To the Editor,
Re: Tourism pulled from economic development, Oct. 20.
I am perplexed and unsure what the motives are with moving Tourism Nanaimo from the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation.
The NEDC and tourism are finally getting their systems and marketing programs in place to get traction and increase the tourism numbers. Is that not what we want from Tourism Nanaimo? On what factors is the city basing the decision for moving the tourism team from NEDC? Is the city going to have tourism run by another third-party provider (that does not really understand the region)?
This whole process of changing Nanaimo tourism is not open, or accountable to the public (taxpayers). This more than just impacts the staff, but the whole tourism sector in the mid Island. We have the potential to lose revenue and taxes.
I urge city council and the mayor to bring this process out in the open and make it accountable to the public. Give the public a chance to provide feedback and work towards the right decision for tourism and the mid-Island region.
Jon BeekmanNanaimo