The city of Victoria, BC, lives and breathes sustainability. With inspiration from the cutting-edge ideas discussed during the annual IMPACT Sustainability Travel & Tourism Summit, Destination Greater Victoria provides the expert guidance planners need to seamlessly incorporate eco-friendly initiatives into their events. The result? Planet-friendly gatherings set against the stunning backdrop of one of Canada's most beautiful destinations. VICTORIA AT THE FOREFRONT OF REGENERATIVE TOURISM IMPACT 2025 FAST FACTS Date: January 27-29, 2025 Location: Victoria Conference Centre Attendees: DMOs, tourism operators, government, Indigenous leaders and academics Local partnerships: Conference welcome by the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations and sessions on Indigenous tourism and land stewardship; legacy program with Soap for Hope Canada Co-founders: Destination Greater Victoria, Synergy Enterprises, Starrboard Enterprises and tartanbond Accolades: Destination International’s 2023 Award for Global Impact Visit impactnational.ca to register for IMPACT Summit 2025 IMPACT Summit at the Victoria Conference Centre 2025 IMPACT SUSTAINABILITY TRAVEL & TOURISM SUMMIT Now in its 8th year, the IMPACT Summit inspires sustainable action via hands-on sessions, practical solutions and networking opportunities among global attendees. Paul Nursey, CEO, Destination Greater Victoria, describes what’s new for IMPACT 2025: WHAT THEMES WILL BE EXPLORED DURING IMPACT 2025? “We have themes around decarbonization, regenerative tourism, Indigenous tourism, the voices of youth, a deep dive on winter tourism and where cleantech solutions meet travel. The high-level focus is ensuring that sustainability is a rock-solid business case—no matter who's in political power—because the urgency is still there.” DESCRIBE THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES FOR IMPACT 2025 “Because everyone's sustainability journey is dif erent, IMPACT is very much a safe space, not intimidating, overly scientif c or technical. What each delegate can apply is personal to them and their business or the organization that they represent.” HOW HAS IMPACT HELPED TO PUSH THE NEEDLE ON SUSTAINABILITY? “A number of years ago, Destination Canada started focusing much of their business strategy around regenerative travel, health and well-being, and societal outcomes. A variety of provincial and city destination marketing organizations (DMOs) have done the same. I’ve seen connections happen and then commercial deals come from it, which demonstrates that a needle is being pushed at a high level as well as at the operator level.” THE DAY OF IMPACT January 26, 2025 The Day of IMPACT of ers a full day of f eld visits highlighting prof table sustainability practices across Greater Victoria. The 2025 focus is on urban farming, featuring a visit to FED Urban Farm, which is dedicated to improving food security and expanding access to urban agriculture. One of FED's key initiatives is the development of a 20,000-sq.-ft. urban vegetable farm on underutilized land. “We really ensure that the IMPACT Summit walks the talk. We work with the Victoria Conference Centre to serve mostly vegan menus that use locally sourced, in-season ingredients. A benef t to working with them is that their sustainability measurements allow planners to understand the actual impact of their events.” Emma Parston, IMPACT 2025 conference planner and partner, ConnectSeven Group 8 | Ignitemag.ca | Sponsored Feature
