New Support For Tourism Businesses:
BC Tourism Climate Resiliency Initiative
Apply today for the BC Tourism Climate Resiliency Initiative. (Destination BC/Andrew Strain)
Tourism businesses in the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains (VCM) region are encouraged to apply for the new BC Tourism Climate Resiliency Initiative (BCTCRI), which was recently launched to help the tourism industry face the impacts of climate change.
The BCTCRI is comprised of four project streams that invest in:
practical climate adaptation and sustainability planning for tourism businesses
micro-grants to help with implementation of climate adaptation and sustainability plans
development of a data framework to enable better insight-driven decisions
new province-wide learning and training opportunities
The BCTCRI’s first two project streams provide direct support to tourism businesses to help them grow sustainable practices by offering personalized assistance for creating sustainability and climate adaptation road maps. These will help businesses save on energy costs and identify solutions to climate change-related threats.
Businesses can also receive financial aid for joining accredited sustainability programs and may be eligible for funding projects that reduce energy, waste, and water consumption, aligning with CleanBC’s climate goals.
Provides micro-grant funding up to $15,000 for tourism businesses that are ready to build on their sustainability or climate adaptation plan to implement a project or obtain sustainability certification. Applications are open January 29 to March 8, 2024. Businesses who already have a sustainability and climate adaptation road map in place are eligible to apply.
Project Three: Sustainability and Climate Adaptation Data Framework and Project Four: Community Destination Stewardship Initiative will launch later this year.
These projects will be delivered by Destination BC and the Regional Destination Management Organizations (RDMOs) and were created through a provincial partnership with:
This initiative builds on the achievements of the BC Tourism Sustainability Network (BCTSN)— a collaborative sustainability support program that started in 2022.
The BCTCRI is funded through a $3 million investment from the provincial Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport over two years, as part of BC’s Destination Development Fund.
