Canada has long had pride in its reputation of being a clean, green and safe destination for tourists, and a conference next week in Victoria aims to ensure the country stays that way.
The Impact Sustainability Travel and Tourism Conference, which will run Sunday to Wednesday, has been designed to start the conversation around establishing the tourism industry as a world leader in sustainability and innovation.
Paul Nursey, chief executive of Tourism Victoria, one of the conference’s founding partners, said the conference fills a gap in Canadian tourism.
“There were no deep-dive discussions being had on these issues at all, and as a growing industry we will eventually have to adapt,” he said, noting that because there was a gap they decided to fill it.
“As an industry we need tools around sustainability,” Nursey said. Awareness of the impact on the environment grows daily and regulatory pressure is bound to be coming at some point, he said.
“We have an opportunity, a window of maybe two to five years to get it right and do tourism right in Canada.
“It’s a good time for the conversation.”
The conference will feature keynotes from Bardish Chagger, the federal minister of small business and tourism, and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. Sessions deal with climate change, technology, transportation, Indigenous culture, labour markets and new tourism trends and experiences.
“One of the ideas behind this is to have a national dialogue,” said co-founder Jill Doucette of Synergy Enterprises. “The idea was to have a conference specifically focused on sustainability. It can often be a side topic in any industry conference, so it’s exciting to be able to focus on it and really dig into some topics.”
Doucette said that will mean deeper looks into things like low-emission travel, how to make the tourism economy restorative to natural ecosystems instead of destructive, what consumers want and looking at Indigenous partnerships in hope of sustaining cultural assets.
Doucette said there is already consumer demand for sustainable tourism practices, but that will grow and companies in the industry will have to adapt.
“Certainly the sustainable tourism products we have now are great and are clearly resonating with the tourism market, but they are still not the majority of tourism product in Canada,” she said. “It’s a big, complex issue but we’re hoping that out of this conference we’ll have a better sense as to how to move forward as a nation to have a sustainable tourism market.”
Nursey said that is key as consumers are starting to demand operators work in a sustainable fashion.
“I think it’s smart to get out ahead of it,” he said. “Certain segments of travellers place a premium on sustainable tourism.”
Nursey noted in Victoria some operators are already there.
“Here, sustainability is also interconnected with authenticity and being truly local and we do that well in Victoria.”
The event, at the Victoria Conference Centre, suits Tourism Victoria’s mandate to attract new conference business for the city. About 150 delegates from across the country will come to Victoria, filling hotel rooms and restaurants at a traditionally quiet time of year.
