Ontario’s Near North Travel Association News Release ******************** The tourism industry is currently facing a significant turning point in the preservation of the Visitor Rebate Program (VRP).
Ontario’s Near North Travel Association
News Release
********************
The tourism industry is currently facing a significant turning point in the preservation of the Visitor Rebate Program (VRP).
TIAC needs your support today to keep this important program alive!
The tourism industry does not need another setback, so please take a moment to sign this petition to preserve the VRP Program. Simply
click here and follow the instructions.
To: Hon. James Flaherty, Minister of Finance
Save the Visitor Rebate Program
We, the undersigned, know that eliminating the Visitor Rebate Program (VRP) will cost the Canadian economy millions of dollars and thousands of lost jobs.
Tourism directly employs more than 600,000 Canadians across the country and provides indirect employment for a further one million. Many communities depend almost entirely on tourism for their survival.
The VRP, by which foreign tourists are reimbursed for the GST on accommodation and eligible retail items purchased in Canada, is an attractive travel incentive. Canada is in fierce international competition for tourist dollars. Cutting the VRP without replacing it sends a message to foreign visitors that Canada doesn’t appreciate them.
Our industry is already hurting from the strong Canadian dollar, post 9/11 terrorism fears, the imminent imposition of costly new passport requirements on American visitors and other factors. Many jobs have already been lost. We are deeply concerned that eliminating the VRP will deal another cruel and unnecessary blow to Canadian businesses and communities.
We ask the Conservative government in Ottawa to preserve the Visitor Rebate Program or, at the very least, to consider replacing it with a privatized model.********************
