PAUL NURSEY
VICTORIA – The Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) held its 31st annual Summit in Calgary, AB on July 24-28, 2022.
PNWER is a statutory public/private non-profit created in 1991 by the U.S. states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan and the territories of the Northwest Territories and the Yukon. Its mission is to increase the economic well-being and quality of life for all citizens of the region, while maintaining and enhancing our natural environment. PNWER has become the ‘gold standard’ forum for advancing and addressing files on cross-border public policy challenges and opportunities, including the visitor economy.
Destination Greater Victoria has participated in PNWER for many years, and I had the honour to be part of the Tourism Panel plenary on July 27. Joining me were Hon. Randy Boissonnault, federal Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Barry Penner QC, Strategic Advisor for the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), Laurie Trautman, Director of the Border Policy Research Institute at the Western Washington University, and David Goldstein, CEO, Travel Alberta. The Tourism Panel was moderated by Dave Cowen, CEO of The Butchart Gardens. He is also the PNWER Tourism Working Group Co-Chair and works tirelessly on behalf of the visitor economy within PNWER.
The Tourism Panel discussion was robust and well informed. It was reassuring to hear challenges on the Canadian side of the border such as labour supply and confusion created by the ArriveCAN app are also challenges on the American side of the border. Opportunities such as abolishing border controls like in Europe’s “Schengen Area,” where EU countries operate as a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes with a common visa policy, were also discussed. As part of the panel, I presented on the importance of tourism in the PNWER jurisdictions. Tourism employs over a million individuals and creates almost $70 billion in visitor expenditure in the ten PNWER jurisdictions. Tourism is clearly important across PNWER region, and many people and communities rely on tourism for their livelihood.
The strength of PNWER is that it brings together leaders in Canada and US to address policies of mutual concern. Identifying these concerns as part of the Tourism Panel, as well as in conversations with tourism leaders at the Summit was tremendously educational and provides support for organizations like Destination Greater Victoria when discussing these challenges and opportunities with policymakers. PNWER’s work is aligned with and supports the destination management responsibilities of Destination Greater Victoria. We look forward to continuing our relationship with PNWER as part of our advocacy efforts for our members and our industry.
Paul Nursey is the President and CEO of Destination Greater Victoria
