Tourism Week 2024: Making Remarkable Memories, Together

Top Left to Right: Karen, Melissa (with Sophie and Hamish), Disha, Chad (with Gerardo Corro, Tourism New West), and Behr (with Whitney Santos-Flores)

BC’s tourism industry is known as a close-knit ecosystem where people work, play, and connect with each other year-round, with many colleagues working together for decades. People bond over unforgettable adventures, and sometimes cut their teeth in a myriad of tourism jobs along their career paths. 

During Tourism Week 2024, we’re celebrating the people who power tourism – people who show up for this industry, every day, to create remarkable experiences and memories for visitors, and, by doing so, forge powerful relationships and memories for themselves. 

Below, five members of the Destination BC team share their journeys in tourism, their favourite parts of working in the industry, and their most memorable BC travel moment.

What tourism jobs have you had?

Behr Safi, Video Editor, Global Content: Destination BC is my first home for tourism. My work as a video editor involves creating advertisements for TV and social media that share the beauty and culture of our province. Video is used in every department in one form or another, so I get to collaborate with all the different teams.

*See an example of Behr’s work, involving professional skier Christina Lustenberger, here.

Disha Rupani, Financial Analyst: Destination BC is my first tourism job. I started working here in 2020, and had the opportunity to work in different roles in global marketing and destination development. Currently, I’m a financial analyst, which involves financial planning and accounting operations. 

Karen Homes, Acting Manager, Co-op Marketing Programs: Before starting at Destination BC, I worked at a Cirque du Soleil ticket office, a bus company, the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, and the Visitor Centre in Whistler. I grew up in a restaurant family, so hospitality is in my blood. That said, tourism wasn’t a career I planned for – life just led me here.   

Melissa Arnott, Senior Program Advisor, Indigenous & Regional Partnerships: I started in tourism as a travel agent with Flight Centre. Initially, I worked out of Calgary, then relocated to Australia to work for the company’s luxury travel brand, Travel Associates. That’s where I was introduced to marketing and data analysis, which inspired me to leave sales. I moved back to Canada, earned a diploma in Marketing Communications, and joined a media company. One of my accounts was Destination BC. By then, I already knew I wanted to work with the organisation, so it was a natural transition to accept a marketing role here. 

Chad Wetsch, General Manager, Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Tourism Region: I was introduced to tourism during a summer job at Secret Cove Marina on the Sunshine Coast. Then, I worked in guest services at Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver. My supervisor asked if I wanted to work with him at this seaplane company called Harbour Air down in Coal Harbour. That was in 1996. It was supposed to be a summer job, but it lasted 27 years!

What do you love about working in tourism?

Behr: Number one is the people! I’ve never worked in an industry where people are so kind and compassionate. Also, everyone is so humble about the incredible amount of knowledge they have about BC and tourism in general. Every day, I sit in staff meetings and think I’m the dumbest person in the room, and I love that. There’s always so much to learn. 

Disha: I love travelling – I see it as a journey for personal growth and mental health. The experiences we have while travelling open up so many new perspectives, and they can bring people together. When I do my day-to-day job, I feel like I’m playing a part in facilitating that journey for visitors to BC.

Karen: I love working with people. Travellers are generally happy to be discovering new things in a new destination. Being involved in some of the ways they explore their choice destination has always been a fun part of tourism for me. Peoples’ excitement about travelling in BC is contagious. 

Melissa: Tourism is an invitation to expand your worldview, experience new things, and create memories. When I made the shift from sales to marketing, I did struggle with the morality of swaying people’s behaviours and purchasing decisions. However, after travelling the world and being exposed to different cultures and experiences, I decided that tourism marketing would be a rewarding way to positively impact people’s lives. Through tourism, I’ve also been able to connect with my First Nations identity in a special way. I’ve had the opportunity to contribute towards Indigenous economic and cultural sovereignty, and to build community in new and meaningful ways. Finally, I love the people in this industry. They are passionate, emphatic, and enthusiastic.  

*One way that Melissa has expressed her renewed connection to her First Nations identity is a video produced by Protect Our Winters Canada, Indigenous Women Outdoors, and The North Face. Watch the video, and learn about the project, here. 

Chad: There is so much excitement and passion in this industry. I love serving visitors and creating memorable experiences for them. We had a philosophy at Harbour Air that the people we served were guests in our home, and I’ve carried that with me. 

What’s your most memorable BC travel moment?

Behr: During my first year at Destination BC, I travelled to Port McNeil and joined a boat tour with Sea Wolf Adventures. Our guide was Mike Willie, and he is one of the most incredible people I’ve met in my life. He would stop the boat and ask us what we wanted to see – a bear, a dolphin, anything. Then, he would look out into the distance for maybe 30 seconds, and steer the boat towards what we had requested. That trip will stay with me for the rest of my life.  

Disha: I moved to BC during the COVID-19 pandemic, so we weren’t able to travel within the province for a long time. My first major trip was taking Highway 1 from Vancouver to Banff and Jasper, stopping en route in Kelowna and Kamloops. This was a special trip for me – it was a gift from me to my parents, who were visiting me for the first time since I had moved away from home. I was able to show them everything BC has to offer, and they particularly loved the mountains, lakes and beautiful scenery. 

Karen: Going to a backcountry lodge for the first time, in the Kootenays, has stayed with me. There was no connectivity and no interruptions. We did yoga in the mountains, hiked, and had meals cooked for us by a personal chef. It was serene and beautiful, and so quiet. I can’t wait to go back. 

Melissa: Last summer, my family and I went on our first road trip together. We drove through Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Nelson and Penticton, stopping to attend Kamloops Powwow, swim in lakes, wander the beaches and feel the sand between our toes. It was our first time travelling as a family within BC, and brought back fond memories of my own childhood. I also really love Tofino. There’s something special about that part of the world – it’s truly magical. 

Chad: I took surfing lessons in Hawaii, and the instructor told me his dream was to surf in Tofino. I heard this numerous times over the next few days.  When I got home, I asked my executive team why Harbour Air wasn’t flying to Tofino, and that we needed to explore this destination – it seemed to be the next big thing as a tourism destination. We did a discovery flight, and it was incredible – you fly through the mountains and then, suddenly, there’s this enormous beachfront. The waves, the shoreline…it’s unbelievable. There’s such a dramatic transition between landscapes. You truly feel like you are swept away to tranquility after a 50-minute flight.