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Today is World Tourism Day and it represents the opportunity to celebrate the contributions that each tourism business brings to their community, destination and the memories of travellers around the world. It is also an opportunity, in during the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development for each tourism business and destination to reflect on their contributions to sustainable tourism development.
Staging out of Victoria BC, Maple Leaf Adventures is leading the way. Certified by Green Tourism at the Gold Level, on 24 September 2017, they became the first recipient of Tourism Vancouver Island’s new Remarkable Experiences Award, sponsored by the Tourism Café Canada, “Maple Leaf Adventures is committed to creating a sustainable tourism industry in British Columbia and southeast Alaska through offering high-quality adventure following the principles of eco-tourism, or conservation travel.”
In presenting the Remarkable Experiences Award, Dr. Nancy Arsenault, shared that the experience they submitted for this award was based on their deep love of place, and their desire to transform guests by connecting them with the rich cultural and natural environments, interwoven with 15,000 years of human history. Motivated, in part, by creating a new experience that would add the tapestry of Canada’s 150 celebrations the ‘Salish Sea Spring Expedition’ was born and set sail aboard the 105-year-old MV Swell tug immersing their guests in stories from elders, insights from geographers and naturalists, tales from the Captain and first mate, and delicious meals of the coastal bounty from our southern seas.
As one guest put it “This trip opened our hearts and minds. We came away with an amazing appreciation of Canadian history, a wonderful respect for the areas’ beauty and a total commitment to spreading the word of the First Nations people. Thank you so much for this once in a lifetime, changing adventure.”
Beyond Maple Leaf Adventure’s commitment to amazing experience, their 5-star stellar TripAdvisor rating, this company has been recognized by Destination Canada as one of the Canadian Signature Experiences, Frommers as a Best Travel Experience and Trip of a Lifetime, Foders World Best Cruise in 2016, the London Times 30 Best Holidays in Canada in 2017, Expedia’s Top 15 Eco-Adventure Companies in 2016, National Geographic Travellers Best of the World in 2013, Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Award in 2012 and more.
As we pause to celebrate world tourism today, it is companies like Maple Leaf Adventures that are leading the way and making remarkable contributions to tourism. Congratulations!