{"id":1489,"date":"2020-09-18T16:37:42","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T16:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/introtourism2e\/chapter\/british-columbia-overview\/"},"modified":"2021-06-04T22:32:38","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T22:32:38","slug":"british-columbia-overview","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/introtourism2e\/chapter\/british-columbia-overview\/","title":{"raw":"1.4 British Columbia Overview","rendered":"1.4 British Columbia Overview"},"content":{"raw":"

Origins of Tourism in BC<\/h1>\r\nAs with the history of tourism in Canada, it is often stated that the first tourists to BC were explorers. In 1778,\u00a0Captain James Cook touched down on Vancouver Island,\u00a0followed by James Douglas in 1842, a British agent who had been sent to find new headquarters for the Hudson's Bay Company, ultimately choosing\u00a0Victoria. Through the 1860s, BC's gold rush attracted prospectors from around the world, with towns and economies springing up along the trail (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009).\r\n

Railway Travel: Full Steam Ahead!<\/h2>\r\nThe\u00a0development of BC's tourism industry began in earnest in the late 1800s\u00a0when\u00a0the CPR built accommodation properties along its newly completed trans-Canada route,\u00a0capturing revenues from overnight stays to\u00a0help alleviate their increasing corporate debt. Following the 1886 construction of\u00a0small lodges at stops in\u00a0Field, Rogers Pass, and Fraser Canyon, the CPR\u00a0opened the Hotel Vancouver in May 1887 (Dawson, 2004).\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1488\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"300\"]\"A Figure 1.8 A CP freight train passing through the Canadian Rockies.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAs opposed to Atlantic Canada, where tourism promotion centred around attracting hunters and fishermen for a temporary infusion of cash, tourism in British Columbia\u00a0was seen as a way to lure farmers and settlers to stay in the new province. Industry associations began to form quickly: the Tourist Association of Victoria (TAV) in\u00a0February 1902, and the Vancouver Tourist Association in June of the same year\u00a0(Dawson, 2004).\r\n\r\nMany of the campaigns struck by these and other organizations\u00a0between 1890 and 1930 centred on the province's natural assets, as\u00a0people sought to escape modern convenience and enjoy the environment. A collaborative\u00a0group called the Pacific Northwest Travel Association (BC, Washington, and Oregon) promoted\u00a0\"The Pacific Northwest: The World's Greatest Out of Doors,\" calling BC \"The Switzerland of North America.\" Promotions like these seemed to have had an effect: in\u00a01928, over 370,000 tourists visited Victoria, spending over $3.5 million\u00a0(Dawson, 2004).\r\n

The Great Depression and World War II<\/h2>\r\nAs the world's economy was sent into peril during\u00a0the Great Depression in the 1930s, tourism was seen as an economic solution. A\u00a0newly renamed Greater Victoria Publicity Bureau developed strategies to promote tourism spending, with visitor revenues accounting for around\u00a013.5%\u00a0of BC's\u00a0income in\u00a01930. By 1935, an organization known as the\u00a0TTDA (Tourist Trade Development Association of Victoria and Vancouver Island) looked to create a more stable industry through strategies to increase visitors' length of stay (Dawson, 2004).\r\n\r\nIn 1937, the provincial Bureau of Industrial and Tourist Development (BITD) was formed through special legislation\u00a0with a goal of increasing tourist traffic. By 1938, the organization changed its\u00a0name to the [pb_glossary id=\"2505\"]British Columbia Government Travel Bureau (BCGTB)[\/pb_glossary] and was granted a budget increase to $105,000. In 1939, Vancouver welcomed the King and Queen of England and celebrated the opening of the Lions Gate Bridge, activities that reportedly bolstered tourism numbers (Dawson, 2004).\r\n\r\nThe December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii\u00a0had negative repercussions for tourism in the Pacific Rim and was responsible for\u00a0an era of decreased visitation to British Columbia, despite attempts by some to market the region as exciting. From 1939 to 1943, US visits to Vancouver dropped from over 307,000 to approximately 183,600. Just two years later, however, that number jumped to 369,250, as a result of campaigns like the 1943 initiative aimed at Americans that\u00a0marketed BC as \"comrades in war\" (Dawson, 2004).\r\n

Post-War Rebound<\/h2>\r\n
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We, with all due modesty, cannot help but claim that we are entering British Columbia's half-century, and cannot help but observe that B.C. also stands for BOOM COUNTRY. \u2014Phil Gagliardi, BC Minister of Highways, 1955 (Dawson, 2004, p.190)<\/div><\/blockquote>\r\nA burst of post-war spending began in 1946, and although short-lived, was supported by steady government investment in marketing throughout the 1950s. As tourism grew in BC, however, so did competition for US dollars from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Europe. The decade that followed saw an emphasis on promoting BC's history, its \"Britishness,\" and the commodification of Indigenous culture. The BCGTB began marketing efforts to extend the travel season, encouraging travel in September during prime fishing season. The bureau also promoted visitors to explore specific areas, including the Lower Fraser Valley, the Okanagan-Fraser Canyon Loop, and the Kamloops-Cariboo region (Dawson, 2004).\r\n\r\nIn 1954, Vancouver hosted the British Empire Games, investing in the construction of Empire Stadium. A few years later, an\u00a0increased emphasis\u00a0on events and convention business saw the Greater Vancouver Tourist Association\u00a0change its\u00a0name in 1962 to the Greater Vancouver Visitors and Convention\u00a0Bureau (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009).\r\n\r\nThe ski industry was also on the rise: in 1961, the lodge and chairlift on Tod Mountain (now\u00a0Sun Peaks) opened, and Whistler followed suit five years later\u00a0(PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009). Ski partners became pioneers of collaborative marketing in the province with the foundation of the Ski Marketing Advisory Committee (SMAC) supported by Tod Mountain and Big White, evolving into today's Canada\u2019s West Ski Area Association (Magnes, 2010). This pioneer spirit was evident across the ski sector: the entire sport of heliskiing was invented by Hans Gosmer of BC's Canadian Mountain Holidays. The province also held the title of having 90% of the world's heliskiing market share back in 2016 (McLeish, 2014).\r\n\r\nThe concept of collaboration extended throughout the province as innovative funding structures saw the cost of marketing programs shared between government and industry in BC. These programs were distributed through regional Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) and considered \u201cthe most constructive and forward looking plan of its kind in Canada\u201d (Dawson 2004, p.194).\r\n\r\nTourism in BC continued to grow through the 1970s. In 1971, the Hotel Room Tax Act was introduced, allowing for a\u00a05% tax to be collected on room nights with the funds collected to be put\u00a0toward marketing and development. By 1978, construction had begun\u00a0on Whistler Village, with Blackcomb Mountain opening two years later (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009). Funding programs in the late 1970s and early 1980s such as the Canada BC Tourism Agreement (CBCTA) and Travel Industry Development Subsidiary Agreement (TIDSA) allowed communities to invest in projects that would make them more attractive tourism destinations. In the mountain community of Kimberley, for instance, the following improvements were implemented through a $3.1 million forgivable loan: a new road to the ski resort, a covered tennis court, a mountain lodge, an alpine slide, and nine more holes for the golf course (e-Know, 2011).\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1488\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Four Figure 1.9 Snowboarders on a chairlift in Whistler.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAround the same time, the\u00a0\"Super, Natural British Columbia\" brand was\u00a0introduced, and a formal bid was approved for Vancouver\u00a0to host a fair then known as Transpo 86 (later Expo 86). Tourism in the province was about to truly take off.\r\n

Expo 86 and Beyond<\/h2>\r\nBy the time the world fair Expo 86 came to a close in October 1986, it had played host to\u00a020 million guests. Infrastructure developments, including rapid rail (SkyTrain), airport improvements, a new trade and convention centre at Canada Place (with a cruise ship terminal), and hotel construction, had positioned the city and the province for further growth (PricewaterhouseCooopers, 2009). The construction and opening of the Coquihalla Highway through to 1990 enhanced the travel experience and reduced travel times to vast sections of the province (Magnes, 2010).\r\n\r\nBy 2000, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) was named number one in the world by the\u00a0International Air Transport Association\u2019s survey of international passengers. Five years later, the airport welcomed\u00a0a record 16.4 million passengers (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009).\r\n

Going for Gold<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_1488\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"A Figure 1.10 The crowd at the Canada vs. Switzerland men's hockey game during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nIn 2003, the International Olympic Committee named\u00a0Vancouver\/Whistler\u00a0as the host city for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Infrastructure development followed, including\u00a0the expansion of the Sea-to-Sky Highway, the creation of Vancouver Convention Centre West, and the construction of the Canada Line, a rapid transport line connecting the airport with the city's downtown.\r\n\r\nAs BC prepared to host the Games, its international reputation continued to grow.\u00a0Vancouver was voted \u201cBest City in the Americas\u201d by Cond\u00e9 Nast Traveller<\/em> magazine three years in a row. Kelowna was named\u00a0\u201cBest Canadian Golf City\u201d by Canada\u2019s largest golf magazine, and BC was named\u00a0the \u201cBest Golf Destination in North America\u201d by the International\u00a0Association of Golf Tour Operators. Kamloops, known as\u00a0Canada\u2019s Tournament City, hosted over 100 sports tournaments that same year, and nearby Sun Peaks Resort was named the \u201cBest Family Resort in North America\u201d by the Great Skiing and\u00a0Snowboarding Guide<\/em> in 2008 (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009).\r\n\r\nBy\u00a0the time the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games took place, over 80 participating countries, 6,000 athletes, and 3 billion viewers put British Columbia on centre stage.\r\n
\r\n\r\nSpotlight On: Destination British Columbia<\/strong>\r\n\r\nDestination BC <\/strong>is a Crown corporation founded in November 2012 by the Government of British Columbia works in collaboration with Destination Canada. Its mandate includes marketing the province as a tourist destination (at home and around the world), promoting the development and growth of the industry, providing advice and recommendations to the tourism minister on related matters, and enhancing public awareness of tourism and its economic value to British Columbia (Province of British Columbia, 2013b). Destination BC's corporate site<\/a> and their traveller website, called HelloBC<\/a>, are both valuable sources of tourism information.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Tourism in BC Today<\/h1>\r\nBuilding on the momentum generated by hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, tourism in BC remains\u00a0big business. In 2018, the industry\u00a0generated $20.5 billion in revenue.\r\n\r\nThe\u00a0provincial\u00a0industry is made up of over 19,329 businesses, the majority of which are SMEs (small to medium enterprises), and together they employ approximately 161,500 people (Destination BC, 2018). It may surprise you to learn\u00a0that in British Columbia, tourism provides the highest Gross Domestic Product, or the total revenues produced in a period of time, in 2018\u2014more than mining, oil and gas, agriculture, and forestry (Destination BC, 2018).\r\n
\r\n\r\nSpotlight On: The Tourism Industry Association of BC <\/strong>\r\n\r\nFounded in 1993\u00a0as the Council of Tourism Associations, today the Tourism Industry Association of\u00a0BC\u00a0(TIABC)<\/strong> is a not-for-profit trade association comprising\u00a0members from private sector tourism businesses, industry associations, and [pb_glossary id=\"2595\"]destination marketing organizations (DMOs)[\/pb_glossary]. Its\u00a0goal is to ensure the best working environment for a competitive tourism industry. It\u00a0hosts industry networking events and engages in advocacy efforts as \"the voice of the BC tourism industry.\" Students are encouraged to join TIABC to take advantage of their connections and receive a discount at numerous industry events. For more information, visit the Tourism Industry Association of BC's website<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nOne of the challenges for BC's tourism industry, as long been argued, is [pb_glossary id=\"2683\"]fragmentation[\/pb_glossary]. Back in September 1933, an article in the Victoria Daily Times<\/em> argued for more coordination across organizations in order to capitalize on what they\u00a0saw as Canada's \"largest dividend payer\" (Dawson, 2004). Today, more than\u00a080 years later, you will often hear BC tourism professionals\u00a0say the same thing.\r\n\r\nOn the other hand, some experts believe that the industry is simply a model of [pb_glossary id=\"2607\"]diversity[\/pb_glossary], acknowledging that tourism is a compilation of a multitude of businesses, services, organizations, and communities. They see the ways in which these components are working together toward success, rather than focusing on friction between the groups.\r\n\r\nMany communities are placing a renewed focus on educating the general public and other businesses about the value of tourism and the ways in which stakeholders work together. The following case study highlights this in more detail:\r\n
\r\n\r\nTake a Closer Look: Tourism Pays in Richmond, BC\r\n<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe community of\u00a0Richmond, BC, brings to life the far-reaching positive economic effects of tourism in action. Watch the short video called Tourism Pays<\/a> to see what we mean!\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/vimeo.com\/31624689\r\n\r\nTranscript for Tourism Pays in Richmond<\/strong>\r\n\r\n[Upbeat Music]<\/em>\r\n\r\nNarrator (Dave): Hi, I'm Dave! Proud owner of a working blueberry farm and big-time supporter of promoting tourism. So why does a blueberry farmer care about tourism? Well, let me tell you a little story about John and Jane.\r\n\r\nJohn and Jane: Hi!\r\n\r\nDave: They thought it would be nice to take a vacation. John had ideas, and Jane had ideas. But as they talked, they couldn't decide where to go. They knew their perfect place was out there. They just had to find it. Jane flipped through magazines. John started noticing the vacation ads on TV. On his way to work, John saw billboards and heard radio ads.\r\n\r\n[Muffled radio in the background.]<\/em>\r\n\r\nDave: And once he got there, he talked to his friends about where they spent their vacations. Jane did some research on the internet, visiting different websites, to see which places had what they were looking for. After seeing all their options, John and Jane came to the same conclusion.\r\n\r\nJohn and Jane: We found the Perfect Place!\r\n\r\nDave: They were so excited, they started to plan their trip right away. After booking their flights, John was eager to line up some things to do in the Perfect Place. So he visited the Perfect Place's website, watched a video, checked out the hotels, bought tickets to a ball game, and signed up for the Perfect Place's e-newsletter especially for visitors. John also downloaded the Perfect Place's smartphone app so he could get information on the go. Jane liked the Perfect Place's Facebook page and followed the Perfect Place on Twitter so she could get updates, ideas, and special deals.\r\n\r\n[Beeping from Jane dialing the phone]<\/em>\r\n\r\nDave: Jane also called the toll-free number and spoke to a nice lady who told her everything she needed to know about the Perfect Place. Jane also got the visitor's guide, which helped her learn what theatre productions were in town, where to eat, and other things to do in the Perfect Place. So John and Jane had explored their options, booked their travel, and planned their vacation. They packed their bags and off they went. End of story, right?\r\n\r\nActually, this is where the real story begins. Because what do you think John and Jane do when they get to the Perfect Place? Guess what? They spend their money [ca-ching].<\/em> They spend their money on their rental car, in their hotel, seeing the attractions, enjoying outdoor activities, shopping, and dining out [glasses clink]<\/em>.<\/em> They're happy they came to the Perfect Place.\r\n\r\nJohn and Jane: Woohoo!\r\n\r\nDave: You know who else is happy? The hotel they stayed in, of course, and the bellman at the hotel, the workers at the local company that supplies his uniform, the stores they shop at, and the banks they use. And then there's the restaurant where John and Jane ate dinner. And the waitress who served them their wine? She's happy, too. So is the local vineyard who grew the grapes that made the wine, the people who bottled it, and the drivers who brought it into town. And the blueberry farmer who supplied the blueberries for the cobbler that the waitress served John and Jane for dessert.\r\n\r\nThat's why someone like me cares about tourism in somewhere like the Perfect Place. Yes, I am a farmer, but I am also a business man, and I can draw a lot of conclusions form that story. I bet you can too. Tourism creates jobs. It brings in spending. And tourists pay taxes, which means locals pay less. But tourism in competitive, and without the marketing engine that drives it, John and Jane will take their money to some other destination, where it will benefit some other local economy. Let's make sure our local economy grows. Let's feed it, let's nurture it, help it along, so it becomes strong, healthy, and delicious.\r\n\r\n[Upbeat music]<\/em>\r\n\r\nWords on the screen: Thanks for visiting the Perfect Place. Thanks for visiting Richmond, British Columbia. Tourism in Richmond:\r\n