Tourism group seeks funds from City of Powell River

Sunshine Coast Tourism (SCT) is requesting $28,000 from City of Powell River for destination marketing services.

At the April 19 committee of the whole meeting, SCT executive director Annie Wise appeared before the committee to outline the organization’s activities.

She said SCT is a nonprofit organization with a mission to build a strong and sustainable tourism economy on the Sunshine Coast, consistent with the values of residents.

She added that the organization works to achieve this through three primary pillars. They are: destination marketing, destination development and management, and by increasing awareness of the value of tourism among local governments, residents and businesses in the region.

Wise said SCT receives public and private funding from three primary sources. One is local governments, another is stakeholders and the third is visitors.

“For over 10 years now, each of our local governments have provided a collective amount of approximately $80,000, with $40,000 coming from the north half of the Sunshine Coast from qathet Regional District and City of Powell River and an additional $40,000 from the south coast. The shares are based on a population percentage,” said Wise. “This core funding provides us consistency and stability to base our operations on. We use that base as a springboard to manage the two per cent municipal and regional district tax, known as the MRDT.”

Wise said SCT also accesses grants for specific projects. In late 2018 the province changed MRDT legislation to include short-term rentals as collectors of the MRDT. Previously, it was only levied on larger accommodations with four or more room units.

Wise said that money is not only allowed through the change in legislation to be used on destination marketing, but also, for affordable housing initiatives. She said in 2021, SCT sent approximately $86,000 to qathet Regional District for the affordable housing plan, which was an amount collected in 2019 and 2020. She said the expectation is that another $80,000 to $90,000 will be sent this spring from the 2021 collections.

Wise said that despite no major hotel developments, tourism was growing pre-pandemic, and the pandemic hit hard in 2020. She said it recovered and overtook pre-pandemic levels in 2021, reaching almost $25 million of room revenues for the Sunshine Coast. She added that with short-term rentals, revenues are just shy of $40 million annually.

“As Sunshine Coast Tourism, our work has just begun,” said Wise. “It’s more important than ever that we, as an association, are continuing to drive the seasonal and geographic dispersion in our region that supports a high-quality visitor experience.”

Councillors comment on MRDT

City councillor Jim Palm asked about revenue generation from the MRDT. Wise said from the MRDT specifically, prior to the pandemic, the amounts were in the neighbourhood of $350,000 a year and in 2021, that number was just shy of $500,000.

Councillor Rob Southcott said he is impressed by the increase in revenues because of the MRDT. In previous reports from Sunshine Coast Tourism, he remembers a focus on tourism promotion of the area.

Southcott said it appears that SCT’s efforts are drifting into economic development and conservation. He asked how Wise would see the extra money rolling out to the benefit of the industry.

“Have you developed any programs to utilize this new revenue?” asked Southcott.

Wise said in terms of general increase in budget for marketing, SCT has worked to increase the scope of the campaigns to reach a broader audience. She said the organization puts out paid advertisements and publications, and is also extremely active through social media and digital campaigns in creating video content and website articles.

“It’s become really apparent to us that we have a responsibility to not only attract visitors for economic benefit,” added Wise, “but also to educate those visitors before they arrive.”