
Each year, on March 8th, people around the world celebrate International Women's Day and the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Today, TIABC salutes the women on our board and staff who are so valued, respected and appreciated by colleagues throughout the entire BC tourism industry. 

⭐ Brenda Baptiste
⭐Joanne Burns-Millar
⭐Pria Flanagan
⭐Miranda Ji
⭐Deborah Kulchiski
⭐Sandra Oldfield
⭐Sandra van Steijn 
⭐Fiona Wray

Thank you for your incredible contribution to our organization and to BC’s visitor economy.

#bctourismcounts #bctourism #tourismsector #bc #tourism #bcstrong #explorebc #hellobc #internationalwomensday #womenintourism #womensday #IWD2023 #embraceequity
Over the weekend, TIABC CEO Walt Judas, Vancouver City Councillor Pete Fry, and Sport Hosting Vancouver Senior Manager Michelle Collens enjoyed watching the Canada Sevens rugby tournament at BC Place! 🏉

#bctourismcounts #bctourism #tourismsector #bc #tourism #bcstrong #explorebc #hellobc #GreenMeansGo #rugbysevens #bcplace
What a great first day at the BCTHC 👏

We had an incredible first day in Prince George gathering with industry friends and experiencing the many wonders that the incredible Northern BC region has to offer!

#BCTourismandHospitalityConference #bcthc #conference #tourism #StayBC #BCTourismCounts #BCTHC2023Tourism
TIABC CEO, Walt Judas and @bchotelassociation CEO Ingrid Jarrett attended the @pgcougars game on the eve of the 2023 BC Tourism & Hospitality Conference in Prince George. 🏒

#BCTourismandHospitalityConference #bcthc #conference #tourism #StayBC #BCTourismCounts