Innovative Practices - Environmental Stewardship
- Canadian Mountain Holidays
Based out of Banff, Alberta, Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH) is one of the oldest adventure travel companies and was the first company in the world to pioneer heli-skiing and heli-hiking. Hans Gmoser started CMH over 40 years ago and recognized that mountains and people were his greatest assets and established a culture of stewardship that continues to guide CMH operations and leadership today. Today CMH has 12 operations throughout the Columbia Mountains of southeastern British Columbia with an operating area that encompasses approximately 15,000 square kilometers of terrain, granted under Licenses of Occupation from the British Columbia government.
- Strathcona Park Lodge
The breathtaking natural beauty of rural British Columbia is the backbone of our tourism industry. With yearly increases in visitors to our rural regions education about the environment and our impact we are having on it is key. We live in a fast paced, profit driven society and some tourism operators give little thought to the impact that they and their visitors may have on the environment around them. These operators are missing out on a great opportunity to educate themselves and their visitors about the importance of protecting the very thing that makes our province such a wonderful place to visit. Environmental education should be an important part of every rural tourism based business. Too often visitors come and go without being exposed to the possibility of learning to lessen their ecological footprint and having the opportunity to be educated about the environment around them.
- Stubbs Island Whalewatching
As the number of visitors to British Columbia's rural regions increases yearly there is an increased strain on the surrounding natural environment. With this increased tourism growth it is essential that there are regulations in place to protect the environment that surrounds these often fragile areas. However, in many circumstances there are no guidelines in place that control how tourism operators conduct themselves in a given area. In many tourism sectors there is very little in the way of organized and unified guidelines for tourism operators to follow. There are however, examples of tourism operators who have lead the charge and have been champions for their industry in trying to ensure that the impact of their operations has minimal effects on the environment around them.
- Prince Rupert Adventure Tours
West Coast Launch Ltd., the parent company to Prince Rupert Adventure Tours, is a family business locally owned and operated by Doug and Debbie Davis. West Coast Launch Ltd. has been in business since 1988, limited in 1992. The business began by operating vessels along the coast meeting the needs of a wide range of clients who required reliable passenger transport.
INNOVATIVE PRACTICES - DOWNLOAD HERE
- Haida Heritage Centre
The Haida Heritage Centre at Kaay Llnagaay was a project envisioned by community leaders and band members for over 40 years. In 1993 a meeting was held with community and island groups to conceptualize the Heritage Centre. Initial partnerships were established between the Skidegate Band Council and both the Haida Gwaii Museum Society and the Archipelago Management Board (the body responsible for Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site) who entered into occupation agreements to lease space in a new building. The 53,000 square foot cedar multi-complex was completed and opened in 2007.
INNOVATIVE PRACTICES - DOWNLOAD HERE
- Spirit of the West Adventures
The nature-based tourism industry relies on the planet's natural beauty and pristine wilderness for survival. Continually rising greenhouse gas emissions and global impacts from human activity are increasingly threatening the nature-based tourism product. All three owners have been long time environmental stewards and recognized that many of their guests came out on kayaking tours to participate in a style of trip that has minimal impact on the environment. "We firmly believe that a business can operate successfully and still have a minimal or positive impact on the environment in which we all live". Breanne, Rick and John not only felt the need for corporate environmental initiative, but also to begin raising the bar in terms of environmental commitment and sustainability in the eco-tourism industry.
INNOVATIVE PRACTICES - DOWNLOAD HERE
