Teresa Wat

HOW BC’s tourism industry faces another potential year of loss of business. BC tourism, arts and culture liberal critic Teresa Wat asks Prime Minister John Horgan why his government has stubbornly refused to fix an inadequate support program that is not really helping BC tourism companies.

“The prime minister seems to believe that his failed small and medium-sized business recovery grant is enough to support our tourism industry, but that approach just doesn’t work,” said Wat. “Under the current eligibility requirements, many of our province’s museums, nonprofit attractions, and exhibits such as the Richmond Night Market and PNE are not even eligible for the grant. Of those who do, only a fraction has received money from the government since funding was approved more than 11 months ago. “

The newest BC-wide COVID-19 Tourism Impact Report found that as of December 2020, only two percent of tourism businesses could access the Small and Medium Business Restoration Grant, which is slated to expire in late March 2021.

With the recent federal announcement that cruise ships won’t be allowed to operate in BC until 2022, and Transport companies stop major routes to some of BC’s tourist citiesUnder the growing burden of additional taxes and bureaucracy, thousands of tourism companies say they will not make it through the year without additional support. In particular, the BC Hotel Association notes that a shocking 46 percent of hotels will not be able to stay in business if they don’t get support by the end of March.

“The tourism companies have made it clear that the current subsidies are not working for them, but John Horgan has been missing on almost every request they have made to the government,” said Wat. “The prime minister has to admit his plan is not working, listening to tourism operators and completely revising the grant program so that the government can put these vital resources in the hands of the companies that need them most.”

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