VANCOUVER -- With tourist destinations around British Columbia telling people to stay away during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vancouver International Airport has created some virtual postcards aimed at selling would-be travellers on the virtues of their own homes.
"These digital postcards are here to help you discover the wonders that await you as you stay home and help #flattenthecurve," the airport tweeted Thursday, along with four images styled after the kinds of old-fashioned paper postcards that might normally be advertising exotic destinations.
Instead of far-flung locales, the images showcase more mundane places, such as the couch in your living room or the lobby of your apartment building. "Enjoy the great outdoors from the comfort of your balcony," suggests another.
The airport elaborated on the message of each postcard in subsequent tweets, encouraging people to stay away from the facility that normally welcomes millions of passengers each year unless they are airport employees or on essential travel.
Instead of going to the airport, "treat yourself to a relaxing spa experience from the familiar confines of your very own bathroom," YVR tweeted.
The message to stay home and avoid non-essential travel in order to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus comes from health officials, but it has been echoed by B.C.'s tourism industry in recent weeks.
Last month, tourist destinations around the province, including Tofino, began urging visitors to cancel their trips and stay home.
More recently, Destination British Columbia, the organization tasked with promoting the province to the world, released a new promotional video urging would-be visitors to stay away, for now.
