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