Whereas in the summer of 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Province moved to Phase 3 of BCs Restart Plan which resulted in Destination BC focusing on encouraging residents to Explore BC as a way to promote domestic tourism; And whereas the Explore BC has been so successful that unprecedented number of residents and visitors have sought ways to experience the Provinces natural environment and these numbers are expected to continue beyond the active pandemic phase: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM request that the provincial government provide funding to the provincial ministries responsible for managing parks, crown lands, and recreation sites and to local governments to assist in establishing sustainable tourism policies and programs to ensure that visitor use of lands and natural resources is done in a manner that protects the natural environment in perpetuity.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy BC Parks has observed significant increases in public demand for recreation and access to protected areas for camping and day use; demand which has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic proving the value and importance of these natural spaces to British Columbians. For several years, BC Parks has been working in collaboration with key partners, including Indigenous Nations, to develop visitor use management strategies in areas experiencing the highest use. In 2020, BC Parks piloted a free day use pass in six provincial parks where public use was becoming unmanageable and impacting park values. This pilot continued successfully in five parks within the Sea-to-Sky area during summer 2021 with a Park Ambassador Program in place to welcome visitors and check passes in four of the parks. In addition to free day pass reservations, BC Parks employs camping reservations to provide fair and equitable access to high demand camping opportunities, and to manage camping levels in sensitive backcountry areas such as Garibaldi Park, Joffre Lakes Park and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park. BC Parks is working collaboratively with our recreation partners to deliver consistent public messaging that promotes responsible recreation and shared stewardship of parks. This includes enhanced digital communications through bcparks.ca and social media channels, as well as in-park messaging through improved signage and outreach programs such as the Discover Parks Ambassadors. BC Parks is also proud to be a founding partner in the recently launched Campers Code campaign, a cross-sector initiative aimed at inspiring a culture of respectful and responsible camping in BC and beyond. To respond to the growing public demand for recreational opportunities, and to alleviate pressure in high use areas, the Province recently committed 21.5M in new capital funding over three years to invest in enhancing our park facilities, creating new camping opportunities, developing new trails, and investing in renewing existing facilities that are being impacted by high levels of use. Further to this, 6 million in new infrastructure maintenance funding will be invested over the next 3 years in all regions of the province on high-use trail and facility improvement projects. To further expand opportunities for outdoor recreation, BC Parks is also investing an additional 5 million per year for land acquisitions. The Province regularly adds land to the parks and protected areas system through the acquisition of private land and partnerships with conservation groups, individual donors, the BC Parks Foundation and supporters. The Province continues to invest funding and resources into the management of recreation opportunities on public lands outside of BC Parks. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, Recreation Sites and Trails in the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development FLNR has implemented over 5M in additional direct spending on sites and trails through economic recovery programs including the Forest Employment Program, Stronger BC and the Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program. Recreation Sites and Trails and FLNR continue to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities, local governments, and partner organizations to effectively manage increased use levels. Notable projects include the Visitor Use Management pilot projects in the Sea to Sky District, enhanced visitor use data collection province wide and the implementation of a new mountain bike trail management standard for the province. Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport TACS also recognizes the significant increase in visitor demand for recreational opportunities and access to B.C.s natural spaces and the impact that has on the natural environment. TACS coordinates activities between Destination British Columbia DBC and Government ministries and the local area to help mitigate concerns in areas experiencing high visitor use. The Strategic Framework for Tourism in British Columbia sets out a clear direction to foster year-round sustainable tourism growth and provide world-class tourism experiences while preserving and protecting our natural environment. The Framework aims to guide and manage tourism growth, preserve the environment, and celebrate Indigenous culture, while inspiring travellers to visit all regions of the province. For several years, the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport TACS and DBC, have been working in partnership with the Regional Destination Management Organizations RDMOs, First Nations, provincial government agencies, tourism partners and local communities to facilitate the coordinated planning and implementation of several local area destination development plans across the province. These grass roots plans identify key actions to support the sustainable growth of tourism to ensure tourism contributes to the livelihoods of residents and enhances and protects the natural and cultural assets that make B.C such a desirable place to visit. As part of Governments StrongerBC plan, TACS invested 53M in tourism related infrastructure projects in 2020. These investments were made through the Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program Destination Development stream 20M, the Tourism Dependant Communities Fund 19.4M and the Targeted Regional Tourism Development Initiatives Fund 13.6M. Many of these projects were targeted at enhancement, rejuvenation and creation of infrastructure and services in outdoor recreational spaces as a tool to help offset the impacts of high visitation. Furthermore, Destination BCs approach to sustainable visitor management has been twofold: Long term planning with private and public sectors partners, through Destination Development Management planning work; and marketing lesser-known attractions destinations with capacity to disperse visitation and spending around B.C. Managing visitor capacity and flow to minimize negative experiences associated with capacity challenges is a key objective of Destination BCs Destination Management plan. Destination BC is developing ways to deliver and utilize real-time personalized content, situation relevant messaging, and offers to travellers to help manage visitor flow and dispersion, including the dissemination of timely and relevant information through Visitor Centres across the province. In terms of marketing, Destination BC has responded to capacity challenges by adjusting promotional messaging through its owned, earned and paid channels to support geographic and seasonal dispersion of visitors away from busy areas andor times of year. This includes stopping the promotion of hot spots that are consistently challenged with capacity issues. Destination BC works closely with tourism industry partners BC Parks, Regional and City Destination Marketing Organisations, activity sectors, communities, tourism industry businesses to identify areas of the province, and times of the year, where there is both available tourism product and capacity for visitors.