Building on our organization's ongoing commitment to sustainable, responsible tourism and destination development, Tourism Kelowna hosted its first Stewardship Symposium on September 25, 2024. The half-day symposium invited industry and community members to the Laurel Packinghouse for an afternoon of insightful discussions regarding sustainability, inclusivity, stewardship, and networking opportunities.

Stewardship Symposium crowd

Speakers from Indigenous Tourism BC and Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (TOTA) joined Tourism Kelowna's team in presenting about the following topics:

  • Embracing Indigenous culture in tourism
    • In the day's first session, Jamie Bourne, Regional Indigenous Tourism Specialist with Indigenous Tourism BC, spoke of trust, transparency, and working collaboratively with Indigenous peoples.
    • She offered recommendations on incorporating Indigenous culture, spoke of the value of Indigenous representation, and discussed strategies to ensure alignment. 
  • Speaking to consumers and industry about sustainability
    • TOTA's Director of Destination Development & Stewardship, Mike Overend, and Communications Specialist, Nadia Guest, followed with information about the Thompson Okanagan's regional tourism strategy, Embracing Our Potential 2.0. This strategy updates TOTA's 10-year plan and covers sustainability, regional and trail development, accessible and Indigenous tourism, partnerships, and crisis management. 
    • The Symposium session also covered TOTA's 7 Generations Pledge, outlining guidelines to help realize sustainable regional tourism, and the Biosphere Commitment Program
  • Tangible steps to take in sustainability, stewardship, and tourism economics
    • My colleague, Steve Small, and I led this session, which provided attendees with a brief overview of Tourism Kelowna's commitment to stewardship.
    • We shared consumer marketing data regarding sustainable travel and the desire for sustainable options and led a brainstorming activity to discuss tangible steps businesses can take regarding cultural/social, environmental, and economic sustainability. 
    • Attendees were also given an overview of the various audits they can complete and use as stewardship roadmaps for their businesses.  
       

Sustainability Symposium - TOTA Presentation
Mike Overend (left) and Nadia Guest (right) presenting the second session of the day. 

In addition to the sessions above, UBC Okanagan graduate student, Gabrielle Heschuk, presented the results of her regenerative tourism research project, conducted in partnership with Tourism Kelowna. Gabrielle's research centres on elements of disaster management, such as identifying factors that increase vulnerability, how destinations can navigate emergencies and manage their reputations, community responses to disasters, and more. 

Tourism Kelowna members and partners will soon be able to access an executive summary of Gabrielle's research. A recovery toolkit developed during her research was also unveiled at the symposium; it is available to download here

Keeping with the sustainability theme, we're proud to announce that every single use item used during the event was compostable and has been sent to Valleywide Compost's commercial composting facility in Lake Country. Five trees were planted for every person in attendance at the Symposium, resulting in 250 trees being planted in British Columbia as a legacy of this inaugural event.

If you'd like to learn more about the Sustainability Symposium, don't hesitate to contact me at chris@tourismkelowna.com or contact my colleague, Jacqui Dowling, at jacqui@tourismkelowna.com