The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) and the British Columbia Hotel Association (BCHA) are conducting a survey to collect details on the impacts of the recent Accommodation Travel Restrictions (Southern Intern Areas) Order that was put into place in response to area wildfires. The findings of this survey will be summarized and presented to the BC Ministry of Tourism, Art, Culture, and Sport to share with the other ministries.
TOTA has provided the following background information on its website:
- On Saturday, August 19, 2023, the Province introduced a new order under the provincial state of emergency in response to wildfires in multiple communities and to “help ensure accommodation would be available for critical-response personnel and the tens of thousands of people evacuated due to wildfires.”
- Under this order, effective August 19 until the end of the day on September 4, 2023, people could not travel to stay in temporary accommodations for non-essential purposes, including hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, hostels, RV parks, and campgrounds.
While the order only applied to select cities within BC, TOTA and BCHA are asking all tourism stakeholders within the following communities to complete the survey:
- South Okanagan;
- Central Okanagan;
- North Okanagan;
- South Thompson;
- Shuswap
Though the order was initially supposed to be in place until September 4, it was lifted four days after coming into effect (with the exception of West Kelowna, which wasn't lifted until August 24).
Survey Details
- The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Input from tourism industry members is critical to understanding the impact of the Order on businesses.
- If you represent more than one business, please complete additional surveys for each business so TOTA and BCHA have a better understanding of the impact of the Order.
Responses will not be shared outside of TOTA and Symphony Tourism Services and will only be used in aggregated form with other survey responses, ensuring feedback remains confidential and anonymous.
