Template for letter TIABC members can send to government:
November 21, 2014
Honourable Christy Clark
Premier
Province of British Columbia
West Annex
Parliament Buildings
Victoria, BC
V8V 1X4
Dear Premier Clark,
(I/we) would like to thank you for your commitment to tourism in our Province. With the recent launch of new branding and marketing initiatives developed by Destination BC, British Columbia is on the right path to ensure we attract more than our fair share of tourists and related investment to our Province.
In order for Destination BC to continue to do its great work, on behalf of (insert your organization/company name), I would like to take this opportunity to urge you to follow through on a commitment your government made and implement a formula-funding model that is based on a percentage of annual sales tax revenue and enshrine it in legislation. This was a commitment made to our industry when the creation of Destination BC was announced on November 3, 2012. I quote from the news release of that day ...
"Destination BC was established on Nov. 2, 2012 and will take full responsibility for operations on April 1, 2013. For the first year of operations the Crown Corporation will receive the full funding that government has used for tourism marketing. After that, funding will be set based on a percentage of annual sales tax activity and enshrined in legislation. This move does not impact the government's fiscal plan".
It is our hope and expectation that this commitment will be fulfilled with the release of the government's 2015 budget.
Sincerely,
(Insert name and affiliation)
Cc:
Honourable Michael de Jong, Minister of Finance
Honourable Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training
Honourable Naomi Yamamoto, Minister of State for Tourism and Small Business
Contact details for the Ministers noted above:
http://mikedejongmla.bc.ca/contact/
http://shirleybondmla.bc.ca/contact/
http://naomiyamamotomla.bc.ca/contact/