The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association (CCCTA) annual general meeting and Tourism Summit held Oct. 13-14 at The Hills Health Ranch had a good turnout.
Tourism operators and other stakeholders from throughout the region were at the summit and took in various presentations on topics, including social media strategies, green tourism tips, incentives and forestry viewscapes.
Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Cathy McLeod discussed Canada’s Federal Tourism Strategy: Welcoming the World.
One aspect of the plan is the foreign convention on taxation of international tourism, she explained.
"It’s been a bee in the bonnet for this riding, how we treat international travel groups in terms of the [sales tax] exemptions. It changed in a way that the operators found very awkward and cumbersome, and they've been looking for change."
Under a new whole-of-government approach, federal departments and agencies will be guided by four sustainable tourism principles, she explained.
These are to foster an open and co-operative partnership with the tourism industry; to apply a tourism lens to policy and program development; to enhance program coherence and accountability among federal departments; and to focus future tourism investments on Federal Tourism Strategy priority areas.
"This particular new strategy commits to gathering experts together in early 2012 and making that program a whole lot more effective," McLeod said.
In an awards ceremony, South Cariboo-based Chris Harris was presented the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Regional Tourism President’s Award in recognition of his more than 30 years of increasing awareness of the region.
Key presenters at the summit included go2 CEO Arlene Keis and the Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia executive director Scott Ellis.
Tourism industry stakeholders participated in discussions with Keis explaining key strategy updates recently made to the province's Tourism Human Resources Action Plan.
Ellis' keynote speech provided his vision of the challenges and opportunities that hunting and fishing businesses face within the current provincial tourism model.
Think! Social Media problem solver Aaron Nissen spoke about the launch of a regional strategy.
Effectively using Facebook and Twitter to promote local tourism operations by targeting tourism influencers, building brand ambassadors, being passionate and having cultural connections and community members were a central part of his message.
Nissen suggested joining online conversations to use the social media to promote area businesses.
"The concept really here is that people have passions. We, as individuals, might be passionate about things on the side; it might be knitting, it might be hiking, whatever, but, we have those passions, and some of us might be influencers."