Vancouver Island tourism businesses and stakeholders are participating next week in the Atlantic Canada Adventure Tourism Best Practice Mission (BPM) being held from May 1-6.
The purpose of this mission is to host experiential and educational sessions that showcase best practice principles at the consumer level, business-to-business level and business-to-community level. This Mission is a professional exchange where Island-based tourism businesses share first hand insights into their business success, challenges and ways of adapting to evolving market conditions and visitor expectations. The participants also enjoy experiencing Vancouver Island as a traveller!
Lesley Anderson is the mission coordinator and host. Anderson, based in Nanaimo, is a career tourism professional with over 8 years of background in experiential tourism and another 7 years in the adventure tourism sector as a cycling tour guide. “Our Atlantic Canada guests will be exposed to some of Vancouver Island’s best adventure tourism operators and have an opportunity to learn through direct, personal interaction with the owners and staff to ask questions and discover what has made these individuals and their companies so successful,” says mission leader Lesley Anderson.
Vancouver Island hosts and educational session leads include Wildplay Element Parks, Horne Lake Adventures, Pacific Surf School, Batstar Adventures, Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Resort, Jamie’s Rainforest Inn, United Riders of Cumberland President, Mike Manara, the Village of Cumberland’s Kevin McPhedran, Tourism Tofino’s Executive Director, Kirsten Soder, and the Mayor of Tofino, Josie Osborne. Tourism Vancouver Island CEO, Dave Petryk, will present the Best Practice Session entitled ‘Dare to be Different & the Adventure Travel Industry on Vancouver Island’ to profile the leading edge initiatives of their destination marketing organization and the many adventure tourism companies on the Island.
The purpose of this Tourism Best Practice Mission is to provide tourism planners and operators with first-hand industry knowledge and information on development and marketing models which exemplify such attributes as quality, high productivity, successfulness, experiential travel, sustainable tourism practices, risk management and responsiveness to shifting customer demand. This exposure stimulates the generation of new product ideas, improved business practices, innovative operational techniques, sound planning models and partnerships.
Vancouver Island continues to be recognized as a premier vacation destination. In 2014 and 2015 Vancouver Island was recognized as best island in Travel & Leisure magazine’s World’s Best Awards.
Tourism Vancouver Island is one of five regional destination management organizations in British Columbia that represents Destination British Columbia through the delivery of marketing, media and destination development services.
