Adventure Tourism in the TOTA Region: A COVID-19 Recovery Strategy

Adventure tourism is an important industry to the strategic development of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Region in the BC Interior. Many communities are transitioning from resource extraction industries to adventure tourism. Adventure tourism is often chosen due to its ability to provide socio-cultural, environmental and economic benefits. This research will explore how resilient tourism development strategies are supporting small to medium sized adventure tourism operators in the Thompson Okanagan and their ability to sustain rural and Indigenous livelihoods. This research will use participatory action research, with in-depth, semi-structured interviews to create an inventory of vulnerabilities from key tourism stakeholders in order to determine a robust recovery strategy from the COVID-19 pandemic that adventure tourism operators can use to enhance resiliency. In addition, this research will assist Symphony Tourism Services in their plan to supporting small to medium sized tourism operators, business development agencies, and tourism marketing organizations, in order to determine how vulnerable the adventure tourism industry is in the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Region.

Faculty Supervisor:

John S Hull

Student:

Edward (Ted) Morton

Partner:

Symphony Tourism Services

Discipline:

Hospitality and tourism

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Thompson Rivers University