While the Tourism Industry in British Columbia has struggled through September 11, 2001, SARS, the war in Iraq, and two years with devastating fires, we are bouncing back in 2004. The first two quarters of 2004 have seen a 5.8 percent increase in Provincial Room Revenue for a total of $728,737,000. The largest gains are being seen in the Thompson Okanagan Region, with an increase of 8.2 percent to May, over 2003. Occupancy across BC is also up with Provincial Occupancy levels reaching 77.3 percent in July, a 6.1 percent increase over 2003. The first half of 2004 has also seen a rise in total passengers to the Vancouver International Airport. As a gateway for travellers, the 11.7 percent increase has an impact on operators across BC. The Kamloops regional airport and Comox regional airport have seen double digit gains this year, experiencing increases of 14.4% and 13.0% year to date, respectively. Declines have been recorded in the number of incoming calls to 1-800-HelloBC, however this has been more than offset by visitors to www.HelloBC.com, which saw a 107.2 percent increase in visitation in August over the same month last year.

CN recently named the Great Canadian Railtour Company (GCRC) successful in their bid to provide tourist trains throughout British Columbia and into Alberta. GCRC plans include the introduction of the Whistler Mountaineer that will operate between North Vancouver and Whistler along the BC Rail line. They will also be expanding the Rocky Mountaineer train service by running a new route from Whistler to Jasper, Alberta, utilizing Prince George as an overnight stop for many guests. The two new services are scheduled to begin full-scale operation in 2006. In the coming weeks The Great Canadian Railtour Company will be holding a set of Product Partnership Workshops in an effort to identify tourism products that would warrant additional stops along the route. The sessions will be held in 100 Mile House, Lillooet, Prince George, Quesnel, Squamish, Whistler and Williams Lake. For full information please visit the Great Canadian Railtour Company website. Dates for these workshops will be announced in the next 60 days.

In recognition of the value of tourism and the demand for skilled workers needed to support the tourism and hospitality industry, the province has designated Capilano College the British Columbia Centre for Leadership and Innovation in Tourism while the Vancouver Community College will now be home to the BC Centre for Leadership in Hospitality. Additionally, a new strategic advisory body called the British Columbia Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training Consortium will facilitate co-operation and planning among institutions, industry and government to ensure the education and training requirements of the tourism and hospitality industry are met. The province also announced that government will invest an additional $1.2 million in special one-time funding to enhance and expand hospitality and tourism training programs at post secondary institutions throughout the province.

The International Internet Marketing Association (IIMA) will be hosting “Successful E-Marketing for Today’s Travel/Tourism Industry,” September 22nd, 2004. This event will teach participants how to overcome limited web experience and understand new media, integrate traditional marketing efforts effectively with the web and what kind of promotions work best online. A panel of experts including John Mast, Director of Client Services for 1to1 Cruise Inc, John Hamilton, Director of Travel for BCAA, Michele DeRappard, Director of Marketing for Rocky Mountaineer Vacations and Peter Loyd-Jones, Director of Sales and Marketing King Pacific Lodge, will be sharing some of their winning strategies. For more information please visit the International Internet Marketing Association website.

The BC provincial government and community partners will invest $4.2 million to launch a new Spirit of 2010 Trail network that will link 18 BC communities through converted recreational rail corridors. The Government of Canada, through Western Economic Diversification Canada, is providing $2.1 million through the Softwood Industry Community Economic Adjustment Initiative. This initiative helps forest-dependent communities that were affected by the U.S. softwood lumber tariff by helping communities create opportunities for economic development that will stimulate investment and job creation. The province and its partners, including Tourism British Columbia and four regional districts, will contribute a total of $1.658 million. The Trans Canada Trail Foundation is providing the remaining $415,000. Additionally, the Province in partnership with the Federal government has allocated $13.5 million for the rebuilding of the Myra Canyon Trestles that were destroyed in last years forest fires. The reconstruction is expected to begin in October on Trestle #18, and the reconstruction plan calls for all work to be complete in 2007.

As owners of the cotabc.com domain name COTA has recently updated their e-mail address to match their website. Now e-mails can be sent to info@cotabc.com to reach the administrator, for Will Harding, COTA’s Policy and Planning Officer wharding@cotabc.com, and to e-mail Cordelia Williams, COTA’s Industry Relations Officer cwilliams@cotabc.com. Mary Mahon Jones, COTA's CEO, can now be e-mailed directly at mmahonjones@cotabc.com. COTA will be retaining its old e-mail addresses for two months, in an effort to ease the transition to the new e-mail addresses.