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UPDATE 2: City leaves Tourism Langley, Township stays

The City will create its own tourism marketing organization, while the Township stays put.
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Langley City is leaving Tourism Langley, saying changes in the organization had made it “Township-centric.”

The City announced the change Tuesday morning. City officials and council had been considering their options for the past few months, following significant turmoil at Tourism Langley.

Meanwhile, the Township of Langley issued a statement at the end of the afternoon Tuesday, saying they are staying put.

The Township is pleased to continue working with Tourism Langley to promote the municipality and show visitors from across B.C. and around the world what its 120,000 residents already know, said Township Mayor Jack Froese.

“With so much for visitors to see and do, the Township of Langley confirms its position to continue working with Tourism Langley to showcase our municipality,” Froese elaborated.

“We have confidence in the Tourism Langley board and the direction the organization is taking. The Township is pleased to be moving forward with them, along with our hoteliers and tourism stakeholders, to show the world all we have to offer.”

The organization has been in the midst of uncertainty and controversy since last fall, when the Township of Langley announced it was going to conduct a review of the service and that Township council was contemplating pulling out to create its own agency.

Earlier this year, the Langley Township returned with a verdict, saying they would remain with Tourism Langley. But they asked for a restructuring of the group, and some members of the stakeholder group were not happy with what they saw as increased Township control.

Not long after, the board moved to dissolve Tourism Langley, saying Township demands were too invasive. The proposed end to the organization was taken to the membership for a vote in early March 2, at which time there was insufficient support to dissolve.

Not long after, Tourism Langley almost voted itself out of existence, and its former chair and a few directors resigned.

About a week later, the Langley City council annouced it would be stepping back and considering its options.

Similar to the Township’s fall revelation, the City said it wanted to review its options and it would consider if going it alone would be wise. That’s the decision that came down Tuesday morning.

In the meantime, at Tourism Langley’s annual general meeting in April, the organization added more Township votes to its board and allowed Township and City members to vote, rather than being voting members.

Tourism Langley chair Taylor Henderson also responded to the City’s announcement today, saying “we are saddened by this turn of events.”

A new Tourism Langley City will be created to serve as a destination marketing organization for the smaller city.

Although Langley Township is more than four times as large as Langley City in terms of population, Langley City has a significant number of hotels. Hotel taxes provide a portion of the funding for local tourism organizations, along with contributions from local municipalities.

According to Tuesday’s announcement, Langley City has consulted with its six hotel and motel owners and has received an endorsement for its tourism marketing plan. The City will submit a plan to Destination BC and cease its Tourism Langley membership immediately.



Matthew Claxton

About the Author: Matthew Claxton

Raised in Langley, as a journalist today I focus on local politics, crime and homelessness.
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