The British Columbia government is getting rid of the Crown corporation in charge of promoting tourism in the province and will hand its duties over to a provincial ministry.
Tourism BC will be folded into the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts in a move the province said Monday will reduce administrative costs and allow it to better co-ordinate marketing initiatives.
The transition takes effect April 1 of next year, although many changes including the replacement of the corporation’s board will happen in the meantime.
Tourism Minister Kevin Krueger said the goal is to use the money spent on tourism in the most efficient way possible, especially with the Olympics less than six months away.
“It is the way to move ahead with maximum strength on… the resources that we have and to make sure nothing is overlooked with regards to capitalizing on the great opportunity that we have before us,” said Krueger.
Tourism BC was created in 1997 as a marketing arm for the province.
The corporation’s board of directors will be replaced with a minister’s advisory council, and the corporation’s employees will be moved under the responsibility of the ministry.
The New Democrats are calling the decision a cut, which they say will hurt efforts to bring in tourists from around the world.
“Tourism BC’s plan of doubling tourism by 2015 is really in doubt now,” said tourism critic Spencer Herbert.
Herbert also tried to link the news to his party’s ongoing campaign against the Liberal government’s decision to introduce a harmonized sales tax.
The tourism industry has been among the groups opposed to the tax, set to be introduced next year, and Herbert suggested that’s what’s really behind the decision to scrap Tourism BC.
“What it looks like to me is that this is retribution to the tourism industry for their outspokenness on the HST,” he said.
According to the Vancouver Sun, Tourism BC had a budget of $64.9 million in 2008-2009.
The president of the Council of Tourism Associations said the announcement caught his group off guard.
“We’re trying not to light our hair on fire here and overreact, but we have an industry that is ringing the phones off the hook with people upset about this,” Stephen Regan told the Sun.
