WHEREAS many local visitor centres in British Columbia are in need of a higher level of funding to maintain current levels of services to attract more visitors, which provides economic opportunities for local communities; AND WHEREAS there is an inadequate level of provincial funding provided to visitor centres and local governments are unable to address this financial shortfall: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM petition the Province to increase the level of funding for the improvement and operation of effective visitor centres.
Ministry of Jobs, Tourism Innovation The provincial government recognizes the importance of Visitor Centres in encouraging visitors to stay longer, spend more money and return to our province. The overall budget for the Visitor Centre Network program in 2011 is 2.2 M which includes membership benefits such as access to trademarks, highway signage, training and materials, staff uniforms, online stats database and educational SharePoint site, as well as the fee for service. In addition, a Network conference is offered annually. Of the 2.2 M, the annual fee for service has increased by 70 from 2001 to 2011 less than 1 million in 2001 to nearly 1.7 million today and is provided to recognize regional and provincial servicing. It is up to a community to decide whether to operate a visitor centre, and the ministry does not provide those centres with operational or capital funding.