B.C. tourism seeks relief as businesses wait for COVID-19 restrictions to ease

Mid-June earliest for more in-province travel to be authorized

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B.C. tourism businesses are preparing for the easing of COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions within the province, and many fear they won’t be able to stay viable until it happens.

Premier John Horgan and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry indicated this week there could be movement by the end of June, if coronavirus infection rates remain low.

“We are watching very carefully now because as things are opening up we may start to see cases increase,” Henry said May 27. “If we can do that in a slow and measured way, then by the middle of June we should absolutely be able to move out a little bit more.”

Horgan was cautious about the beginning of phase three of the B.C. government’s restart plan, which includes camping, hotels and theatres. The official timeline is for June to September, based on COVID-19 transmission rates.

“We need to see how phase two goes before we start contemplating phase three,” Horgan said May 27. “But our focus is on public health, making sure people are safe. We want to get the economy back to a place where people can be comfortable going to work, going to shop, going to visit destinations around B.C., but we are not certainly at stage three yet, we are expecting that to be sometime later into the middle of June.”