“While Tourism BC has served British Columbia well, in these difficult economic times it is critical that we maximize every tourism dollar for marketing B.C. to the world,” said Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, Kevin Krueger.
“Consolidating tourism operations in the ministry will allow for coordinated marketing campaigns, while ensuring resources are focused on getting the best results for British Columbia’s tourism sector.”
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts (MTCA) will be now take on the administrative duties that Tourism BC once held. Krueger said the decision was made in order to best take advantage of the attention the Olympic Games will be bringing to B.C. next winter and to continue collecting on the economic potential after the games.
“We’re going to make sure that we capitalize on everything we’ve got going for us. This is going to be our springboard, especially for the tourism industry, to leave the recession behind.”
However, the announcement was unexpected by some in the tourism industry.
“Fairmont Hot Springs Resort have enjoyed a strong relationship with Tourism BC and their regional partner Kootenay Rockies Tourism. The government announcement this week came as a surprise,” said Marion Garden, marketing manager for Fairmont Hot Springs Resort.
“It is still too early to determine if this move will be strategic for the B.C. tourism industry or not. We haven’t seen the full impact of the decision and will be watching this development with interest.”
But some opponents to the move suggest the job of living up to the standard set by Tourism BC will be a difficult one.
According to a press release by the Council of Tourism Associates, a collective of tourism industry leaders, the industry is “gravely concerned about the decision to dissolve Tourism BC.”
The B.C. Wilderness Tourism Association (WTA) expressed shock over the decision.
“This move could be very detrimental to B.C.’s overall marketing effort and have a further negative impact on our current economic contribution to the province,” said Brian Gunn, president of the B.C. WTA.
“While government is making claims that this move will save money … this will need to be proved. The Ministry of Tourism doesn’t have a track record for this type of major marketing effort.”
Norm Macdonald, NDP MLA for Columbia River-Revelstoke, went a step further.
“This is a huge mistake,” said Macdonald. “It’s an organization with all sorts of accolades that are well deserved. There’s no sign that this has been thought through at all. It’s just being driven by sloppiness over the implementation of the Harmonized Sales Tax.”
He also said he does not believe thought has been given to jobs that might be lost as a result of the amalgamation.
Liberal Minister for the East Kootenay, Bill Bennett, disagreed with this statement and said jobs are not at risk.
“This is not about uprooting and disassembling the provincial tourism marketing apparatus. This is about continuing to do a good job with marketing tourism in B.C. and hopefully improving the job that we do.”
According to Bennett, jobs in regional sub-sections of Tourism BC, such as Kootenay Rockies, where the Columbia Valley is situated, will not be affected by the move. It is simply a taking over of management of these regions by the MTCA in order to remove some of the administrative costs.
“The things that Tourism BC was doing will continue to be done, probably by the same people, but the actual administration will be done by the ministry,” said Bennett.
According to Krueger, all but one job, that of Tourism BC CEO Rod Harris, remained intact and implementation of the newest arrangement is already moving forward. In Krueger's words, “We haven’t skipped a beat.”