Good afternoon,
It has been an important week for our national hospitality and tourism community as the formal engagement period for the renewal of Canada’s Federal Tourism Growth Strategy - first announced
in May, 2022 - officially came to a close yesterday.
An enormous effort has been made by industry leaders, stakeholders, and members of our tourism and accommodation sector to share feedback and guidance aimed at supporting the short and long term success of industry. The feedback received was analyzed and translated into specific recommendations on investments and policy changes.
I would like to acknowledge Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), President and CEO, Susie Grynol, and her team; along with Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), President and CEO, Beth Potter and her team, for their tremendous work on this critical engagement. As co-chairs of the Hardest Hit Coalition - a collection of more than 120 business associations in the tourism sector, of which BCHA is a member - Beth and Susie led strategic efforts, outlining the key asks and pillars in our collective strategy that include Labour, Borders and Transportation, Infrastructure Investment, and Building a Regenerative and Inclusive Tourism Sector.
In addition to the submission outlined by the Hardest Hit Coalition, HAC developed an accommodation-specific submission, detailing the unique investments required to support our national hotel and accommodation sector, while highlighting the pivotal role our industry plays in supporting every community from coast to coast.
Recognizing the enormous opportunity to bring specific attention to the critical issues impacting our provincial accommodation community, the BCHA also developed a BC Hotel Association Federal Growth Strategy submission,
which I am pleased to share with you. Mirroring key asks from our national hotel and tourism sector, the BCHA also drew attention to the need for key infrastructure projects across the province to address our hotel shortage; provincial workforce projects, training programs, and upskilling opportunities; immigration policy changes to support international workforce recruitment; along with investments in provincial sustainability programs. I would like to thank our members for your continuous engagement and feedback on this.
Now that the ground work has been laid, our industry will begin an enormous effort to ensure that the key recommendations and policy changes will be addressed in the 2023 Federal Budget, which will be announced in Spring 2023.
We look forward to keeping our industry abreast on the next stages of our sector's Federal advocacy efforts.
Sincerely,
Ingrid Jarrett
President and CEO
BC Hotel Association
