Whistler Cultural Symposium
On October 3, 2022, the Travel Media team hosted a Whistler Cultural Symposium, with the support of co-hosts Destination British Columbia, Indigenous Tourism British Columbia and Destination Canada. The event was developed to ignite discussion with local changemakers, community advocates and industry experts to share, learn and explore tourism’s place in supporting culture, diversity, equity & inclusion, and sustainable, responsible tourism.
Taking place at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre, the Whistler Cultural Symposium featured keynote speaker Bonaparte First Nation Chief Frank Antoine, who is co-chair of Indigenous Tourism British Columbia and co-founder of Moccasin Trails, a tourism company which offers Indigenous cultural experiences in Kamloops. Frank’s presentation began the day by sharing wonderful insights into the benefits of Indigenous tourism for visitors as well as the community. This was followed by a Q&A session with Whistler’s Mayor, Jack Crompton, Whistler Blackcomb’s COO, Geoff Buchheister and led by Tourism Whistler’s President and CEO, Barrett Fisher, exploring tangible actions within our tourism-focused community, and what can be done in the future.
The programming then included three panel discussion topics:
- Diversity in the Outdoors
- Destination Resilience
- Reconcili-action
The discussions help to look towards a future of positive action within the tourism industry. The intimate-sized event was attended by 20 members of the media along with industry partners and community members, who gave great feedback on the event as a successful and meaningful day of conversations and learning.
“The Cultural Symposium was a real highlight for me - it was wonderful to connect with you, with a bunch of familiar and new colleagues, and with some of these bigger ideas that we need to grapple with in earnest. It is a bold thing, to be willing to host dialogues that nudge us all in this direction, and I was gratified to be part of it. Also, to be wined and dined, have a custom tour of the Audain with Curtis, and to hear Frank Antoine - that was spectacular.” Lisa Richardson
Keynote & Panel Videos
Please note, as the day was created to be a safe space so we ask that should you wish to directly quote any of the speakers, you reach out for their permission first. We’d be happy to assist in connecting you.
Password to access all video content below: Symposium2022