Industry Update

Today's update includes:

General Updates
Premier Horgan Announces He Will Not Seek Third Term
Upskilling Opportunity | Register for Complimentary Training Program Today
Help Control Insurance Costs with Loss Prevention Training
Business Council of BC | Tracking B.C.’s Industry Employment Dynamics Through the Pandemic
Tackling Food Waste (to Save Money!) Learn More in InnFocus Magazine
Western Financial Group Shares Letter to HIP Members
New Office for Vancouver's Night Time Economy
Destination Canada | Strategy for Recovery
Indigenous Cultural Tourism Strategy | Virtual Workshop
News - See more below!
BC | Canada News
World News
Industry Trends
Tipping Our Hat to Industry!
Cristina Hernandez Joins Destination Vancouver as New Specialist, Member & In-Destination Services!
Mark Your Calendars
Comment Card | Thoughts and Comments from Our Industry
Last Laugh | A Little Something to Make Our Members Smile

Premier Horgan Announces

He Will Not Seek Third Term

After five years in the role, John Horgan announced that he will not be seeking a third term as premier of British Columbia and has asked his governing party, the NDP, to hold a leadership convention later this year.

Premier Horgan will remain premier for the time being and says he has asked the president of the B.C. NDP to work with the party's governing body to select a date in the fall for a leadership convention.

We thank Premier Horgan for his leadership during such an unimaginably challenging chapter in our province's history. We look forward to continue working with him until his term finishes.

Learn More

Watch Press Conference

Upskilling Opportunity | Register for

Complimentary Training Program Today

The BCHA has partnered with the Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society (PICS) and Western Community College to offer a 23 week online

“Hotel Operations Services Skills Training Program”.

This program is designed to train 30 candidates who are currently unemployed or under employed in the Okanagan area and deliver them to industry trained and ready to work. The training is fully funded and will focus on readying the candidate for meaningful work in the hotel industry.

Eligibility

Unemployed or part-time employed (working less than 30 hours per week) or precariously employed
High school graduate or 19+
Be a resident in BC and be a Canadian Citizen, Permanent Resident, or Refugee Protected person with authorization to work
Proof of English language proficiency
Currently living in British Columbia

Benefits & Certificates

· Pandemic Awareness

· PPE

· Food Safe

· Privacy Awareness

· Serving It Right

· BSAFE Certificate

· Heart of Hospitality Certificate

· OFA Level 1

· WHMIS

· Super Host and more!

For registration and more information please contact Claudia Tran at 604.596.7722 ext. 177; claudia.tran@pics.bc.ca

For hotels who may be interested in candidate recruitment during the final phase of the 23 week program, please contact Alison Langford at alison@bcha.com

Help Control Insurance Costs

with Loss Prevention Training

We continue to hear from our members that insurance premiums are becoming unaffordable. An effective way to decrease your costs is by investing in loss prevention and risk management training for you and your staff. We have developed a practical video training series to help you learn how to mitigate claims and losses.

The videos cover:

Why loss prevention matters
Emergency response planning
Cyber security
Fire and water damage prevention
Property security to protect guests, staff, and your hotel
Liquor and cannabis liability prevention
Reporting incidents

This series will help you prevent incidents that can injure staff or guests, and damage your property, your reputation, and your business. Use these videos:

As part of your hotel's new employee onboarding and training
As a refresher and discussion starter at department meetings
As a training resource for your health & safety committee/representative.

Watch Videos Here

Business Council of BC | Tracking B.C.’s Industry Employment Dynamics Through the Pandemic

Over the past two years, B.C.’s job market has experienced once unimaginable job losses, a sharp if mixed rebound in employment, a longer period of more muted and sporadic employment growth, and lingering job losses in sectors most affected by COVID-related lockdowns and travel restrictions. In short, the province’s labour market has been through an unprecedented shock that resulted in an extraordinary amount of churn.

BCBC has released an analysis on the disproportionate role of the public sector in overall job creation in B.C. over the past 27 months.

Read Article

Tackling Food Waste (to Save Money!)

Learn More in InnFocus Magazine

Did you know that operators can save tens of thousands of dollars annually, simply by measuring food waste?

In the latest edition of InnFocus Magazine, we interviewed Ben Liegey, Co-Founder and CEO at Rethink2gether. In the article, Ben identifies ways accommodators can support the greening of the industry, while improving their bottom line AND making their property more desirable for eco-conscious travellers. Check out the article on Page 10!

Read Article

Western Financial Group

Shares Letter to HIP Members

Western Financial has released a letter to all HIP members surrounding updates to the program.

Included in the letter is an announcement that that efforts are underway to explore options to transition the current HIP model back to the Protected Self Insurance (PSIP) Model with some enhancements and additional flexibility.

Read Letter

New Office for Vancouver's Night Time Economy

Last week, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart announced the launch of the new Office for Night Time Economy, with support from the Downtown Vancouver BIA, Hospitality Vancouver, and Destination Vancouver.

The Night Office will lead outreach and advocacy for Vancouver’s night-time economy. A full-time Night Advocate with be hired this fall.

Earlier this month, Mayor Kennedy made three significant commitments for the fall budget:

To fully fund a permanent night time advocate to transform our night-time economy into a centerpiece of our city’s social fabric.
To expand the mandate of the Sport Hosting, so that the City can help attract more conferences, conventions, music, and trade shows.
To repeal antiquated regulations, starting with a harmonized 3:00 AM bar closing all along Granville St., as well as looking for additional ways to increase service hours and streamline regulations all across our city to facilitate greater patron access.

This announcement of the Office for Night Time Economy is the next step in moving ahead on those commitments.

Learn More

Destination Canada | Strategy for Recovery

Destination Canada has published their corporate strategy entitled Canada’s Tourism Renaissance. This summary highlights Destination Canada’s work to support the 225,000 small and medium-sized tourism businesses across Canada and their communities.

Destination Canada is laser focused on driving sector recovery from the pandemic. At the same time, DC recognizes their responsibility to take action for an even better future. This strategy outlines our 3-year plan for recovery and begins to lay foundations for our sector’s future.

Learn More

Indigenous Cultural Tourism

Strategy | Virtual Workshop

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) is hosting a "Preparing an "Indigenous Cultural Tourism Strategy" virtual workshop to share information about Indigenous Cultural Tourism experiences and how any tourism business can incorporate Indigenous tourism into their offerings.

The workshop is on July 11, 2022 from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (PST) and tickets are $30. The workshop is being offered through the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Resiliency Program, hosted by Jamie Bourne, Indigenous Tourism Specialist. Register before July 8:

Industry News & Quick Links

BC & CANADA

WORLD NEWS

INDUSTRY TRENDS

Tipping Our Hat to Industry

Cristina Hernandez Joins Destination Vancouver as New Specialist, Member & In-Destination Services!

We are celebrating the appointment of Cristina Hernandez who is the newest member of the Destination Vancouver team. Cristina joins Destination Vancouver with extensive experience in the tourism industry, including travel sales, business operations, trip planning, event coordination, and customer support and engagement.

In her words: "I’m thrilled to be part of Destination Vancouver's membership team and I'm really excited about this new opportunity to work with [everyone] in the weeks and months to come."