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Greater Victoria bets on 10-year tourism plan to boost local business
As it enters year two of its 10-year Destination Master Plan, Destination Greater Victoria says it can reshape the region’s visitor economy – and with it, the outlook for the local business community.
“It is a very ambitious, forward-looking plan,” said Paul Nursey, president and CEO of Destination Greater Victoria at the time of its release. “It’s building on what we value, with a strong focus on sustainability and Indigenous relations.”
He described Greater Victoria as “globally recognized as a must-see destination that delivers world-class experiences while thriving in alignment with local community values and the natural environment,” but stressed that “there is work to do to stay ahead of the competition.”
The master plan promotes the region’s sustainability positioning, supported by its Biosphere Certification, as a competitive asset. The organization first earned Biosphere tourism certification in 2023 as Canada’s first urban destination and was recertified this year.
The Capital Regional District also approved a plan on December 16, 2025, to pursue UNESCO Biosphere Reserve designation for the region. No full certification has been achieved yet. The process involves several years of consultations with Indigenous, political, academic, and civil groups before submitting to the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.
Destination Greater Victoria’s plan also emphasizes the need for infrastructure and product development, calling for new and upgraded tourism infrastructure across the region, including more hotel capacity, improved conference options and a refreshed Inner Harbour experience.
Nursey says the City needs about 800 to 1,200 additional hotel rooms in and around downtown, or roughly eight to 10 hotels, to support growing cruise, conference and leisure demand – a change he characterizes as achievable “if we chip away at this deliberately” and bring more certainty to the approvals process.
One hotel development is already underway at the corner of Broad and Johnson Streets, spearheaded by Chard. It will become an eight-storey, 167-room Hyatt-branded boutique hotel, maintaining the historic 1890s Ducks Building by preserving its facade and rear wall.
Nursey underscored that because Destination Greater Victoria does not control tourism and hospitality infrastructure assets themselves, the plan includes “an invitation for engagement and participation,” noting at the time that achieving the shared vision “will require a collective, community-wide implementation effort across multiple organizations and levels of government.”
As Nursey pointed out in a recent opinion piece, the visitor economy contributes an estimated $2.5 billion and 25,000 jobs to Greater Victoria.
Among the region’s most recent accolades: being named the world’s best small city for the third consecutive year in Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards. The Fairmont Empress ranked #1 city hotel in Canada in Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards, while Magnolia Hotel topped Canada’s hotels in Condé Nast Traveller (UK) awards.
South Island mayors back First Nations–led commuter rail push
Esquimalt and Songhees Nations have entered into a partnership agreement with the Capital Regional District and the municipalities of Victoria, Esquimalt, View Royal, Langford and Colwood to explore passenger service between Victoria and Langford that would avoid bisecting Esquimalt Nation’s 19.3‑hectare reserve, a key obstacle in earlier proposals.
Under the agreement, First Nations and local governments will jointly study alignment options, governance and funding models before seeking support from senior governments. Local leaders are framing the corridor as “reconciliation infrastructure” that could move workers more efficiently between the West Shore and downtown, reduce congestion on Highway 1, and support lower‑carbon growth tied to future station areas.
The initiative does not yet commit the region to a specific route, construction timeline or operating plan, but it formalizes a process for building a business case with Indigenous governments at the decision‑making table.
ʼNa̱mǥis First Nation wins shared say over north Island forestry
ʼNa̱mǥis First Nation and the Province of B.C. have finalized a “first-of-its-kind” shared decision-making agreement for Tree Farm Licence 37 on northern Vancouver Island, a move the government says will bring stability, certainty and jobs to the north Island forestry sector.
Signed under Section 7 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and the Forest Range and Practices Act, the agreement gives ʼNa̱mǥis a formal role in approving Forest Landscape Plans (FLPs) and Forest Operations Plans (FOPs) in the portion of TFL 37 overlapping their territory near Woss and Port McNeill.
Chief Victor Isaac of ʼNa̱mǥis First Nation said the agreement is an “important incremental recognition” of the Nation’s jurisdiction, implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by embedding free, prior and informed consent into approvals for FLPs and FOPs so that ʼNa̱mǥis forest values remain central to stewardship decisions.
Local and industry voices on the north Island framed the agreement as both reconciliation in action and a business stability measure. Port McNeill mayor James Furney said all north Island communities will benefit from the “certainty and stability that comes from joint decision-making.”
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MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
JANUARY
January 22 – Feb 8: Dine Around & Stay in Town
January 26 – 28: 2026 IMPACT Sustainability Travel & Tourism Summit
January 29: Joint Chamber Mixer
FEBRUARY
February 26: Culinaire
MARCH
March 10 – 11: Rising Economy conference
APRIL
April 1: VIATEC Awards
April 30 – May 3: Design Victoria
Douglas Weekly brings local business news, insights and community spotlights to keep Victoria and Vancouver Island In the Know. Got a story tip? Email us.
