HUBERT KANG jULY/AUGUST 2018 BCBusiness 99
W
hether it's your rst visit or your 15th
summer staycation, B.C. is one of the
world's best places to be a tourist.
But what is the tourism industry? For
Walt Judas, it comes back to the guy in Sicamous who
fuels houseboats. "He's in the tourism industry but
operates a gas station," says the
CEO of the Tourism
Industry Association of BC (TIABC).
Judas, whose not-for-prot group represents 20 sec-
tor associations covering everything from taxis and
hotels to shing resorts and ski areas, points out that
many people don't know they work in tourism. "It's
this collection of sectors that come together under the
umbrella of tourism, and the power of those sectors is
what makes us such a formidable force."
No kidding. Using data from Statistics Canada,
BC Stats tracks the economic value of tourism for
Destination British Columbia Corp., the Crown agency
that markets the industry and promotes its develop-
ment. In 2016, B.C. tourism revenue—money received
by businesses, individuals and governments—totalled
$17 billion, a jump of almost 8 percent over 2015.
That year, more than 19,000 tourism-related
businesses employed some 133,000 people.
The industry contributed $7.9 billion to the pro-
vincial economy in 2016, as measured through gross
domestic product in constant 2007 dollars. That's a
5.6-percent increase from the previous year—and
more than mining, forestry and logging, or agricul-
ture and sh.
B.C. tourism may be in good health, but challenges
lie ahead, Judas admits. With the industry confront-
ing a labour shortage, he wants more young people
to consider tourism as a lifelong career. Although sev-
eral post-secondary institutions ošer training, many
students come from abroad and return home after
graduation, Judas says, while B.C. residents from the
programs often end up working in other industries.
"How do we retain those and get past the perception
that tourism is only about low-skilled and low-paying
jobs?" he asks. "There are many careers in tourism
that are, in fact, lifelong careers."
Housing is another pressure point—and not just
because it's unaffordable. In smaller communi-
ties, "it's one thing to attract someone to work at
your resort," Judas says. "It's quite another to have
Tourism plays a central role in the
B.C. economy. We explore how the
industry is faring in ve key areas,
from labour supply to Indigenous
options to brand identity
b y N a t h a n C a d d e l l , N i c k R o c k e l a n d F e l i c i t y S t o n e
