The President of the Kamloops Accommodation Hotel Association says they’re waiting for more details after the federal government announced an extension to the wage subsidy program in last week’s throne speech.
Tyson Andrykew, who is also the President of the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce, says the program has been a lifeline for the tourism industry.
“That’s one tool that will certainly help. Obviously that speech was heavy on announcements and light on details so we’ll wait to see specifically what those details around the wage subsidy extension are because it was kind of tapering off these next few months so we’ll have to find out what those details are,” he said, on the NL Morning News.
The wage subsidy program was due to end in December, but it has now been extended to summer of next year.
Andrykew also says it was disappointing to see just a $100-million for tourism from the provincial government, instead of the $680-million the sector was asking for.
“That ask was very specific because hotels and hospitality, food and beverage and attractions are going to struggle,” he said. “Our message is to hunker down, to find cost savings where you can, and invest only when necessary.”
Half of the $100-million will be spent on a implementing new measures that are brought forward as a result of a Tourism Task Force’s work, and Andrykew says the that task force is not exactly what the industry was asking for.
“Its an interesting way of going about it. I’m glad to see that some people in the industry that I know personally – like Thompson-Okanagan Tourism Association President and CEO Glenn Mandziuk – seem to be assigned or appointed to this task force,” he noted.
“So maybe we are putting the right people in place on this task force to ensure that those monies are directed in the right area, but I fear that it may just not be enough.”
Andrykew says they’ll have to wait and see what the task force comes up with, noting the industry will keep pushing for more supports in the meantime.
Back in August he told NL News that a lot of inter-provincial business travel is starting to resume, which is good news for hotel stays.
