Updates, webinars, events, opportunities to get involved, resources, and research to support Thompson Okanagan tourism professionals.
Midnight Musings from the TOTA Team
On Thursday, October 13, 2022 please join us for the 29th Annual Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) Golf Tournament after a 2 year pause. This year's TOTA Golf Tournament will be hosted at the Black Mountain Golf Club in Kelowna, starting at high noon and is certain to be a full day of outdoor activity, great food, fun, and networking.
Grab your golf clubs and join a team or register on your own to meet colleagues, new and familiar, while helping to raise funds for the TOTA Tourism Student Bursary Program for the University of British Columbia Okanagan, Okanagan College, and Thompson Rivers University.
The 2022 TOTA Golf tournament is a Texas Scramble shotgun format, fun for all participants, no matter your expertise on the course. The afternoon of enjoying 18 holes of Golf will be followed by a delicious dinner, silent auction, prizes, and awards!
There is still time to register but tickets are selling fast.
Taking action to reduce your tourism operations carbon footprint is a tremendous opportunity to decrease costs, engage your team, and build your brand as a responsible tourism provider. Measuring your carbon footprint for small and mid-sized businesses is easy with the EcoBase software and guidance from GreenStep.
Do you currently have employees that will be laid off for the winter season? This training is a perfect opportunity to offer current seasonal employees to participate in beneficial and fully funded training for the industry and your organization. This upskilling program will encourage employees to return next season and bring value to you as an employer.
After the delivery of the training is completed they can return to you as their work placement as part of the overall program and return to work ready for the summer season.
Feel free to share this opportunity with potential employees of the Thompson Okanagan hospitality industry, particularly professionals looking to expand their career into full-time regular employment, such as a supervisory role.
We have provided sample content to easily spread the word through bulletin boards, email newsletters, website listings, and social media.
September marks Disability Employment Month in BC. With funding provided by the Government of Canada through the Canada-British Columbia WorkForce Development Agreement, Small Business BC (SBBC) is marking this occasion by hosting Accessibility Month: It Matters. All month long, SBBC is offering free access to business education for their entire community – regardless of disability status.
Their goal is to make SBBC’s educational resources as widely accessible as possible.
Following a hacking incident in July 2022, Wine Growers British Columbia (WGBC) has launched a new Instagram account @WinesOfBC. WGBC is thrilled to once again be sharing posts and stories from @WinesofBC and they would love for you to rejoin their Instagram journey by following their new handle!
Follow and tag @WinesofBC for all things #BCWine and as we head into fall, WGBC encourages you to #SwirlBC with them.
Small Business BC provides practical business webinars and online education to develop business skills and strategy. Destination BC has partnered with Small Business BC to offer free access for tourism business stakeholders across the province to online education supporting COVID-19 recovery.
The two-day Summit will include a luncheon paying tribute to several Defining Moments in British Columbia sport history, a dinner honouring 2022 winners of the Eric Whitehead Inspired Service Awards, a series of community development workshops, a pin ceremony for BC Sports Hall of Famers who are Okanagan-region residents, and the Annual General Meeting itself.
SEE2022 brings together the world's brightest, most forward-thinking travel & tourism marketers to keep you ahead of the trends in the ever-changing world of travel. Connect with global travel & tourism marketers in conversations focused on responsible travel, building a diverse and inclusive place brand, collaborating with local creators, and future trends to attract travelers to your destination at this hybrid in person and virtual event.
Host: go2HR and Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA BC)
go2HR and the Canadian Mental Health Association – BC Division (CMHA BC) are taking a closer look at this fast-paced sector and sparking dialogue on what strategies can support and celebrate this industry’s ongoing resilience.
“Mental Health & Wellbeing at Work- A (Top) Chef’s perspective” is a free webinar by Top Chef Trevor Bird. Trevor has vast experience in the tourism and hospitality industry. As a Top Chef, he's seen firsthand some of the negative behaviours that can be the result of a stressful workplace and developed tools that you can use to strengthen connections and build resiliency.
World Tourism Day is September 27, and will be celebrated as the shift towards tourism is being recognized as a crucial pillar for development and as progress is well underway.
Tourism’s International Observance Day will put people at the center of key discussions. Where is tourism going? Where do we want to go? And how do we get there?
The North America Meaningful Travel Summit is an event connecting industry professionals with local changemakers in places around North America. The goal is to learn from one another, infuse more sustainability into the businesses with the knowledge gained, and to volunteer in and with the local community.
Join Restaurants Canada, Technomic, and The Re-Seasoning Coalition (TRSC), for a deep dive on the Black experience in the foodservice industry. This conversation will look at the findings of recent Restaurants Canada and Technomic surveys profiling operator, employee, and guest experiences with racism and anti-Black discrimination and how guests expect foodservice organizations across the industry to evolve to become more equitable, diverse, and inclusive spaces for the benefit of their bottom line.
The report builds upon operator research conducted by Restaurants Canada to offer perspective into the guest experience at restaurants or with third-party delivery apps.
go2HR is offering the Certificate of Recognition (COR) Internal Auditor Training program to help you become a health and safety champion at your workplace. These interactive sessions will help you to learn what it takes to be a COR Employer.
Host: Women of Recreation, Tourism, and Hospitality (WORTH) Association, sponsored by TOTA
Join WORTH Association and women of recreation, tourism, and hospitality on October 18 for an evening of networking with an inspiring panel discussion in Kelowna.
WORTH's Empower Her event aims to connect a community of leaders who will expand their network and create meaningful relationships. The Okanagan's top female tourism and hospitality leaders will share inspiring ideas with the intention of sparking dialogue about issues that impact women in the workplace. Their perspectives will inform, inspire, and empower women as we collectively identify ways to accelerate women to senior roles in the industry.
Location: Ramada Hotel & Conference Centre, Kelowna or Online
Join fellow operators this fall, learn, network with sponsors, talk with exhibitors, and meet the volunteer board of directors. The agenda includes speakers sharing several topics affecting the day-to-day operation of your business.
Recruitment Event - Online Speed-Jobing 2022 | Recruiter's RSVP by September 30
Thursday, October 20 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM PDT
Host: La Société de développement économique de la Colombie-Britannique (SDECB)
This 100% Speed-Jobing event connects BC employers with qualified bilingual immigrants willing to settle permanently in the local job market while keeping the advantages of its unique format. This Speed-jobing focuses on the Tourism, Non-Profit, Insurance and Finance sectors.
Employers can register until September 30th, candidates can register until October 14th
The BC Bird Trail showcases diverse birdlife and habitats while highlighting destination management organizations (DMO's) through a nature tourism lens. In the Thompson Okanagan, Osoyoos is joining the block for 2022/23 as independent Bird Trail Outposts.
The BC Bird Trail is seeking Destination Marketing Organisations (DMO) interested in promoting birding activities for the 2023/24 campaign. To learn about joining The BC Bird Trail, contact [email protected] or connect with your local DMO.
Campaigns are supported by funding from Destination BC's Co-op Marketing program, and through social media, blog posts, feature video, photography, and community engagement, https://bcbirdtrail.ca.
Destination BC published the 2023/24 Open Pool Co-op Marketing Program guidelines and opened applications.
The Destination BC Open Pool Co-operative Marketing Partnerships Program (the Co-op Program) is an application-based program that provides co-operative, consumer-focused marketing and promotion support to Community Consortiums, Sector Organizations, or approved Individual or Paired Communities in British Columbia.
Osoyoos Desert Centre is raising funds through a raffle to construct a pergola in the outdoor gathering area where our visitors can enjoy the desert environment for lunch, workshops, lectures, and school projects.
$10 Raffle tickets can be purchased by phone at 250.495.2470 or email at [email protected]. The draw date is Friday, October 7.
Winners will receive one of three prizes:
Gift of Flight - 2 round trip flights for any Westjet regularly scheduled destination
The Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA), is excited to introduce its new website which has just been launched to the public.
This informative site introduces audiences to information about the organization, their members, their ongoing efforts that include recent projects such as the historical coastal clean-up and the #BellyUp Campaign to Save Wild Pacific Salmon, as well as how to become more involved.
The BC Hospitality Foundation delivers necessary financial aid for individuals in the hospitality sector currently experiencing financial crisis; and after a couple of years "on pause", the Hotels to Help online lottery will be back in October! The last 3 lotteries raised $94,000+ thanks to the amazing prizes donated by hoteliers in the community.
The BCHF is currently gathering this year's prizes and looking for donations in kind.
Destination BC’s fall marketing campaigns will encourage people from British Columbia and Alberta to explore BC. As part of these campaigns, DBC is promoting travel offers posted to the Travel Deals page on HelloBC and encouraging potential travellers to explore a variety of BC experiences, attractions, and accommodations.
Eligible businesses are encouraged to post travel offers on HelloBC to help drive visitors to you.
Next month, residents of communities across the province go to the polls to elect local politicians, school board trustees, and/or park board commissioners.
Decisions made by civic leaders are extremely important to the visitor economy and it is incumbent on the tourism industry to pay attention and get involved. TIABC's Municipal Election Toolkit will help you play a vital role in shaping the conversation and outcome of these elections, which take place on Saturday, October 15.
TIABC's THREE-STEP kit is designed to prime you with the right data, messages, and questions that will elevate the importance of tourism in BC and your role in it.
As consumers increasingly move online to shop, it’s essential for small businesses to develop e-commerce capabilities to remain competitive. As part of the Canada Digital Adoption Program, a $4 billion investment to help small and medium-sized businesses get online with new digital tools, the Government of Canada has two streams to support small businesses across the country. They have partnered with Small Business BC and Digital Main Street to deliver the Grow Your Business Online grant. Eligible businesses will receive a micro-grant of up to $2,400 to help with costs related to adopting e-commerce, with support provided from a network of E-commerce Advisors. They also support the Boost Your Business Technology grant which offers support to eligible businesses who want to adopt new digital technologies.
The go2HR job board is free for tourism and hospitality employers operating in British Columbia. Post jobs and hiring events to find quality employees in Accommodation, Food and Beverage Services, Recreation and Entertainment, Transportation, and Travel Services.
The go2HR Job Board receives 20,000 monthly visits from qualified candidates looking for front-line, supervisory, management or executive positions.
KCR Community Resources has employment services to help newcomers to the Thompson Okanagan region obtain training and employment in the Tourism & Hospitality sector. The program provides one-on-one help for job seekers who are newcomers to Canada and live in BC.
Research data created by Environics Analytics to help the travel and tourism industry understand the impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to Domestic Overnight Visitors within Canada.
The August 2022 Labour Force Survey data reveals that tourism sector employment and labour force levels declined as Canada's summer season - a peak period of tourism activity across all five industry groups - comes to a close.
Overall, the tourism sector saw a month-over-month employment change of -35,200 workers or -1.7% as employment levels decreased from 2,034,400 in July to 1,999,200 for August.
In-line with pre-pandemic seasonal trends, the sector's total labour force also slightly declined this month, to 2,089,700 (-0.9%) compared to July 2022.
The tourism unemployment rate for August (4.3%) was slightly higher than the previous month of 3.5%
With the exception of the accommodations and food and beverage services industries, all tourism industry groups have reported lower unemployment rates than the same month last year.
For more than a year Expedia has been tracking and sharing indicators of how travelers are looking and booking trips again in quarterly reports based on insights from Expedia Group first-party data and custom research, to inform marketing strategies.
In Q2 2022, while the travel industry faced additional challenges—including recession concerns and chaotic airports—travelers were undeterred, and are even looking to venture farther afield. Along with sustainability, people want to see travel options that are inclusive and accessible, and real commitments to welcoming travelers of all types and supporting local cultures and communities.
