Last week, Tourism Kelowna joined destination management organizations, hospitality partners, and tourism industry members from across the province in Richmond for the BC Tourism & Hospitality Conference 2022, hosted by the Tourism Industry Association of BC and the British Columbia Hotel Association.This year's theme, Kickstarting the Comeback, not only highlighted the tenacity of BC’s hard-hit tourism industry over the past two years but also underscored the commitment, energy, and expertise needed to successfully recover and build back better.

The three-day conference featured a robust program with acclaimed keynote speakers, expert panel discussions, and best-practice information sessions designed to update and educate delegates after a two-year hiatus. New post-COVID themes emerged, heralding the shift in values and focus to diversity, equity, and inclusion; the vital need for support from local residents; and the role of responsible destination development to ensure the sustainable growth of our industry and the communities we serve. 

We were proud to have several team members contribute to the conference program. As part of the Rev Up! pre-conference track for accommodators, our Director of Business & Destination Development, Jen Horsnell, was pleased to join a panel of experts for a discussion about the important role meetings, conferences, and business travel will play for recovery. Our Director of Community & Visitor Engagement, Chris Lewis, presented attendees with insight on how a visitor centre can evolve into a community shared value, while our Director of Marketing & Communications, Chris Shauf, was featured in a video during Destination BC's plenary session, sharing our story of how community collaboration can leverage shared marketing data to everyone’s advantage.

BC Tourism & Hospitality Conference

Tourism Kelowna stands ready with the rest of the province to kickstart the economic comeback of our industry. Please contact me at lisanne@tourismkelowna.com if we can help connect you to any of the information or experts you see in the conference program that might benefit your own work towards recovery.