April updates from GreenStep Sustainable Tourism:
Happy Earth Month everyone!
Even amidst a global pandemic, there are plenty of things to be cheerful about this month: flowers are blooming, the days are getting longer and our local food producers are preparing for what is hopefully, a successful and fruitful harvest!
Here at GreenStep, we practice gratitude for our Earth every day of the year, and we would not be able to do the work that we do without our incredible sustainable tourism community! We have cheered alongside your successes in becoming better, more sustainable businesses. This month, we want to highlight some of our members who made this earth month special, going above and beyond to make a difference in their community, even when times couldn’t be more difficult. We celebrate the work each and every one of you do to keep our planet cleaner, greener, and available for the generations to come.
In this issue, we welcome SILVER member Jasper Inn & Suites (Jasper BC), and our newest blog post from CEO Angela Nagy gives 4 ways that tourism businesses and destinations can encourage visitors to get outside safely and responsibly.
Welcoming New & Returning Members
SILVER
Jasper Inn & Suites – Jasper, AB
AWAITING GRADING
A View to Remember – Kelowna, BC
Canmore Inn & Suites – Canmore, AB
Canmore Rocky Mountain Inn – Canmore, AB
Copper Point Resort – Invermere, BC
Grande Cache Inn & Suites – Grande Cache, AB
Invermere Inn & Suites – Invermere, BC
Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort – Thompson-Nicola E, BC
Sunwolf Riverside Cabins & Fergie’s Cafe – Squamish, BC
Terracana Ranch & Resort – Fraser-Fort George, BC
The Suites Red Deer – Red Deer County, AB
Tourism Kelowna – Kelowna, BC
Wickaninnish Inn – Tofino, BC
How our members celebrated Earth Day
- Our InnHotels Sustainable Tourism members partnered with TreeEra to plant one tree for every booking made on Earth Day at their Copper Points Resort, Jasper Inn & Suites, Canmore Inn & Suites, & Canmore Rocky Mountain Inn properties!
To see which other hotel properties are part of the InnHotels family, visit their website here., or visit our member website.
- Campbell River Whale Watching & Discovery Marine Safaris participated in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup!
“Not only will we be removing harmful litter to protect our marine environment and wildlife from the impacts of shoreline litter but we’ll also be keeping a tally of the trash we find to help track the major and minor sources of litter in our community and to continue to do our part in helping to eliminate it.”
- Explore Waterloo launched a photo contest for people to share their favourite “green scenes” for the chance to win a $100 gift certificate to support local businesses!
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Spirit of the West Adventures is encouraging people to join the #GreatGlobalCleanup, by offering a plastic free prize package! Participants must take a photo of the clean up they have done and share their story to be entered into the contest.
PLUS, Spirit of the West Adventures is now home to a 40 yard bin for marine debris disposal. Supplied by Comox Regional Waste Management Facility, they can now recycle everything from Styrofoam and barrels, to netting, ropes and foam floats!
GreenStep named “Emerging Rocket” in the Clean-Tech Sector
We are so proud to be recognized by Rocket Builders as an “Emerging Rocket” in the Cleantech sector for 2021! A big thank you to all the businesses and organizations who have helped to make this happen, we couldn’t have done it without you! For a full list of businesses that were awarded, click here.
Resources
Consider hiring an unemployed or underemployed youth!
We know that many tourism businesses are unable to keep their staff employed during these restrictive times. We wanted to bring attention to some programs available to Canadian businesses that might be an option to get the help you need, particularly as the summer season approaches. There are a number of programs and funding options available as part of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy that your business could benefit from if you meet the eligibility criteria.
Destination Canada’s Marketing Tips & Tricks
This video series is designed to help Canadian tourism business get the most out of their marketing efforts, reach travellers and remain competitive. The quick tutorials feature Destination Canada team members sharing their expertise. Tips & Tricks already covered include:
- Creating Video for YouTube
- On Page SEO
- Instagram
- Making Paid Media Work
- Public Relations 101
- Good Data Matters
Visit their website to watch the tutorials!
Virtual Upcoming Events
GSTC: Sustainable Tourism Training Program (STTP)
May 13 – June 11, 2021
GreenStep’s CEO, Angela Nagy, is a trainer for the Global Sustainable Tourism Council STTP program this upcoming May. This four week program dives into the GSTC criteria, and helps provide guidance on how to best apply these criteria to your tourism business or destination. GreenStep’s Sustainable Tourism criteria is GSTC-Recognized, so this course might be a great way to better understand the criteria that you may already be assessed with! If you haven’t been assessed, consider self-assessing using our free sustainability score! It will give you a baseline measurement of how well you are doing using our GSTC-Recognized Sustainable Tourism criteria.
Virtual Tourism Town Hall Series – Canada
Various dates based on Province/Territory
TIAC’s Tourism Town Hall series is an event partnership between the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, Destination Canada, and the local host partners. Local small and medium-sized business owners will have the opportunity to meet with TIAC, Destination Canada and tourism partners to better understand efforts being made on national tourism issues. Check out the schedule on TIAC’s website here.
