AS WHISTLER businesses ponder what their reopening plan looks like in the coming weeks—and worry about a tourism industry that will likely be slow to recover—there are some encouraging signs from the federal government.
In a recent call with Whistler Chamber CEO Melissa Pace, federal economic development minister Melanie Joly talked about the importance of the resort.
"The first thing she said was she recognizes Whistler as Canada's gem, and that we are very hard hit by this economic downturn, by the pandemic, and is seriously taking into consideration what it would look like long-term for us as a recovery," Pace said.
"So we know that the government at all levels is looking at not just nationally what that recovery looks like, but because we are and have consistently provided half a billion dollars in tax revenue to the government, they are looking at Whistler as a place where they really want to focus on, so let's see where those conversations go."
Pace made the comments during an Advocacy in Action webinar held over Zoom on Monday, May 4.
Mayor Jack Crompton and Chief Administrative Officer Virginia Cullen were also on the call to take questions from the local business community.
"That advocacy seems to be getting some traction and consideration. I have the real sense that there will be some additional support to our industry," Crompton said.
"The prime minister talked about it again today, and my conversations with my federal counterparts are that they recognize the challenges that the tourism sector faces, and how unique those challenges are.
"They're taking them seriously and they're preparing supports that will be in addition to what else is out there."
As the Resort Municipality of Whistler moves towards "reopening" the local economy, it's important to be coordinated, Cullen said.
"So we need to be sharing information, we need to be learning as much as we can," she said.
"It's a fluid situation, and so we cannot plan our way into this. We actually have to be learning and be adjusting and implementing on a much faster level than we have in the past, so I'd say in terms of what we're focusing on right now it's how do we get our team and our partners in that mindset so we are adjusting and learning as we go."
Whistler has been here before, Crompton added—not in the middle of a global pandemic, but in hard economic times.
"I think that what is critical in this whole process is a focus on the task, but also patience with it," he said.
"I think that this will be a long walk in the same direction. We're going to need all of the creativity and energy that we can muster in the effort, but we've been successful in the past."
While patience will be necessary as it relates to a full economic rebound, Crompton said he expects the community needs to be prepared for significant rubber-tire traffic this summer.
"As other nations have opened, the drive market has been significant ... I think it's something that we need to prepare ourselves for, because I believe it will happen fairly quickly," Crompton said.
"We need to, as a community, work hard to be prepared for that, because another point is that likely there won't be the same number of businesses open."
The other issue to keep in mind is the safety of the community as visitors start to return, and "the key on that is definitely those directions that have been provided by the provincial health officer," the mayor added.
It's important for the business community to reach out to the municipality through the recovery process, Cullen added.
"The more the local business can share experiences with Jack and I, and also provide ideas and solutions for what we're seeing, that is really helpful," she said.
"We'll be listening for that and collecting those things and implementing where it makes sense."
