Clark announces tourism strategy amid criticism

Premier Christy Clark has announced a five-year tourism strategy amid concerns B.C. could lose its post-Olympic advantage won by hosting the 2010 Winter Games.

Clark  says it's part of the Liberal government's jobs plan and aims to produce an annual growth of five per cent in tourism revenue, expected to reach $18 billion a year by 2016.

Clark told a tourism industry conference in Victoria that the province will focus on ecotourism, city experiences, skiing and snowboarding, aboriginal tourism and outdoor adventure.

This year's ski marketing campaign, which runs from November to March, will focus primarily on the Toronto area, where transit shelter ads and subway posters will promote travel to B.C.

Clark's announcement comes as the Opposition New Democrats cite government statistics that they say reveals fewer people are visiting B.C. today than in 2009, a year before the Olympics.

But a University of B.C. study released today concludes the 2010 Olympics contributed to economic growth in British Columbia and prompted tourists to spend more money.