How A lot Assist Will The Subsequent Premier Give To Tourism And Hospitality Companies?

On February 6, the Nova Scotia Liberal Party will elect a new leader to replace outgoing Prime Minister Stephen McNeil. Last week, the three men competing for the province’s next prime minister set out their vision in a series of question-and-answer sessions hosted by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce. This week, Huddle takes a look at these sessions, examining where Labi Kousoulis, Randy Delorey and Iain Rankin stand on some of the most pressing issues in the province. Today we’re looking at how they’re going to help the troubled tourism and hospitality industries.

HALIFAX – The Covid-19 pandemic has arguably hit the tourism and hospitality sectors harder than any other.

Liberal leadership candidates Labi Kousoulis, Randy Delorey and Iain Rankin all acknowledge this and have promised various measures to help the sector.

All have promised to focus on marketing Nova Scotia as a tourist destination for the rest of Canada and the world.

You have all also promised financial aid to tourism and hospitality companies. However, your visions for the nature of this aid vary from blanket tax forgiveness to reluctance to commit to financial relief at all.

Tax relief

Delorey’s most notable platform pledge for the tourism and hospitality industry is a “tax vacation” for the hospitality industry. This would mean small businesses in this sector would have to forego 2021 income tax altogether.

Delorey has also promised to postpone loan and tax payments for “companies hardest hit by the pandemic” until the province’s state of emergency is lifted. And it will create small business cash flow loans for “hard hit sectors of the economy”.

During his interview with Sullivan, Delorey said he realized that the past year had been particularly difficult for the hospitality industry and that these measures would help companies maintain cash flow.

“We are still expecting slower seasons than in the past. We would like to help support and encourage further operations so that these hospitality and food service providers not only serve Nova Scotians and Atlantic Canadians, but also welcome Canada and the world to our beautiful province, “said Delorey.

Kousoulis also promises some tax breaks, though his measures don’t go quite as far as a blanket passport for paying income taxes in the provinces.

First, he promises to extend an existing program that will give qualified tourism companies a 25 percent reduction in property taxes. He said he would extend this program for at least a year, possibly longer.

And while he’s not limited to just tourism and hospitality businesses, he has also pledged to invest $ 60 million to ease the property tax burden on the province’s small businesses.

He told Sullivan, “This applies to our small businesses across the province. It is not for large industrial manufacturers and it is not for shopping malls or multinational companies. It’s for small businesses in Nova Scotia. “

Rankin, meanwhile, took a more cautious stance to ease the burden on companies.

“I think we need to make sure that the tax break or other business programs are the most effective use of public funds,” he said. “So I didn’t come up with any specific arbitrary amounts without knowing where we’ll be in February and seeing how effective aid programs have been [and] how they complement federal programs. “

Tourism marketing

All three candidates indicated the importance of attracting tourists to Nova Scotia, particularly through marketing initiatives.

On its platform, Kousoulis promises to create a new marketing fund that will create “innovative ways to market the province” through the provincial tourism association. He says the fund will include a new program aimed at “staying” in Nova Scotia, which Nova Scotia tourism is already doing.

Delorey also went into the importance of the tourist infrastructure. He said it was important to support the aviation industry to give people the opportunity to travel to Nova Scotia again.

“I think there is a lot of work going on there and getting the message across and this is an important part of rebuilding the industry. But also these structural parts, ”he said. “Doing marketing without having the infrastructure to get people into the province is not enough. We actually need to invest in several approaches. “

Rankin, meanwhile, told Sullivan that the sector “will need significant investment to recover strongly”.

“We need a marketing campaign that is aggressive because it will be competitive with other regions that are facing the same problem [challenges], “he said.” We should have confidence that Nova Scotia is better than any other place in the country. “

He also talked about marketing to attract people to the province in the longer term. With all of its natural beauty and benefits, Nova Scotia is becoming an increasingly sought-after place.

“So let’s be proud of the product we have and let’s use it,” said Rankin.

Kousoulis also said he wanted to see the Nova Scotia market itself as a place where people can move to work.

“Nova Scotia is a great opportunity for people who come and work here. We know that a large portion of the workforce … doesn’t have to be physically close to do their job. We’re the safest place in North America you could live right now, ”he said. “It could be a game changer for us.”

It all comes back to the pandemic

During his conversation with Sullivan, Delorey also argued that Covid-19 is the most important thing he can do to help the tourism and hospitality industries. That will be his first priority.

“The very first is our Covid answer. [I] absolutely cannot underline this enough. If we don’t fight Covid, if we don’t keep our numbers down, if we don’t get our vaccine rollout right, we will extend the recovery process, ”he said.

Delorey said this will mean vaccinating as many Nova Scotians as soon as possible and doing much more to combat “vaccination reluctance” among Nova Scotians.

This is the second part in a series.