ITBC COVID-19 - Stakeholder Call - March 25, 2020
ITBC HOSTS WEEKLY MEETINGS TO CONNECT WITH STAKEHOLDERS
Coast Salish Territories (Vancouver, BC) – Indigenous Tourism BC (ITBC) will be hosting a weekly call, for the foreseeable future for our Stakeholders. ITBC is working weekly with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Destination BC and Federal officials to gather information on new developments as they relate to tourism and provide industry with accurate and relevant updates.
With COVID-19 being top of mind for us all right now, the weekly call shares the latest developments and our pertinent information sources as we all work through the Response Phase and get to the Recovery Phase.
Questions can be sent to [email protected]
The call will be approximately 45 minutes with Q & A time.
The next call is scheduled for Wednesday April 1, 2020 at 10am.
https://zoom.us/j/218945167
Meeting ID: 218 945 167
We will record the webinar and have available on our website for you to view at your convenience. Our team is working to assist the Indigenous tourism industry in BC to work through the COVID-19 pandemic together.
MARCH 25, 2020 CALL UPDATE:
Indigenous Tourism BC aligns with Destination BC in their recovery campaign for the tourism industry in three phases:
- Response
- Recovery
- Resilience
Additional information about the campaign can be found at Destination BC’s website.
How will ITBC navigate these uncertain times with the Stakeholders?
- Gathering Data on the economic impacts for the Stakeholders and the Indigenous Tourism Sector in BC is critical for consistent messaging to government partners for future recovery opportunities.
- Gathering Data on how will ITBC assist in the short term and long term to make sure that Stakeholders survive the COVID-19 economic crisis.
Indigenous Tourism BC is recommending the following to support the Indigenous tourism industry in BC to manage the uncertainty and financial loss due to COVID-19.
- Indigenous Tourism Emergency Contingency Fund to help Indigenous tourism businesses deal with the immediate impact of COVID-19 on their operations and to help operators survive this extended period of uncertainty and loss
- Special one-time incremental funding for ITBC to boost marketing in key source international markets, as well as a Provincial Indigenous tourism campaign targeting the domestic market by promoting staycations
Stay Connected with ITBC
Our team is working hard to minimize impacts and connecting with Governments and industry during this crisis.
We want to hear from you. If you have questions or concerns about the impact of COVID-19, please email the ITBC leadership team.
Paula Amos, Chief Marketing & Development Officer at [email protected]
Tewanee Joseph, Chief Partnership & Governance Officer at [email protected]
Henry Tso, Chief Financial Officer at [email protected]
Q & A
The following questions came up during the March 25 call. We will list questions and answers to our weekly call updates and post a Q&A sheet that summarizes all questions from our Stakeholders in the near future.
Q – How do we properly clean our accommodations?
A – Destination BC’s corporate website has great online resources that all tourism partners should check out. The Hotel Association of Canada has information for Hoteliers @ http://www.hotelassociation.ca/coronavirus/.
Q – Is there a plan in place to reconnect with Stakeholders on updating the information?
A – Yes, we recommend that all of our Stakeholders fill out our ITBC Stakeholder COVID-19 Response survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ITBCCOVID19. In April we will conduct another survey on how our Stakeholders are being effected.
Q – Is ITBC providing workshops during the response phase? For example social media and marketing?
A – The ITBC team will be hosting a series of webinars and one-on-one mentorship during this difficult time. Additional information will be sent out on Friday April 3, 2020.