Tourism BC Transition into the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts

April 1st marked Tourism British Columbia’s completed transition into the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts. Some key changes have already taken place and as we move forward, part of the transition may include further administrative changes and updates that will be communicated to industry as they are confirmed. We encourage you to carefully read any correspondence from departments of the Ministry to ensure you are up to date on any changes.

Below is information on a few program areas as well as changes that have already occurred and some that will be ongoing:

E-mail Addresses
Tourism BC staff e-mails have been changed to standard government addresses which are firstname.lastname@gov.bc.ca. Please note that former Tourism BC addresses for all staff will automatically redirect to new e-mail addresses for a short period of time. We ask that you change your contact list as soon as possible with updated addresses.

Corporate Website
On April 1st the content from www.tourismbc.com was transitioned to www.gov.bc.ca/tca. In order to ensure users are able to find information quickly and efficiently, site navigation and the information architecture are similar to the previous website. o For more information and to view content on tourism programs and services visit the Ministry's main page and click on "Tourism Industry Programs" or "Tourism Research".

HelloBC® Listings Program, Reservations and Account Management
The Tourism Product Management (TPM) team provides services for tourism suppliers such as the HelloBC Listings program, reservations, and inspections. TPM will continue support programs that connect tourism products with consumers through various distribution channels. We are pleased to announce that in the coming months, the departments of Tourism Product Services, Account Management and Reservations will be merging to provide a one-stop contact for industry suppliers. For more information please continue to contact our teams at:

Product Services (HelloBC Listings) 1-800-822-7899 or productservices@gov.bc.ca
Product Sales (reservations) 604-660-3670 or productsales@gov.bc.ca

WorldHost® Training Services
Through offering WorldHost training across B.C. via the 142 licensed delivery organizations, delivering direct training to tourism businesses in Vancouver and Victoria, and licensing WorldHost training world-wide, the program will continue supporting industry to establish a world-class standard of customer service.

Please contact WorldHost Training Services to learn more at 250-387-1711 or worldhost@gov.bc.ca.

Research, Planning and Evaluation
The Research, Planning and Evaluation team will continue to focus on supporting knowledge driven decision-making and program evaluation by other business units, community and sector organizations, tourism businesses and other governmental organizations. The team will focus on:

• Improving the tracking of British Columbia’s tourism industry performance
• Communicating information on tourism industry performance
• Supporting the Ministry’s strategic planning and other initiatives
• Maintaining, renewing and expanding the knowledge-base of the tourism industry
• Providing research to support knowledge-based management by other business units and industry partners
• Providing research to understand the benefits and opportunities of the 2010 Winter Games

For more information call the research information phone line at 1-877-877-8811, email at tourismresearch@gov.bc.ca or visit www.gov.bc.ca/tca and click on “Tourism Research”.