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Premier Campbell Opens B.C. Visitor Centre @ Peace Arch

April 20, 2009

Peace Arch– Premier Gordon Campbell joined tourism industry officials today to celebrate the opening of the new $4.6-million B.C. Visitor Centre @ Peace Arch.

“Tourism is one of British Columbia’s most important industries. By working together, tourism operators, associations, and all levels of government are improving the infrastructure that supports the industry,” Premier Campbell said today. “The B.C. Visitor Centre at Peace Arch is a stunning facility, showcasing B.C. wood products that show the best of B.C. to the millions of people who pass through this border crossing each year.”

About three million vehicles per year pass through the Peace Arch border. More than 250,000 visitors expected to come to B.C. to for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. Visitors to the centre will be introduced not only to Metro Vancouver, but to all regions of B.C.

“The Province and the Premier have made tourism a priority, and that’s a significant benefit to the industry,” said Jim Storie, Chair of the Council of Tourism Associations of BC. “This is a job-generating, and provincial revenue-generating industry, and I’m pleased to see the commitment today in opening this beautiful Visitor Centre.”

The design of the B.C. Visitor Centre at Peace Arch is inspired by a Semiahmoo First Nations winter dwelling, with a Great Hall supported by local Douglas Fir columns. The layout of the building on the narrow site mimics the twisting Fraser River. From the air, the footprint of the building looks like one of B.C.’s Gulf Islands.

The building employs extensive use of local B.C. engineered forest products, and a combination of passively-reduced heating loads and an in-floor radiant heating and cooling system.

Tourism in British Columbia is a $13-billion per year industry, and is responsible for 120,000 direct and 170,000 indirect jobs in B.C., about 5 per cent of the total provincial workforce. The Province more than doubled Tourism BC’s funding from $25 million in 2001 to approximately $60 million in 2009.
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