The College of the Rockies played host to the second annual World Tourism Day event at the Cranbrook campus, with events and speakers on offer.
Becky Pelkonen, Tourism Management faculty member said the event has been great, with a live stream of the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) events.
“It’s really neat we can tap our little town on Cranbrook into what’s going on in Saudi Arabia with the United Nations World Tourism Organization,” said Pelkonen. “It makes us feel special and connected to what’s going on globally.”
This year’s event was focused on the topic ‘Tourism and Green Investments.’
“They’re talking about this issue of people relying on the tourism industry, but it’s really under threat due to climate change,” said Pelkonen. “So, what can we do as a global community to encourage green investments, technological advancements and ways to reduce our carbon emissions to protect this industry for future generations.”
The event opened on Wednesday with the opening ceremony and continued into Thursday with a panel of speakers.
College officials said a number of people appeared to speak on this year’s theme:
- Chris McCurry, Kootenay Rockies Tourism
- Cranbrook Tourism & the City of Cranbrook
- Tristen Chernove, Elevate Airports Inc.
- Craig Campbell and Marty Williams, ʔaq̓am Community Enterprises Cranbrook
- College of the Rockies Tourism Management students Tara Norberg and Ally Saulteaux
Pelkonen said College of the Rockies Tourism Management students will continue learning about sustainability in the sector.
“We are going out into the community to look at some sustainable tourism and management practices in action,” said Pelkonen. “They’re also going to be diving into the UN’s sustainable development goals. They’ll be looking at a project and finding how we can really incorporate sustainability from a holistic standpoint in Cranbrook and the Kootenay Rockies as a tourist destination.”