Even though I'm not a gambler, I was tempted to ditch my vehicle and walk to the casino 500 metres away to play blackjack or roulette all evening since the odds were better than my getting home safely during snowmageddon earlier this week in Metro Vancouver.

Instead I pulled out my laptop and wrote most of this message as I sat in my truck, barely inching forward every 20 minutes or so during what was easily the worst traffic jam I have ever experienced over the course of 44 years of driving.

It took me 10 hours (normally 20 minutes) to drive all of 18 kilometres on the last leg of my journey home from work after travelling the first 25 kilometres by Skytrain and Seabus in just under an hour.

As the minutes and hours ticked by, I became increasingly agitated over my predicament. However, in the spirit of empathy and perspective, I finally snapped out of feeling sorry for myself and focussed instead on those that likely had it much worse than me.

I was only trying to get home, but what about people who never made it to work, missed their flight, or couldn’t attend to a sick family member. I'm sure there were many parents with kids to put to bed, people that hadn’t eaten all day or desperately required medical attention. Thankfully, many good samaritans stepped in to help folks that were hopelessly stranded and in need.

Other than being hungry and tired, I was fine and eventually arrived home, but the same can’t be said for countless others including those that were forced to abandon their cars, walk to their final destination, or conversely find temporary accommodation for the night.

Notwithstanding the power of Mother Nature and the ignorant motorists without snow tires that contributed to the mayhem, I can't help but lay some of the blame for this traffic nightmare on those responsible for snow clearing, traffic control, and highway maintenance who should have been much better prepared to deal with this situation. It’s not like we haven’t gone through similar or worse snowfalls before or that we weren't warned for days about the impending storm.

It appears that someone was asleep at the wheel because by the time snowplows were dispatched to the hardest hit areas like bridges, several centimetres of the white stuff had already piled up and froze, causing dozens of vehicles to crash, consequently creating an endless traffic jam that prevented snowplows from reaching those very problem spots. From my perspective and that of local politicians and other motorists, there was little planning, preparation, or even a coordinated response to this much anticipated weather event.

Ironically, I got stuck returning from the Vancouver Coast & Mountains Industry Forum in North Vancouver where I presented to colleagues on tourism’s critical role in BC’s emergency management system. Granted, this storm wasn’t a provincial crisis but being in the middle of this traffic mess reminded me of a point I made during the forum where I emphasized the need for each individual to be prepared for emergencies that affect us personally, in addition to impacts on our businesses, communities, or organizations.

Admittedly, I was only partially prepared for what I encountered on Tuesday. I ate snow to stay hydrated. However, other than some chocolate I received as a speaker’s gift earlier in the day, I had no food of any kind with me. My gas tank was half empty so I couldn’t keep the engine running for long periods to stay warm but thankfully I had a blanket on hand. Suffice it to say, I learned another valuable lesson, especially the notion of walking the talk when it comes to personal emergency preparedness.

It's obvious to me that highways maintenance contractors and local/provincial authorities also need to walk the talk and commit to actioning some, if not all the four pillars of emergency management (mitigation, preparation, response, recovery) to avoid the chaos thousands of us experienced a couple of days ago. At the very least, we could all learn a thing or two by reviewing best practices that smaller, rural, and Indigenous communities throughout BC have mastered to deal with ongoing severe weather events or other natural disasters they encounter each year.

For the record, I use public transit regularly to avoid traffic congestion and to do my part for the environment. And as mentioned, although I'm not a gambler, I'm willing to lay down a bet that more motorists will park their vehicles during the next snowfall in favour of using Skytrain to get across the river instead of taking a chance that this week's traffic fiasco could happen again forcing them to settle in for another long winter's night.

PS: On a related note, this week a report by the Centre for Policy Alternatives noted that natural disasters in BC last year caused an estimated $17 billion in damage. Isn’t it obvious that emergency management must continue to be a top priority for the tourism sector, as well as all levels of government?

Walt Judas

CEO, TIABC

Earlier today, the Province released results of the independent review and public consultation on government’s operational response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The review looked at preparations for the pandemic, the processes used to make decisions, government communication related to pandemic response, and the implementation of response measures. The report presents 26 findings and reflects work that is underway to prepare BC for future province-wide emergencies.

The review’s findings will also aid the Province as it continues the work to modernize its emergency management legislation, which will be introduced in spring 2023. The Ministry of Health and Emergency Management BC have begun work to identify how the Provincial Pandemic Coordination Plan could be updated. As well, Emergency Management BC is participating in Exercise Coastal Response in February 2023, wherein logistics-related emergency response activities can be tested as a part of broader supply chain management.

The independent project team engaged with government agencies, First Nations and Indigenous organizations, local governments, stakeholders and partners, including TIABC.

The annual Canadian Tourism Awards were presented by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) during last week's 2022 Congress. These prestigious awards recognize success, leadership, and innovation in Canada's tourism industry, and reward those people, places, organizations, and events that have gone above and beyond to offer travellers superior tourism experiences in Canada.

Now in its 22nd year, the Canadian Tourism Awards featured nine categories of distinction, in addition to the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award, which this year was presented to industry luminary Bill Knowlton.

TIABC extends its congratulations to the following BC award winners and finalists:

Air Canada Business of the Year Award:

Air Canada has been named the Best Airline in North America for the fourth consecutive year by the readers of Global Traveler. The airline also won for Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness for the third consecutive year in the 19th edition of the GT Tested Reader Survey of the magazine's readership of frequent business and luxury travelers.

Global Traveler magazine conducted a survey of its readers from December 14, 2021 to September 30, 2022 with open-ended questions for the best in many categories of business & leisure luxury travel.

Read more HERE.

The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association held its 60th annual general meeting last month, where CEO Amy Thacker said that the industry should return to 2019 levels optimistically by 2023 at the earliest, or by 2025 if the more pessimistic projections prove true.

Thacker said much of this optimism is fuelled by the return of the international market to the South Cariboo, where German and British tourists are passionate about the Canadian wilderness and enjoy coming to the area. She also noted that domestic and US tourist numbers are also up along with tourists from Mexico, which has been a pleasant surprise.

The AGM drew stakeholders from across the province including members of Destination British Columbia, BCHA and several local groups. TIABC CEO Walt Judas was among the presenters.

Also during the AGM, new and returning board members were voted in including Andre Kuerbis, Marshall Fremlin, James Douglas, Jayme Kennedy, Shannon Lansdowne and TIABC Director Mike Retasket.

Read more HERE.

Tourism HR Canada has launched a new survey to inform a compensation study for the Canadian tourism and hospitality sector.

The aim is to get a comprehensive picture of how tourism business operators think about compensation within the context of COVID-19 recovery and the ongoing labour crunch affecting the sector.

The data collected will help develop a profile of Canada’s tourism workforce across all industries, occupations, and regions. This survey should be completed by a senior member of the management team and who makes or influences decisions about hiring and compensation. Your personal information will not be collected or reported as part of the survey. The survey is entirely confidential, and your responses will be pooled for analysis, and only be reported in aggregate form.

To complete the survey, please click on the survey link that best describes your organization. It should take approximately 15 minutes to complete.

If your establishment is cross-sectional in nature, you can complete the general survey through this link.

WorkSafeBC has just introduced a new interactive resource tool to help employers find health and safety resources to suit their unique needs.

Please share with your members.

Myhealth and safety resources is a simple tool that you can use to determine what you need to maintain a safe and healthy workplace. It’s easy to use and features a customizable report

 you can download, interact with, and use to track progress.

With just a few simple questions, you will be able to generate specific information about your workplace - then save, print, or share a customizable report in the form of an Excel workbook

that contains the following sections:

Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) has announced its new Business Support Program — a compliment to its Accreditation Program. This program considers that market readiness evolves differently for each Indigenous tourism business, depending on factors such as the availability of resources, cash flow and market conditions.

ITAC’s Business Support Program goal is to help Indigenous tourism operators in Canada meet market readiness standards. Moreover, the program will reach this goal by asking businesses to identify projects and help them address gaps identified through the accreditation process.

Projects must be completed by March 31, 2023 and the maximum funding per Indigenous business operator is $10,000.

Note: Due to the high volume of applications anticipated, ITAC may present an offer of less than the full amount requested.

If you are looking to hire youth next summer, there is help! Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) provides wage subsidies to employers for not-for-profit organizations, the public sector, and private sector organizations with 50 or fewer full-time employees, to create quality summer work experiences for young people aged 15 to 30 years.

The CSJ 2023 employer application period is now open until January 12, 2023 at 11:59am PST.

If you are interested in learning more about the CSJ program, there are information sessions happening throughout December, and one in January. Book your session here.

Destination Development Fund Application Deadline Next Week

The BC Destination Development Fund expression of interest deadline is approaching on Dec. 7th! The Fund aims to support continued recovery and resiliency of the tourism sector post-pandemic by investing in tourism projects that:

Last Call for 1:1 Support to Hire Students

The Talent MATCH and Talent 4 Non-Profits programs have been supporting museums, arts, tourism, culture, hospitality, and non-profits organizations since early 2021 with resources and one-on-one support on the process of hiring students as well as information on wage subsidy programs and HR tips. Sadly the programs will be coming to a close at the end of the year.

Consultations will conclude on December 23rd. However, resources will still continue to be available on the TalentMATCH and Talent 4 Non-Profits webpages that include:

Should you require assistance with your short or long-term planning, book a meeting with the Program Manager by emailing TalentMATCH@acewilbc.ca.

The BC Wine Authority Board of Directors has announced the appointment of Randy Bertsch to the position of General Manager of the BC Wine Authority, replacing Scott Hennenfent who retired earlier this year.

Randy relocated to the Okanagan after serving more than 30 years in strategic leadership roles in the financial services industry on the Island and looks forward to working with the team, advisory committee, members, and government to ensure wines produced across BC are of marked quality, meet labelling regulations, and use correct geographic indicators. Randy will commence his role with the BCWA December 5th.

On November 24th, Destination Canada’s David Robinson joined with industry leaders at the Air Sector Recovery Session hosted by the Minister of Transport, Hon. Omar Alghabra. Hon. Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance delivered remarks and emphasized the importance of collaboration between the tourism and air sectors.

Summit participants covered a broad range of challenges, strategies, and next steps to support a strong and resilient air transportation sector. Discussion topics included:

Read the update from Government HERE.

Celebrated annually on December 3rd around the world, International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) mobilizes support for critical issues relating to the inclusion of persons with disabilities, promotes awareness-raising about disability issues and draws attention to the benefits of an inclusive and accessible society for all.

Everyone is encouraged to support IDPD by collaborating with organizations for people with disabilities to arrange events and activities.

Today, approximately 15% of the world's population live with some form of disability; 80% live in developing countries.

Read more about IDPD including the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy HERE.

The 2023 BC Tourism & Hospitality Awards are presented by TIABC and the BCHA to recognize and celebrate the excellence, leadership, and innovation in British Columbia’s tourism & hospitality industry. These Awards demonstrate a standard of excellence for operators and employees in the industry, showcasing the province’s best products, services, experiences, and people.

Nomination Deadline: December 15th

Awards Gala: Thursday, March 2, 2023, Prince George Conference & Civic Centre

If you have any questions about conference registration, please contact us at registration@bctourismandhospitalityconference.com. General conference questions can be directed to info@bctourismandhospitalityconference.com.

Prince George's Caledonia Nordic Ski Club recently announced they will soon be welcoming athletes from across the country and around the globe to its trails and trackways when it hosts a series of world class skiing competitions over the next two years.

The kick off in 2023 features the Nordiq Canada Selection Trials and Nordiq Cup running from January 18th to 21st. The following year, competition returns to Otway for the 2024 FIS Para Biathlon World Championships from March 3rd to 11th and the FIS Para Nordic World Cup finals from March 12th to 18th. Tourism Prince George CEO Colin Carson said the anticipated economic benefit for the community for the three events will be in excess of $4.7 million.

Understanding that sustainable travel has become a big focus for many travellers today, Visit Penticton has created a webpage on the "Visit Penticton" website.

Their main focus to promote sustainability is through the recently launched Fuel Free…Almost initiative.

When you visit Penticton, you can do so without fuel, which is the focus of the Fuel Free…Almost idea. Travel Penticton encourages visitors to park the car once they arrive and explore fuel free, with the main focus on exploring by foot, pedal or paddle.

Fuel Free…Almost encourages you to take time to focus on your personal health and wellness by exploring Penticton’s active lifestyle, fresh air and wide open spaces. Be kind both to yourself and the environment.

Since 1970, TRU has been providing education to students from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives, at various stages of the learning journey. They serve more than 25,000 students — on their campuses in Kamloops and Williams Lake, and via distance or online courses and programs through Open Learning. TRU offers over 140 on-campus programs and 60-plus Open Learning program. Students apply what they learn in co-op work terms, study abroad, undergraduate research, field schools and practicums, service learning and other opportunities.

Of note, TRU offers well-established and recognized studies in Adventures Studies, Culinary Arts and Tourism Management.

Click HERE to learn more about Thompson Rivers University.

We strongly encourage you to consider membership or renew your membership with TIABC to support our important advocacy efforts on behalf of the entire visitor economy.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic TIABC identified your concerns, raised your voice, championed your needs, pushing for support and programs while encouraging policy changes.

Your support and engagement is vital to ensuring businesses, DMO's and sectors are united and speaking with one voice on issues that impact BC's tourism industry.

Around the province, Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and communities are coming together to create shared spaces for outdoor recreation. Creating relations built on trust and mutual respect that disrupt the harmful legacy and ongoing nature of colonialism take time, patience and commitment.

In this webinar, Jordan Williams, language and culture instructor of the Lake Babine Nation, and Rachelle Van Zanten will share their lessons and experiences working together as part of Spirit North.

The presentation will be followed by a live Q&A.

Date: December 6, 7pm - 8pm

Click HERE to learn more and to register.

The conference is guaranteed to provide a mix of discovery, education, industry insights, and networking opportunities - it is designed to offer the tools needed to forge a brighter path forward for the sector!

Visit our website to book your accommodation at one of our conference hotels and learn more about your travel options to Prince George. Plus, enjoy an Air Canada discount code!

If you have any questions about conference registration, please contact us at registration@bctourismandhospitalityconference.com. General conference questions can be directed to info@bctourismandhospitalityconference.com.

IMPACT Sustainability Travel & Tourism Conference promises to deliver another provocative

and solution-based conference.

The biggest change you will see is the option of including Sunday ‘s Day of IMPACT (January 22nd) into your overall registration.

The theme for the event is: O P E N. New sessions this year will address how to build careers with purpose, funding the transition to a more sustainable destination and tourism operation, how to develop effective partnerships to reach your sustainability goals and a deeper look into KPIs and metrics, while exploring ESG best practices.

When we come together with open hearts and open minds, anything is possible. We see connections everywhere. We welcome all ideas, experiences, and ways of life—because this is how we learn, grow, and change.

Visit HERE to learn more and to register.

The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) is hosting the 2022 Thompson Okanagan Tourism Summit.

Date: February 22, 2023 at Thompson Rivers University Campus (Kamloops).

Tourism stakeholders are invited to come together as a tourism community to learn from everything we've been through and think differently about how we can co-create a more vibrant and resilient tourism industry in BC.

Registration to be announced soon. Click HERE for more information.

The Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) is excited to announce registration is now open for the International Indigenous Tourism Conference (IITC).

This conference is designed to unite the global Indigenous tourism industry bringing together tourism operators, international delegates, members of parliament and tourism partners. IITC features collective sharing of best practices and networking as Canadian and global delegates participate in panel discussions, breakout sessions, keynote presentations and local cultural experiences.

Dates: March 8-10, 2023

Location. Treaty 1 Territory and the Homeland of the Metis - Winnipeg

Learn more and register HERE.

We are pleased to announce the dates for the next annual BCAC Conference. It will take place in Prince George, ("Base camp to the North" and home to YXS) at the "Courtyard by Marriott" hotel.

More information including conference theme, agenda, list of speakers, as well as hotel and travel partner recommendations to follow soon. Questions or Sponsorships? Ask Dave!

Drop us a line at info@tiabc.ca.

TIABC recognizes that our members, stakeholders and staff occupy the ceded, unceded and traditional territories of Indigenous Nations across British Columbia. We sincerely appreciate the opportunity to live, work and play on the lands that our Indigenous friends and First Nations ancestors honour and care for.