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Destination BC Bulletin 35: COVID-19
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Cape Scott Provincial Park
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Destination BC Invites You to Share Your Perspective on Where You Live
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The Invest in Iconics Strategy is a powerful new way to package, market and develop tourism in BC through place branding and place making (destination development).
We want to hear from industry and residents to understand what makes where you live in BC, special. Your feedback and insights are important. They will help inform and develop globally compelling areas, routes and experiences throughout the province to achieve long term, sustainable growth for the tourism industry in all parts of British Columbia.
Brand engagement will begin across the province in April 2021 and will include a series of interviews and workshops with both industry and residents. You can learn more about Place Branding and Destination BC’s brand engagement process here.
Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC) is a strategic partner in this strategy and will be leading the planning and implementation of engagement with their partners and stakeholders. Indigenous residents and Indigenous owned businesses are also encouraged to participate in Destination BC’s industry engagement sessions should they wish, as it is important to ensure strong Indigenous representation. For questions about ITBC’s involvement, please contact Melissa Arnott at [email protected].
We want to hear from you! To learn more about how you can be included in our brand engagement process, please email us at [email protected].
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COVID-19 Industry Call: March 25, 2021
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This week's call featured updates from Salman Azam, Assistant Deputy Minister, from the Ministry Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport; Jim Standen, Assistant Deputy Minister at BC Parks; and Karla Grenon, Director Global Marketing Programs, and Leah Poulton, Director Global Content, both from Destination BC.
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COVID-19 Industry Calls are a great opportunity for partners to hear more about our programs, services and campaigns, including how we are supporting BC tourism recovery efforts. The recording of each call is available on our website.
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Tourism Digital Academy: Self-Guided
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Building off the success of the Tourism Digital Academy, Destination BC is pleased to offer a self-guided version of the program to those who prefer the flexibility of working at their own pace. The self-guided option offers participants maximum flexibility as they complete a condensed version of the Tourism Digital Academy on their own time. This program is focused on providing practical, actionable guidance. From setting goals, to building a better understanding of SEO, website usability, content, email marketing, analytics and more – participants will leave the program with the confidence and knowledge to put their plans into action.
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The program is free for all BC-based tourism businesses, whose product or service is regularly available for purchase within BC (community tourism and experience sector organizations are also eligible).
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CO-OPERATIVE MARKETING PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM
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The Wine Growers British Columbia plan also works to create cross collaboration opportunities with Destination BC, community destination marketing organizations, the golf sector, the BC Farmer’s Market sector, and other provincial sectors.
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Wine Growers British Columbia Plans for Future Safe Travel
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Formerly the BC Wine Institute, Wine Growers British Columbia’s Co-op Marketing Partnerships Program plan is looking to the future, when it’s safe to travel. The goals of the plan are to elevate wine and food tourism in BC, promote travel within a wine region or to other regions during the same visit, provide personalized content, advocacy, and more.
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Tourism and Hospitality Industries Support BC Immunization Efforts
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A new partnership will employ more than 1,400 tourism and hospitality workers in mass vaccination clinics — creating hundreds of jobs for BC’s hard-hit tourism, hospitality and sport sectors. Tourism and hospitality businesses have already begun to call and train hundreds of staff who have been laid off due to the pandemic. Workers from these industries will provide their expertise and logistical support as non-clinical staff at immunization clinics to help move people through the clinics efficiently and safely. Many of these workers bring additional language skills as well.
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Community tourism partners include Air Canada, Tourism Whistler, Vancouver International Airport, and WestJet.
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The Launch Online Grant program provides up to $7,500 to businesses to help build or expand an e-commerce site to reach more customers and to sustain and grow their business.
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BC Government Expands Online Grant Program to Support More Businesses
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In response to a high number of applications, the BC government is investing an additional $30 million in the Launch Online Grant program. The new funding is in addition to the February 2021 announcement of $12 million to support businesses to enhance or establish their online presence. Businesses in the tourism sector, like tour operators or hotels, can now access the grants to build or improve their online booking systems.
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Province Makes the Sale and Delivery of Packaged Liquor Now Permanent
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The temporary authorization allowing liquor-primary and food-primary licensees to sell and deliver sealed, packaged liquor products alongside the purchase of a meal for off-site consumption is now permanent.
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Individuals who deliver liquor products on behalf of licensees are required to be certified with Serving It Right. Photo credit: Longwood Brewery/BC Ale Trail
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This report summarize the various research findings from Destination BC, suppliers, other tourism agencies, and associations.
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COVID-19 Research Roundup: Week 37
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Read our latest Research Roundup report, which provides relevant research and articles each week related to the travel and tourism industry and COVID-19.
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BC Residents' Public Perceptions: COVID-19 Travel and Tourism Wave 21 Report
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Destination BC is monitoring British Columbians' current views on travel and tourism, as well as tracking travel and tourism behaviour intentions in order to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry.
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This report is released approximately every two weeks to track opinions and intentions and watch how results trend over time.
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Our Learning Centre provides access to resources and tools, best practices, workshops, and training programs for BC’s tourism industry.
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West Coast Aquatic Sarafis is located in Tofino.
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Let’s Make Accessibility Standard, Not a Suggestion
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Committed to ensuring guests with diverse abilities enjoy memorable adventures on the water, West Coast Aquatic Safaris sought feedback from accessibility groups to design accessible vessels, installed ramps leading to the boats and booking office, and collaborated with the local Harbour Authority to allow people with disabilities to park right at the dock. Learn more about this company’s dedication to inclusivity.
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What Does it Mean to be Disability Aware?
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Sometimes, people with disabilities notice people staring at them, or notice the opposite – people looking away or pretending they aren’t even there. They see the disability, not the person. The more mindful we are in trying to understand the experience of having a disability, the more we can help break down the long-held social stigmas about what people with disabilities are like and what they can do. Here are three easy things you can do to be more disability aware.
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Being disability aware means considering your own perceptions about people with disabilities and being more mindful of how you think and act around people with disabilities.
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Indigenous Tourism BC Has Launched Working with Indigenous Communities Guide
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Many non-Indigenous tourism and media organizations seek improved and more respectful partnerships with Indigenous communities. Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC) has compiled information to help non-Indigenous organizations understand and improve relationships with the First Peoples of British Columbia. Note that each Indigenous Nation and Community differ in their approach to partnership. This document was developed to the best of ITBC’s knowledge to respond to common themes and questions they have received from their partners.
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This guide is not a substitute for proper communication with Indigenous Nations and Communities.
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The site also offers a “What’s your Mission” itinerary builder that will make suggestions based on the time of year and type of traveller.
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Tourism Mission Launches New Website
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Launched in early March, Tourism Mission’s new consumer website features places and businesses for locals, as well as inspiring content for future travellers, once restrictions are lifted. The mobile-friendly site also offers ways to connect with the staff at the Mission Visitor Centre.
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Free Small Business BC Webinars Available to BC Tourism Partners
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Destination BC has partnered with Small Business BC to provide tourism stakeholders across the province with free access to Small Business BC’s webinars and online education to support COVID-19 recovery and help mitigate ongoing impacts. There is no charge to tourism stakeholders. Services are delivered online, by phone, email, webinar or in person (if available). To access these resources completely free of charge, please register online via the link below using coupon code DBC3034.
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Small Business BC provides practical business webinars and online education to develop business skills and strategy, including a series of specialized back to business webinars to tackle the challenges faced by the pandemic.
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A governance committee comprised of BC’s tourism and hospitality leaders convened at the end of January to launch the project and will continue to provide oversight throughout the project.
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go2HR Launches Labour Market Information Research Project
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go2HR recently launched a new research project that seeks to better understand the labour market in our province. The BC Tourism and Hospitality Labour Market Information research project is supported by the province of BC to support research into the tourism and hospitality labour market. go2HR will regularly report on the labour market and host an employment tracker on its website.
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Luv’n the Loops Passport from Tourism Kamloops Wins Marketing Innovation Award from the BC Economic Development Association
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Tourism Kamloops received top honours in Marketing Innovation for the 2020/21 Luv’n the Loops Passport at the BC Economic Development Association’s (BCEDA) annual conference and awards ceremony. The BCEDA awards distinguish top performance in marketing innovation, community project, and recovery and resilience across the province. The Luv’n the Loops Passport is an innovative partnership with Kamloops This Week Digital and is free to use.
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The campaign highlights and supports small business and strives to reinvigorate Kamloops’ visitor economy by providing incentives that residents could engage with independently.
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This session will unpack and compare models of recovery, identify upcoming key milestones and address our new reality of higher expectations, for and of visitors.
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IMPACT Sustainability Travel & Tourism Conference
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Held March 31, this free virtual session will take a deeper look at the tourism recovery opportunities ahead.
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Canada West Ski Areas Association (CWSAA) Virtual Spring Conference
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From April 26-30, CWSAA will gather virtually with conference attendees through informative sessions and virtual socials.
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The CWSAA conference content has been selected to complement that of Rocky Mountain Lift Association and National Ski Areas Association’s annual conference.
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Destination BC COVID-19 Communications
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Here's how to stay connected on the latest from Destination BC:
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If you have questions that can't be answered through the various resources on our website and official channels, please send them to [email protected] and we will work to address them.
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