Two insights from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are: the high risks facing industries that rely on fragile international supply chains, and the inability of many small businesses to weather economic, health, or environmental shocks.
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Even optimistic projections don’t envision the Canadian domestic tourism market returning to pre-2020 levels before 2022 or 2023, while international markets will take much longer, perhaps to 2026 or 2027, to recover.
Leisure travel is expected to rebound more quickly than business travel. Indeed, some analysts believe business travel will be affected permanently, with 20 per cent never coming back.
Since the start of the pandemic, B.C. tourism operators and their workers have looked to governments for financial support. Some, appropriately, has been provided, but it can’t continue indefinitely given the scale of government deficits currently being incurred.
Moreover, clever and better-funded marketing campaigns by themselves can’t restore visitor demand. If the B.C. industry is to emerge positioned for long-term success, it must act to address its weaknesses, embrace innovation, and develop new tourism assets and experiences.