BC Tourism Sustainability Network – Regenerative Strategy
The Challenge
While the BC Tourism Sustainability Network was established to transition operators toward green practices, many businesses struggled to bridge the gap between sustainability as a concept and shovel-ready projects. Operators were often overwhelmed by the terminology of regenerative tourism or felt that environmental goals were unattainable due to their specific geographic locations or resource constraints.
The Action
I was contracted as a Program Advisor, providing direct support to Tourism operators across the province and then directly for Northern BC Tourism and Vancouver Coast Mountains outside of regular program operating. My role focused on converting high-level sustainability goals into funded, actionable business plans.
Custom Roadmap Creation: Analyzed unique business data to develop tailored Sustainability Roadmaps and action plans aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Funding & Grant Mentorship: Provided expert guidance on grant writing, navigating provincial rebates, and identifying strategies to leverage diverse funding opportunities.
Direct Stakeholder Engagement: Executed a proactive cold-outreach strategy to identify and onboard operators who were not reached through traditional DMO communication channels.
Technical Advisory: Acted as the primary liaison between operators and industry experts to ensure projects, ranging from solar PV installations to high-efficiency marine motors, were technically viable.
The Result
The proactive engagement model transformed the program’s reach and impact across the province.
High Success Rate: I directly supported approximately 100 businesses, with 80% successfully securing grant bids for their sustainability projects.
Industry Leadership: Successfully onboarded a high volume of BC Tourism Operators, leading the sector in food waste reduction and renewable energy adoption.
Project Completion: Facilitated the start-to-finish execution of diverse projects, including solar energy transitions and marine engine upgrades for coastal operators. I followed up with operators who were successful with their grants to ensure project completion and that they submitted necessary project components to Destination BC, ensuring they received the full amount of their awarded funds.
Insight 1: Outreach
Relying on DMO newsletters is often insufficient for high-impact programs. I found that while operators were eager to participate, they rarely had the bandwidth to monitor administrative emails. By shifting to a direct outreach model, I was able to capture high-potential participants who would have otherwise been missed.
Insight 2: Engagement as a Managed Process
Sustainability projects often stall due to the busyness of daily operations. I treated the advisor role as a project manager, consistently engaging stakeholders to prevent drop-off and ensuring they remained focused on project milestones.
Insight 3: Demystifying Regenerative Tourism
Many operators initially believed regenerative practices were impossible for their specific location or business type. By listening to their existing workflows, I helped them identify where they were already participating in sustainable practices, building their confidence to pursue more ambitious, shovel-ready projects.