Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

TOURISM KAMLOOPS

Tourism Kamloops calls on the province to fund COVID-19 stimulus package for tourism businesses in BC

Sep 1, 2020 | 4:31 PM

eKAMLOOPS — In British Columbia, the tourism industry generates more than $20 billion, and more than $8 billion of which goes towards the province’s Gross Domestic Product.

This year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many tourism businesses are barely scraping by. That’s why in July the Tourism Industry Association of BC asked the province for a $680 million recovery stimulus package.

Today (September 1st), Tourism Kamloops and the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce have renewed that call for help for the tourism industry, amid fears that if something isn’t done, many tourism businesses could be gone for good.

In 2018, tourism contributed more to the provincial economy than mining, oil and gas, or food production. However this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down international travel, creating a large gap in revenue for tourism businesses.

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“There is no sugar coating it,” Tourism Kamloops Executive Director Beverley DeSantis says. “It’s a dire situation, and we need help.”

According to DeSantis, revenue generated from travellers to our city is down 75% in 2020. That’s why Tourism Kamloops has joined the Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC) and the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce in calling on the province for a significant recovery stimulus package.

“We’re asking for $680 million in grants, funding opportunities, low-interest or no-interest loans just to help our businesses get through what has decimated our industry,” DeSantis says.

“First, we need the provincial government to step forward and put an economic recovery plan on the table,” Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone tells CFJC Today. “[That plan] should include significant support for the tourism industry.”

Stone was quick to point out the economic benefit the provincial and local economies see from tourism each year.

“When you consider the $20 billion impact that the tourism industry has on British Columbia when you think of the $500 million-impact that tourism has in Kamloops every year, in a normal year, this is not sustainable,” Stone says. “We are going to see an absolute catastrophe unfold here in Kamloops in the tourism and hospitality sectors if there isn’t any support forthcoming from the John Horgan government.”

The initial call for an economic stimulus package came from TIABC back in July. DeSantis is concerned if the province waits too long to make a decision, businesses could close and jobs could be lost forever.

“It will decimate and fracture our industry beyond repair,” DeSantis tells CFJC Today. “This is an industry that provides the majority of our GDP – the second-highest amount of the GDP in the province. If it fails, if it starts to fail, the ripple effect will be massive for our province and devastating for our workers and our business.”

In June, the Province of BC asked for the public’s input in spending $1.5 billion of the $5 billion in pandemic recovery funds. Tourism Kamloops wants residents to speak out, and tell the province about the importance of tourism to the region.