A portion of the controversial brochure, named "How to Market Your Business in China," was issued to the public on Monday and immediately began receiving negative feedback.
The brochure reads there is a prohibition on promoting gay tourism and gambling under the regulations of the China National Tourism Administration.
By Tuesday B.C.'s Tourism Ministry offered its apologies for the incident and promised to pull it to correct the offending portion of the brochure. The Ministry provided a written statement saying"The information provided regarding the restrictions around marketing in China published in the guidebook was incorrect."
Spencer Chandra Herbert a tourism critic, who is gay, claims he welcomes the apology but wonders why the brochure was issued in the first place. "Why was this language in the B.C.government brochure? Who put it in there and for what reason? Gay tourism is big business for Vancouver and for B.C. It brings in tens of millions of dollars every year," says Chandra Herbert.
On a call from China on Monday, Bell stated the above was negotiated between China and Canada, and really B.C. had no part in endorsing it.