Kootenay Rockies CDS meets with BC Regional Community Marketing Team

Back Row: Emilie Cayer-Huard, Kootenay Rockies; Shawna Leung, Vancouver Coast and Mountains; Linda Krenz, Sport Tourism, Tourism BC; Laura Plant, Manager, Community Partnerships, Tourism BC; Jody Young, Vancouver Island; and Monique Willis, Community Development, Tourism BC; Front Row: Jillian Fisher, Northern BC and Simone Carlysle-Smith, Thompson Okanagan; Not Pictured: Keith Baldwin, Community Partnerships, Tourism BC and Amy Thacker, Cariboo Chilcotin Coast. —

Photo courtesy Kootenay Rockies Tourism

On April 3, 2012, the annual Regional Community Team meeting was held, in Tourism BC’s headquarters in Vancouver. Emilie Cayer-Huard, community development specialist (CDS) for the Kootenay Rockies region, attended the meeting along with her counterparts from the five other regions in BC. Laura Plant, Tourism BC's manager of community partnerships and Keith Baldwin, Tourism BC's community programs specialist were also at the meeting.

This annual get together provides an opportunity to share experiences and information about tourism development throughout the province. The agenda included a review of the various programs related to  community development, such as the Community Tourism Foundation (CTF), the Community Tourism Opportunities (CTO), Tourism BC’s Business Essential guides and workshops, an overview of regional priorities and key marketing strategies.

Emilie Cayer-Huard commented: “The community programs are all designed to support local tourism organizations in building capacities and increase efficiency—from providing the tools to develop a comprehensive tourism plan, to cost-sharing key marketing initiatives and facilitating industry workshops, there is a wide range of resources available. My role is to keep the communities throughout the Kootenay Rockies informed on those resources and to support co-ordinate initiatives.”

One of the main agenda items was to review all the project proposals for the upcoming year from the communities participating in the Community Tourism Opportunities (CTO) program.

“The CTO program is really tailored to be community-driven. There is a lot of flexibility in the projects that are approved because we, as the Regional Community team, want to ensure that the communities can achieve what is on their priority list,” said Cayer-Huard.

During the fiscal year 2011-2012, 16 communities in the Kootenay Rockies participated in the CTO program. They completed various projects, all cost shared with the province up to a total budget of $254,000. The projects included pieces such as the design and production of brochures and maps, community branding activities, mobile websites and the production of promotional videos.