B.C. funding supports new 2SLGBTQIA+ tourism initiative in the Okanagan – Okanagan | 24CA News
National tourism week kicked off on Monday with a $6 million tourism funding.
The funding is thru Destination British Columbia’s Cooperative Marketing Partnerships program to help vacation spot and activity-specific tourism initiatives throughout the province.
“The program helps partners drive consumer demand and increase tourism revenues in communities throughout the province by investing in seasons and areas where capacity exists, leveraging a variety of funding sources to maximize impact, and creating deep collaboration within the industry,” learn the Destination British Columbia news launch.
“A made-in-BC approach that has continued to be a competitive advantage on the global stage.”
According to Destination BC, this yr’s program was expanded by means of extra Provincial one-time funding and can help 70 initiatives for key tourism exercise sectors and group consortiums.
“Consortiums help visitors better understand the diverse areas of the province, the unique experiences available within them, and the numerous ways to travel among them, while increasing visitation and room night revenue in shoulder seasons,” continued the discharge.
One of the recipients is a brand new native initiative referred to as ‘Traveling Out in the Thompson Okanagan’ which focuses on inclusive tourism efforts.
The initiative is being led by Tourism Kelowna in partnership with Travel Penticton, Destination Osoyoos, Tourism Vernon, and Tourism Kamloops.
“Destination British Columbia has a co-op marketing program which we’ve been participants in for a number of years, we’ve participated in a number of programs and this year this is a new one that we’re really excited to participate in,” mentioned Tourism Kelowna Marketing and Communications director Chris Shauf.
“Really what we’re doing is taking our individual efforts many of us have been working to invite the 2SLGBTQIA+ travel segment to our destinations. But really this allows us to work together to combine forces and to really enhance our offering. With the support of Destination British Columbia, we’re really able to take it to the next level.”
Shauf went on to say that this system is to behave as an enhancement to inclusive tourism efforts which are already in place inside every group.
“Really what we want to do here is to let 2SLGBTQIA+ plus travellers know about the Okanagan, know that we’re here year-round, we’ve got great travel experiences throughout the year,” mentioned Shauf.
“Of course, you come here in the summer, come for the Pride festivities, but we want to make sure that people know and can come throughout the year – we’ve got something in every season for them. We want them to come to spend more time, see more communities, travel around the region.”
Tourism Kelowna says it’s vital to the group to make sure the group is welcoming for everybody.
“We know that inclusive travel is important for everyone and making sure that everybody feels that they’re safe, they’re taken care of and have a space and that’s something that the entire travel and tourism industry has been doing for a number of years,” mentioned Shauf.
“We’re really excited to get started on this partnership with the surrounding community’s destination British Columbia to further our efforts in this regard.”
Now that funding has been introduced, planning is underway and extra data is anticipated to be introduced within the fall by every group.
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