Editor:
The B.C. government has changed the rules for funding tourism marketing, and we need to get on board or be left behind.
While serving as the Sunshine Coast director for Vancouver Coast & Mountains (VCM), it was evident that our community was looked after very well by this provincially funded marketing organization – we were definitely “one of the jewels in the crown.” But Tourism BC has now morphed into Destination BC, and regional marketing organizations like VCM are gone. When CEO Marsha Wolden visited the Sunshine Coast this spring, she stated that the mandate of Destination BC is to market “the province” to the national and international market. Communities like ours were responsible for their own individual marketing programs.
The two per cent hotel tax provides the funding for this to happen. Individual communities are best positioned to identify their unique seasonal tourism attractions and to structure their own marketing strategies. Fifty-three B.C. communities have already signed on to this program; we are among the few that have not.
With the recent loss of 171 jobs at HSPP, we can’t afford to allow our tourism economy to falter. It’s time to get on board and support tourism jobs in our community.
Jack Pope, Sechelt
