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Whistler has role to play in shaping tourism's future

Tourism was back in the news last week, with the provincial government's long-anticipated announcement that it was re-creating a Crown corporation, run by the industry, to market the province. Destination B.C. sounds very much like Tourism B.C.
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Tourism was back in the news last week, with the provincial government's long-anticipated announcement that it was re-creating a Crown corporation, run by the industry, to market the province. Destination B.C. sounds very much like Tourism B.C., the Crown corporation the Liberals scrapped just a few months prior to the 2010 Olympics for reasons which were never adequately explained.

The unveiling of Destination B.C. on Nov. 5 was upstaged by the NDP's announcement on Nov. 2 that it too would create a Crown corporation, led by the industry, to market B.C. as a tourism destination. It was the closest the NDP has come to a policy statement since Adrian Dix became leader.

The Destination B.C. announcement builds on last year's updated five-year tourism strategy, called Gaining the Edge, which the Liberals unveiled as part of their B.C. Jobs Plan. Gaining the Edge reconfirms the goal set by former premier Gordon Campbell back in 2003: to double tourism revenues in B.C. from $9 billion to $18 billion by 2015. That target was reconfirmed in the province's 2007 Tourism Action Plan.

Gaining the Edge, the new tourism plan, sets 2016 as the target date to reach $18 billion annually.

It's an ambitious target. Gaining the Edge says tourism revenues need to grow five per cent annually to meet the $18 billion target in 2016. The 2007 Tourism Action Plan stated: "There are... significant challenges to doubling tourism revenues by 2015. The annual cumulative growth rate for the tourism industry has averaged 2.5 per cent, and it will take an enormous amount of work to increase that to an average 6.5 per cent over the next nine years, including a growth spike to nine per cent in 2010."

And how have tourism revenues been doing? According to BC Stats the numbers are:

$9.799 billion in 2003

$10.717 b in 2004 (+9.4%)

$11.465 b in 2005 (+7%)

$12.208 b in 2006 (+6.5%)

$12.928 b in 2007 (+5.9%)

$13.351 b in 2008 (+3.3%)

$12.576 b in 2009 (-5.8%)

$13.169 b in 2010 (+4.7%)

$13.354 b in 2011 (+1.4%)

It's actually quite an impressive performance, and was on target until the recession hit. There aren't too many industries that could post year-over-year growth every year but one in recent times. However, it's still a long jump from $13.354 billion to $18 billion in five years.

For some context, Alberta is hoping to grow tourism revenues from $5.5 billion to $6.5 billion by 2017. We all recognize that Alberta is not in the same league as B.C. when it comes to tourism but it may be helpful to know what our neighbours are trying to achieve, particularly as Alberta's oil patch continues to woo labour with wages that are out of reach of most tourism businesses.

But back to B.C. The latest tourism plan is more realistic in the sense that there is less emphasis on physical growth. Action item number five in the 2007 Tourism Action Plan was: "Ensure new resorts are approved and developed in an expedited manner."

Gaining the Edge emphasizes building on existing strengths and projected demands. "British Columbia will achieve tourism growth by concentrating efforts on those products and markets where B.C. has a competitive advantage."

Gaining The Edge and the Tourism Action Plan both talk about prioritizing key markets. They both talk about working with the federal government to improve air access to B.C., a subject where little more than talk has occurred. B.C. held an international conference on Open Skies in September 2009 but change has been incremental. YVR is the second busiest airport in the country but has direct flights to just 19 foreign countries and 57 international destinations. Toronto's Pearson International Airport, which does twice the business of Vancouver International, has flights to more than 50 U.S. cities and more than 90 other international destinations.

A shortage of labour is on the horizon for all industries as baby boomers retire. It's a theme the tourism industry in B.C. has been pursuing actively and successfully for a number of years with training programs. Post-secondary tourism training programs in the province have grown from about 200 in 2003 to nearly 300 programs in 2011 with more than 7,000 students enrolled.

But a study by Rosyln Kunin & Associates for go2, the tourism industry's human resources arm, shows there will be more than 100,000 (full year equivalencies) job openings in tourism by 2020 — 10 per cent of all job openings in the province by that time. More than 44,000 jobs will be created through expansion and more than 57,000 will come open through retirements. The food and beverage sector is projected to generate the largest number of new job openings: more than 43,000 by 2020.

The point of all this (yes, there is one) is that while reaching $18 billion in tourism revenues in four years is ambitious, B.C.'s tourism industry and government have done some good things to keep the industry growing and prepared for the future. But a lot more needs to be done. And maybe there's a greater role for Whistler.

Tourism is, of course, the business Whistler is in. The tourism industry's weakness is a looming labour shortage and the skilled positions that may go unfilled.

Whistler is already a working laboratory for Capilano University's tourism programs. Many of the best in the tourism business work in Whistler. Hotel occupancy rates suggest there is room to house students at least part of the year.

The Whistler Education Group may be key to bringing all these elements together. Formed last summer, the group is exploring how to grow tourism education in Whistler and meld the needs of the business community and the tourism industry with Whistler's infrastructure. It's a responsibility greater than the attention the group has received, and may prove as significant as the announcement of Destination B.C.