Tourism Advocacy Update – August 25-26, 2020 - Association de l'industrie touristique du Canada

COVID-19 Updates > Tourism Advocacy Update – August 25-26, 2020

Tourism Advocacy Update – August 25-26, 2020

Publié le 26 Août 2020

TIAC Members are at the forefront of everything we do.

While many items like today’s COVID-19 update are made available to everyone in the tourism sector, TIAC Membership has many other benefits that can help your business. We have begun to revamp our members-only resources, and TIAC Members get exclusive savings and deals on a number of products.

Financial support for TIAC also makes it possible for TIAC to continue our advocacy, leadership, and support to all operators. As a not-for-profit organization, our work is only possible because of paid members and partners. TIAC Members fuel our work for the benefit of all tourism stakeholders.

Please consider joining TIAC and contribute to our efforts. TIAC’s annual membership starts at $395.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Jennifer Taylor

Vice-President, Marketing & Member Relations

jtaylor@tiac-aitc.ca

August 25-26, 2020

Dear Tourism Stakeholders,

The TIAC Team is pleased to provide you with this update on the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, including the steps government is taking to address the situation. We are working hard to make sure the industry’s voice is heard by government, and that you have the information you need to keep your business going in these uncertain times.

Please find the latest updates on official announcements and a recap of TIAC’s advocacy work on behalf of Canada’s Visitor Economy:

TIAC’s Advocacy Update

The Canadian Revenue Agency has begun testing a new chat tool via its website to provide better support to businesses applying to support programs. The tool should launch permanently in the coming days and will be available to members at the link below:
- LINK
The TIAC President & CEO participated in a phone meeting with ISED Associate Deputy Minister, Paul Thompson, to provide a stakeholder update on the state of the industry.

Government Announcements

Yesterday, the federal government conducted a briefing on COVID-19 with the Minister of Health, Patty Hajdu, and the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, Dr. Theresa Tam.
- The briefing focused on public-private partnerships for PPE innovation, and case trends across Canada.
- There was no mention of information on Canadian travel.
Today, the government announced $2 billion in transfers to provincial and territorial governments to implement safer back to school plans.

In Case You Missed It …

Applications for Period 5 of the CEWS program opened on August 17th. There are now new resources, including a CEWS calculator, available to businesses to help navigate changes to this program.
- See the government website for further details.
For TIAC’s members using the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), Export Development Canada has announced a new call centre starting up to provide status updates and document assistance to applicants as some applicants have had challenges receiving the application support they need to receive funds through CEBA.
- LINK

Resources for Businesses

Tourism HR Canada offers a wide range of checklists and resources to help tourism operators and their teams rebound from the crisis and build a resilient workforce through their Tourism Workforce Recovery Toolkit. They also publish the latest tourism employment numbers and insights in their Employment Tracker.
TIAC Member Keepoint is offering members of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada a 10% discount on its products for a period of 60 days. You will be able to purchase our products from our website at www.keepoint.ca – click here for promo code.
The Manitoba Tourism Education Council (MTEC) is offering their “Clean It Right” program certification free to tourism, hospitality, and retail industry businesses in Manitoba until June 1, 2021 – click here for more details.
- The certification is also available to operators in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador – please check with your provincial tourism association for costs and other information.
Our partners at Destination Canada are creating free online educational videos for tourism businesses – “Marketing Tips and Tricks” to increase their digital marketing presence. The first video in the series is available now.
TIAC member Tempest has created a free content platform called Rediscover Canada for destination professionals to share travel storiesand ‘hidden gems’ in their communities. You can check out and contribute to the initiative here.
The UNWTO has an online dashboard of international statistics on the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism sector.
MPI has created a coronavirus resource page that pulls together meetings and events information and also links to several other resources helpful to the Business Events segment in our sector.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has released a series of Global Safety Protocols for reopening with the ‘new normal’ in mind.
Go2HR has compiled a comprehensive list of resources for all types of sector businesses related to COVID-19.
For operators looking for information on how to prepare to safely reopen their operations, the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety has a series of bilingual guidelines available to businesses regarding COVID-19.
Google for SMEs has also launched a page dedicated to supporting businesses during COVID-19 including practical steps and free digital skills training.

Looking Ahead – COVID-19 Recovery

Several provinces have begun announcing plans for reopening economies. Timelines and actions vary, but can provide businesses and workers with information on what to expect in the upcoming weeks and months. TIAC is following up on measures announced by British Columbia to limit gatherings of more than 50 people and seeking a coordinated approach between provinces in the recovery phase. We have reached out to our provincial counterparts to work together in an effort to create an orderly recovery strategy that will address health concerns and support tourism businesses. TIAC will continue to add links to provincial recovery plans as they become available: