Published Articles
Tourism Benefits of the Games Needing Our Support (in Business Examiner)
March 01, 2010
The Olympic and Paralympic Games have brought tremendous marketing opportunities for British Columbia and Vancouver Island. During the Games, more than 10,000 media are bringing images and stories of BC to more than 3 billion viewers around the world. After the Games are over and for months and years to come, our Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) will be hard at work to capitalize on those opportunities.
The history of the Games has shown that the tourism benefits follow a couple of years after the Games are over. Those host cities who have implemented an aggressive marketing campaign for their destinations have built an Olympic legacy. Our provincial, regional and local marketing organizations are already hard at work with campaigns to invite guests to come back to BC and the Island to experience that they saw on the commercials and stories of BC while they were watching the Games.
In order for our DMOs to be as successful as possible they need the support of government policies and initiatives that set the atmosphere for success. One area where government action will help us is in the Approved Destination Status Agreement that Canada has reached with China. That agreement is likely to be signed in the summer of 2010, which paves the way for our marketing organizations to sell BC as a tourist destination for the more than 100 million travellers expected to come out of China by 2020.
Our tourism organizations are looking for the assurance of ongoing stable funding. With the changes brought on the scene by the introduction of HST, which affects the funding source for tourism organizations, and the re-alignment of Tourism BC as a ministry function, tourism professionals are uncertain as to their funding stability. That stability is vital to an industry with long horizons for marketing efforts. We look forward to announcements from the provincial government soon as to how stability will be brought to the marketing organizations upon which our success depends.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games are a spring board for tourism growth over the next decade. Our tourism communities – local, provincial and national – are confident that they can market the best possible experiences for visitors. The tourism industry is very important to our local economy as well as to the provincial economy. We look forward to progressive policy developments that will assist in bringing those successes to our home soil.
Articles - 2010
Tourism Benefits of the Games Needing Our Support (in Business Examiner) (March 01, 2010)
Listen to the Tax Canary (in Business Vancovuer Island) (February 15, 2010)
Education and Sewage (in Times Colonist and Blackpress, Letters) (January 29, 2010)
Bay Street Bridge Closure a Wake Up Call (in Business Examiner) (January 27, 2010)
Improving Province's Productivity (in Business Vancouver Island) (January 15, 2010)
Stable Funding for Tourism an Urgent Need (in Business Examiner) (January 04, 2010)
Articles - 2009 
Municipalities Need to Tighten their Belts (December 10, 2009)
What About the Displaced Traffic? (in Business Examiner) (November 27, 2009)
The Local TV/Cable Battle (in Business Vancouver Island) (November 12, 2009)
Budgetary Mitigation Efforts for HST (in Business Examiner) (October 26, 2009)
Why we are Canada's Best Place to Live (in Outlook 2010 in the Times Colonist) (October 17, 2009)
Carving a Place on the Canadian Stage (in Business Vancouver Island) (October 07, 2009)
Budget Deficits and Health of the Community (in Business Examiner) (September 30, 2009)
Keeping the Lens on Crime and Public Safety (in Business Vancouver Island) (September 18, 2009)
HST from Three Perspectives (in Business Examiner) (August 28, 2009)
The Ups and Downs of Tourism (in Business Vancouver Island) (August 10, 2009)
Bar Watch Program Shows Results (August 06, 2009)
Experience Vancouver Island (in Business Vancouver Island) (July 08, 2009)
Dealing with Downtown Drunkeness (in Business Examiner) (July 06, 2009)
TV Playing Field Must be Even too (in Business Vancouver Island) (June 15, 2009)
Get Prolific Offenders Off the Street (in Business Examiner) (June 04, 2009)
Mico-firms in Need of Capital Too (in Business Vancouver Island) (May 11, 2009)
Small Business Realities on Raising Minimum Wage (in Business Examiner) (May 04, 2009)
Letter to the Editor - Johnson St. Bridge (April 22, 2009)
Changes Needed for Film Biz (in Business Vancouver Island) (April 08, 2009)
Keeping Tax Increases Sustainable (in Business Examiner) (April 06, 2009)
Keeping Cities Affordable (in Business Vancouver Island) (March 13, 2009)
Preserving Heritage at What Cost? (in Business Examiner) (March 02, 2009)
Deficit Budgets - Good? (in Business Vancouver Island) (February 11, 2009)
Getting Organized for Budget Investments (in Business Examiner) (January 19, 2009)
The 2009 Budget Slalom (in Business Vancouver Island) (January 11, 2009)
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