Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia

Running head: TOURISM POLICY AND PLANNING
Tourism Policy and Planning
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TOURISM POLICY AND PLANNING
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Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
Type of policy instrument used in the recommendations of TIABC to eliminate both MRDT and
PST:.................................................................................................................................................2
The designed policy created for the Municipal instead of Provincial; is it better or worse?
Implications of creation of policies either at Municipal or provincial level:..................................2
Development, justification and recommendation of two specific policies or policy instruments to
address the issue of lack of affordable accommodation for the workers and employees in the
tourism industry:..............................................................................................................................4
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6

TOURISM POLICY AND PLANNING
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Introduction:
The Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia, here in after to be referred to as TIABC
in this document, understanding the need to immediately address the issue of lack of affordable
accommodation for the employees and workers of Tourism industry in the province has called on
the Civic bodies and Province to take necessary steps to address the issue. Implementation of
appropriate rules and regulations by the Government including Civic bodies and the Province is
the need of the hour as per the TIABC. A brief discussion on the recommendations of TIABC
including the suggested policy instrument to eliminate the Municipal and Regional District Tax
(MRDT), Provincial Sales Tax (PST) along with their effectiveness is provided in this document.
Type of policy instrument used in the recommendations of TIABC to eliminate both
MRDT and PST:
TIABC has called on Civic govt. and the Province to make necessary regulations and implement
these to tackle the problem of lack of affordable accommodations in the region for the workers
and employees of tourism industry. TIABC has urged the local politicians across British
Columbia (BC) and the government in the Province to come up with policy instruments to deal
with propagation of short-term vacation rental (STRs) accommodation. Number of communities
across the region has used STRs that has contributed to the issue of lack of affordable
accommodations to the tourist workers in the region (Ambrozik, 2016).
The problem presented by short term rental accommodations to contribute to lack of affordable
accommodations across the Province has no one solution hence, TIABC suggested immediate
elimination of exemption on PST and MRDT that owners of small properties (properties with 3
or less rooms) enjoy under the existing regulation. The policy instrument suggested that the
Province must eliminate the privilege of exemption of PST and MRDT for owners of small
properties. TIABC expects that the implementation of policy instrument by the Province to have
positive impact on the issue of shrinking affordable rental pool across various communities in the
province. In addition TIABC has also requested the local government to develop specific
regulations applicable to different communities to deal with the problem of STRs keeping in the
mind the specific characteristics of different communities. The regulations must be developed to
compel the property owners to offer the rooms and to reduce the distress currently suffered by
the traditional accommodation providers in comparison to the owners of small properties for the
advantage of exemption on MRDT and PST in the current legislation (Bloom, 2019). Thus,
creating level playing field for both the traditional small providers and owners of small
properties is also one of the objectives behind introducing new regulations. It is important to note
in this regard that traditional accommodation providers including hotels, B&Bs, resorts and
others pay significant amount of taxes (both provincial and business taxes) as compared to the
huge exemption of MRDT and PST currently enjoyed by the owners of small properties. Hence,
the policy instrument recommending complete withdrawal of current exemption of MRDT and
PST for small property owners is expected to ensure a level playing field for the traditional
accommodation providers to reduce the problem of lack of affordable accommodation in the
region as per TIABC (Brannas & Nordstrom, 2019).