Earlier this year, Tourism Vancouver Island evolved into a social enterprise called 4VI that supports communities,
businesses, culture and environment. A social enterprise is a revenue-generating business that identifies a social benefit and directs its revenues toward it; in the tourism industry, this is a completely new way to operate.
Even before the pandemic, something felt “off” at the regional destination
marketing organization (DMO) formerly known as Tourism Vancouver
Island. The 60-year-old Canadian
organization had been moving away from destination marketing as other
organizations took on that role and was more focused on destination development,
destination development planning and destination stewardship. It had also been
considering how it could better serve the local tourism community through the
lens of its philosophy that “a great place to live is a great place to visit.”
And then, COVID-19 swept across the country. With it came a series of…
