You're correct about the HST, and I think it's assumed by the industry that the full HST amount will be rebatable for tours, meetings, and conventions. We would at least hope so. That's the fervent desire of the industry.
I was talking to some tour operators today, though, and what I think is important to recognize is that the global travel market is morphing a little bit. For instance, even in China, we see that there's a category or a market segment of people who may prefer fully independent tours, who may want to travel independently, particularly the younger folks between 30 and 40. Perhaps what we have to look at is finding a way to reaffirm the principle that tourism is an export industry and to reinstate an individual visitor rebate program, because if we can't necessarily offset the business costs, at least we can help the customer, the traveller, or the visitor get some of that money back, and that helps everybody in this sector.
What we are hearing from tour operators about the FCTIP is that it's a little burdensome and cumbersome to comply with. There's a lot of paperwork involved. Also, regrettably, some tour operators are choosing to price the GST right into their product offering as opposed to reclaiming it, so they just make the consumer pay.
We don't want to see that. We've had some good, encouraging discussions with Minister Ablonczy and the CRA about their willingness. I think this HST might be an occasion to revisit that.