Finding Human Harmony
If we cannot get the human factor handled correctly the end result will be inevitable and no one will be the better for it.
We are living through an interesting and most unusual moment in the world's history. As we begin to reopen our economy and open our world, some of us are very ready to get back to work and back to a version of normal, while others are anxious and worried about reconnecting, concerned for their personal safety and there is every spectrum of those two opinions in between.
This week layered onto an already broken world the issues of discrimination have erupted globally. We are watching as community after community takes to the street, some in peaceful demonstrations and others escalating into riotous behaviors, social disobedience, destruction, and divisiveness. This outpouring of grief and anger, cannot be concealed as the actions taken against one person but is quite clearly the result of a history of inequalities that can no longer be suppressed or contained.
Change is happening, change is upon us. We are changing how we move forward in our day to day lives, how we interact with our friends and neighbors, how we explore the world, and how we learn to live in harmony. Harmony with the land, harmony with the animals, harmony with the environment. But the first and most important step is to achieve harmony with each other, acceptance of each other, love for each other no matter our race, religion, or other personal differences.
If we cannot get the human factor handled correctly the end result will be inevitable and no one will be the better for it.
COVID has proven our fragility, it has heightened our awareness of our inability to control the future and the importance of focusing on the immediate. We need to take the positive outcomes and behaviors that we started to see during the virus; people helping people; reaching out to strangers, focusing on kindness, working together, and transfer this learning and behaviors into all we do.
Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO
National Tourism Week
NATIONAL TOURISM WEEK
#BCTourismMatters
May 24th - 31st, we celebrate National Tourism Week in Canada, and this year more than ever we need to highlight the importance of our tourism industry in the Canadian economy.
The trickle-down effect of tourism businesses and operators unable to open or struggling to remain solvent has a tremendous impact in our Thompson Okanagan communities both rural and urban. In this region alone, Tourism is the number one employer, and our largest economic driver; when it falters or worse when it fails the impacts and implications are widespread and far-reaching.
Not just this week, but going forward, we need to celebrate all of those businesses that have pivoted or are working hard to adapt to the new rules and guidelines for tourism. We need to support our stakeholder businesses small and large as they try desperately to survive, and we need to adopt and to commit to shopping local and supporting Provincial and Canadian companies in order to preserve and protect each other through the challenging weeks that still lay ahead.
We can recover from this, we will recover from this but it takes all of us coming together to understand the value and importance of tourism, support those that are trying hard to begin to provide activities and services, and in the days to come, welcome visitors back to our region.
National Tourism Week....you can make a difference #BCTourismMatters
Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO
BC Tourism Resiliency Network
New Program to Support Tourism Industry
For most of our tourism industry, this is the 8th week of our provincial shut down as we all do our best to follow the direction of Health Minister Adrian Dix and Dr. Bonnie Henry in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Over the initial few weeks, our team at the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) has been doing our best to reach out to personally connect with over 800 industry stakeholders to understand your issues and concerns and to feed those up daily to the Provincial and Federal Governments. Through these conversations with you, It has become clear that many stakeholders need support in navigating the various assistance programs that are available, where they are eligible, and what steps they need to take to obtain the many opportunities for relief or benefits.
Together with the British Columbia Regional Tourism Secretariat representing the 5 Regional Destination Management Organizations (RDMO) in the Province and our strong partners at the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, go2HR, Indigenous Tourism BC, Tourism Industry Association of BC, Community DMOs, and Destination BC, we are activating a new Tourism Program for the industry this week. This work will see our organization at TOTA pivoting our efforts to provide the one on one direct support we have heard industry asking for.
As part of the introduction to this initiative, TOTA will be hosting a Webinar TODAY, MONDAY, APRIL 27th at 2:00 p.m. that will provide tourism stakeholders in the Thompson Okanagan with information and details on how our team has been preparing to work to assist you and the next steps in how to participate in this new program.
REGISTER FOR today's informational TOTA Tourism Resiliency Webinar
On behalf of myself, our board of Directors, and our entire TOTA team I would like to take a moment to thank both the Provincial Minister, the Honourable Lisa Beare and Federal Minister, the Honourable Melanie Joly for their tireless efforts to find the relief assistance necessary to provide and protect our Tourism Industry today and for the future.
Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO