Tourism Policy and Planning

Running head: TOURISM POLICY AND PLANNING
Tourism Policy and Planning
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TOURSIM POLICY AND PLANNING
1
Contents
Policy instruments recommended by TIABC with the objective of eliminating the exemption on
MRDT and PST for the owners of small properties in British Columbia:......................................2
Is it better or worse that designed policies have been created for the Municipal as against the
policy designed earlier created for the Province?............................................................................3
Discussion on implications of policy creations at Municipal or Provincial level:..........................3
Development of two specific policies or policy instruments to address the issue of lack of
affordable accommodations in B.C:................................................................................................3
Recommendation of two specific policies:......................................................................................4
Justification of two specific policies:..............................................................................................4
Observation:.....................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6

TOURSIM POLICY AND PLANNING
2
There is a definite crisis in the Province of British Columbia in Canada in relation to
availability of affordable accommodations for the workers in the tourism industry. The issue is
widespread with communities across the Province is dealing with the problem of lack of
affordable accommodations for the tourist workers. The Tourism Industry Association of British
Columbia (TIABC) has made necessary recommendations on making changes in the current
legislations to address the issue of lack of affordable accommodations in the province. The
employers of tourism industry in the region are continuously facing the problem in attracting
employees due to this problem hence, immediate actions must be taken to deal with the situation.
Policy instruments recommended by TIABC with the objective of eliminating the
exemption on MRDT and PST for the owners of small properties in British Columbia:
The governance in the country are carried out from three different levels of governments; these
are federal, provincial and municipal. TIABC has urged and requested both the Civic
Governments and Government at the Provincial level to make necessary changes in the existing
regulations as well as to make new legislations to deal with the issue of problem of lack of
affordable places for the workers of Tourism industry in the region. According to TIABC the
main reason for the problem is the short term vacation rentals (STRs) accommodation that allows
the owners of small properties to get away with exemption on Municipal & Regional District
Tax (MRDT) and Provincial Sales Tax (PST) (Baburyan, 2018).
Considering there is no single solution to the complex issue of STRs, TIABC has firstly
suggested that the government must make new regulation to eliminate the current exemption
enjoyed by the owners of small properties in the region as far as the MRDT and PST are
concerned. It is important to note that properties with 3 or less rooms have been defined as small
properties in the region hence, the owners of such properties are exempted from payment of
MRDT and PST. As per TIABC the policy instrument to eliminate the privilege of tax exemption
(MRDT and PST) to the small property owners will have significant impact on the issue of lack
of affordable places for the tourist workers in region. Considering the complexity of STRs,
TIABC has recommended to the Municipal governments to develop regulations at municipal
levels specifically to deal with the unique characteristics of STRs in different communities in
Municipalities. As per TIABC the traditional accommodation providers such as hotels, B&Bs,
Lodge, Resorts and others are under distress due to the current privilege of MRDT and PST
exemptions enjoyed by the owners of small properties in the region. Hence, expectation of
TIABC is that the policy instrument to eliminate the exemption will reduce the distress of
traditional accommodation providers in the future. However, the recommendation of TIABC has
to be examined in the light of the current situation to understand the validity of the
recommendation and whether the policy instrument will truly have the desired effect on the
problem of lack of affordable accommodations for the workers in tourism business in the B.C
("Civil Rights. Places of Public Accommodation. Of Refreshment. Of Amusement", 2018).
It is important to note that traditional accommodation providers (hotels, B&BS, Lodge, Resorts
and others) are under obligation to pay significant amount of provincial and business taxes
hence, they are compelled to charge high rent from the workers and tourist alike to pay these
taxes and break even. With small property owners enjoying the privilege of exemption in MRDT
and PST, the traditional accommodation providers are seriously under distress due to payment of
high rate of provincial and business taxes.