On March 30, the Province of BC released a historic Declaration Act Action Plan to guide Indigenous Reconciliation and implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) in BC.
The Declaration Act Action Plan maps out 89 specific actions to be taken across all government ministries over the next five years. Developed in consultation and co-operation with Indigenous Peoples, the action plan will be comprehensively updated with Indigenous partners and a report on the implementation progress in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and submitted to the BC Legislature by June 30 each year.
A number of the goals include but are not limited to:
Provide funding to assist Indigenous tourism businesses that have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to further support recovery of the Indigenous tourism sector in BC.
Provide investments to Indigenous Tourism BC to support Indigenous tourism, Indigenous job creation, preservation of Indigenous languages, celebration of Indigenous cultures and the stewardship of territories, and to tell the stories of Indigenous Peoples in BC in their own words.
The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) believes a full recovery of the Indigenous tourism industry is possible by 2025-26. ITAC continues to see strong domestic and global demand for exceptional, export-ready Indigenous tourism experiences, which is great news for Thompson Okanagan Indigenous tourism companies and for local travel services.
In addition, TOTA has announced Jamie Bourne as the new Regional Indigenous Tourism Specialist. Previously, Jamie worked with TOTA as the Tourism Resiliency Program Advisor and the Training & Indigenous Coordinator, which included working with Indigenous Tourism BC, and with Indigenous companies and communities.
TOTA will continue to share Indigenous news and opportunities for tourism companies to get involved to support reconciliation, including information about National Indigenous History Month in June and Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21.
Effective April 1, 2022, the federal government officially removed all pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirements at the border for vaccinated travellers.
Key changes include:
Fully vaccinated travellers do not need to complete a pre-entry test (they may still be selected for random tests on arrival but are not required to quarantine).
Non vaccinated travellers will still need an on-arrival test and a day 8 test and must quarantine for 14 days.
ArriveCAN is still needed for entry to Canada by all travellers.
The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) has been nominated for North America's Responsible Tourism Award 2022 inthe 29th annual World Travel Awards. The award serves to acknowledge, reward, and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry.
TOTA has received this award in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and is honoured to be nominated once again in this category. Achieving this recognition for a fourth time would help TOTA spread the word on how the Thompson Okanagan tourism industry and our organization are working together to offer tourism services in a responsible and sustainable manner.
Travel industry professionals and consumers worldwide are invited to cast their votes for travel brands that they consider to be the very best in the world. The nominee gaining the most votes for an award named as the winner.
Voting is open until May 3, 2022.
We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a few moments to register with World Travel Awards and vote for TOTA in category 52. North America's Responsible Tourism Award.
This FREE tourism event will give you a unique opportunity to meet with local tourism businesses and learn more about The Remarkable Unique Experiences that keep visitors coming back to Penticton year after year. Discover new adventures and reacquaint yourself with all of the amazing activities, attractions, accommodations, restaurants, wineries, breweries, cideries, events and so much more happening in and around Penticton.
This is also a great opportunity to bring your resume and find the perfect summer job, volunteer opportunity, or a career in the tourism and hospitality industry.
Attendees can enter to win a variety of prizes. The TOTA donated prizes are:
Two bracelets from Jewels of HOPE, which supports vulnerable women in the Okanagan to gather in a safe place to learn artisanal bracelet making skills that help them transition to further employment and educational opportunities.
TOTA is proud to introduce the newly appointed Thompson Okanagan Tourism Foundation (TOTF) Development Manager, Kim Smith. Kim brings with her over 35 years business experience, with concentrated focus on trails initiatives, funding, and development over the last decade.
With Kim in the new Development Manager position, TOTA and TOTF are preparing to support the BC Provincial Trails Strategy for planning, developing, maintaining, managing, marketing and using an integrated network of trails to provide benefits for trail users, communities, and the province.
Kim's goal is to work with local, regional, and provincial stakeholders to preserve and enhance first-class recreational trail systems attracting tourists and diversifying local economies, connecting healthy, vibrant communities.
Communities are recognizing the opportunities associated with recreational trails as a tourism attraction and driver of economic development, Trails boost economic activity while contributing positive impacts to the community, which is why TOTF is committed to its vision and purpose of leading initiatives and attracting investment, to nurture and sustain the trail systems that unite the Thompson Okanagan region.
Stay tuned for exciting new campaigns to support recreational trails!
The BC Regional Tourism Secretariat (BCRTS) is seeking a full stack developer with knowledge in Javascript (React.JS) for the front-end, as well as Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL for the back-end, for the continuous extension and the maintenance of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Data Portal.
The BCRTS has embarked on a journey to improve access to essential tourism data for all tourism stakeholders, building an open-source tourism data portal that brings together relevant insights in a user-friendly way and encourages a more open data culture across the regions of BC.
The position will report to the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) Project Manager for about 25 hours per month.
As border measures ease, Destination Canada is focused on driving revenue back into tourism businesses across the country. It is expected US visitors to Canada will lead recovery efforts with over 5 million visitors to Canada expected in 2022, contributing $4 billion to Canadian businesses, destinations and communities.
The US Campaign comes to life through the “Refresh Your View” concept, leaning into American travellers’ need for self-enrichment. The campaign puts Canada’s most iconic destinations at the forefront to reclaim interest and consideration for Canada, and to expand American travellers' knowledge of the wealth of experiences available in the regions surrounding these icons.
Harry Bains, Minister of Labour, has introduced changes to address two issues that have been raised since the five days of employer-paid sick leave came into effect on January 1, 2022. For ease of implementation, the act is being amended to reference “calendar year," which standardizes the annual entitlement period for all employees regardless of the start of their employment.
The total number of paid sick leave days per year will not be affected. It remains at five. To ensure government’s intent that the paid sick leave entitlement is applied to all employees in BC, the clause that relates to collective agreements is being amended.
Silver Star Resort Association launched Destination Silver Star to increase business opportunities for the Silver Star community while making it easier for visitors to discover all the family-friendly mountain adventures the destination offers.
Destination Silver Star has a fresh new website full of engaging My Silver Star digital stories as well as the announcement of a series of summer activities that is sure to impress. This community and consumer-focused brand exists to maintain and enhance the Silver Star experience by growing the local economy, and increasing engagement through marketing, sales, media relations, events, research, and destination development.
More than $12.4 million in one-time funding to the BC Arts Council will offer support to BC artists and organizations as the Province continues to build back from the COVID-19 pandemic.
From this funding, the BC Arts Council will distribute $7.9 million in resiliency supplements to more than 300 organizations currently receiving operating assistance. The average grant amount is $25,000.
Additionally, BC Arts Council has allocated $4.5 million to top up the Arts Impact Grant program, which closed its intake in January 2022. The next intake of this program is anticipated for winter 2023.
Funding is available to organizations and collectives with an arts and culture mandate or a dedicated arts and culture program. Grants are available to non-profit organizations, Indigenous communities and community organizations.
HeliCat Canada and its member organizations have taken proactive steps towards sustainability, continually pushing innovation in efficient and renewable energy use wherever possible. Understanding the realities of Heli and Cat-ski operations, carbon offsets are an essential tool for HeliCat members and guests to compensate for emissions that currently cannot be eliminate through other means.
The purpose of the HeliCat Canada carbon offset strategy is to provide a simple, industry-specific manual that guides the Canadian HeliCat industry, member operations and guests to effectively navigate the carbon offset world, use carbon offsets to achieve net zero GHG emissions, and achieve other sustainable targets.
ABLE BC has been hard at work advocating with the province to extend the TESA deadline, while also engaging with municipalities across BC to reduce red tape and cut fees associated with patio applications. In response to a joint letter, ABLE has begun to receive positive feedback from some municipalities and are confident that they will review and update patio application processes.
While work is being done to have the TESA deadline extended, we strongly encourage you to get your application in now.
Sign up with the free BCRTS subscription plan to get your own account to register for this webinar and gain access to the free Tourism Digital Marketing Certification Program.
The BC Hospitality Foundation (BCHF) announced the launch of the new Okanagan Golf Tournament. The inaugural Okanagan tournament at The Harvest Golf Club in Kelowna will kick off the golf season on May 10, 2022.
Held from April 12 to May 26 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6 PM - 8 PM, the seven-part series consists of 2-hour online workshops, twice a week for seven weeks with Okanagan College tourism professors. Each part focuses on specific leadership skills required in today’s multi-faceted workplaces.
Due to an abundance of interest, applications are no longer being considered for this intake. Thompson Okanagan tourism industry professionals are invited to apply to be added to the waitlist for a future program series.
Ukrainians are coming to Canada to escape the crisis in their country. When they arrive, many will look for a job. The Government of Canada has created a dedicated job bank to help connect Ukrainian refugees with employment opportunities. Accommodators looking to fill job vacancies can create a profile and post available employment opportunities.
During the Provincial & Territorial Tourism Industry Association (PTTIA) committee that TIABC CEO Walt Judas chairs, the group reviewed THRC's updated facts and figures pertaining to the current employment situation in Canada's tourism and hospitality industry.
With most COVID-related restrictions now lifted across Canada, a survey from Research Co. has 52% of Canadians admitting to being “very anxious” or “moderately anxious” about the end of public health mandates in their province, including 53% of BC respondents.
43% of British Columbians believe “recent protests and blockades related to the COVID-19 pandemic” can claim “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of the credit for pandemic restrictions being rolled back.
Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents across the country said they plan to continue wearing masks in indoor settings, but in BC only 59% plan to do so, the lowest percentage of provinces polled.
Okanagan College instructors are available to deliver virtual, one-hour individually tailored business counselling sessions on a variety of leadership soft skills, business administration, and hospitality topics.
The TOTA team is here to help with the challenges your business is facing. As part of TOTA's Tourism Resiliency Program tourism companies can access the following free supports:
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