Tourism, the HST, and other things the B.C. government spends money on advertising

    1 of 1 2 of 1

      The province spent more than $31 million over the last three fiscal years trying to woo tourists to British Columbia.

      That amount vastly exceeds money devoted to any other topic on which the provincial government spent advertising dollars.

      From 2010/11 to 2012/13, just over $14 million was devoted to marketing the province’s Jobs Plan.

      During the same years, a total of $5.3 million was spent “informing British Columbians” about the HST, and after that tax scheme was repealed, informing British Columbians about the return of the PST.

      Roughly tied for third place in advertising spending were educational campaigns about sodium and, more specifically, about “reducing sodium intake and building awareness around sodium consumption”. The government spent nearly $6 million on those efforts.

      These figures are presented in a three-year breakdown of the provincial government’s advertising spending.

      The document was released to the public on July 9 in response to a freedom of information request.

      Comments

      1 Comments

      Evan

      Jul 11, 2014 at 8:48pm

      So, tourism spending is a marketing expense, an expense that yields a 13 billion dollar industry for BC and contributes more to our province's GDP than any other industry. The province should be spending more on marketing tourism in BC. I will take it over oil and has subsidies any day!