The Tourism Division of the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation (NEDC), also known as Tourism Nanaimo, works collaboratively with stakeholders and the Tourism Leadership Committee to position the Nanaimo region to visitors.
Initiatives are underway including advertising campaigns in television, print and social media, soliciting media visits to Nanaimo and working collaboratively with Tourism Vancouver Island, Tourism BC and the Canadian Tourism Commission to position the Nanaimo region effectively.
NEDC operates two visitor centres in partnership with Tourism British Columbia.
The main visitor centre, located at Highway 19 and Northfield Road, opened on Sept. 29, and includes an off-leash dog park, trail connections and washroom facilities.
The Northfield location is in a critical transportation corridor, targeting visitors travelling up and down the Island.
The visitor centre is open seven days per week with parking available for not only RVs and tourists, but also residents using the Parkway Tail.
A second visitor centre operates out of the Port of Nanaimo Centre downtown Wednesday to Sunday.
The Tourism Leadership Committee of Tourism Nanaimo, together with Chemistry Consulting Group, are collaborating on a three-year Tourism Strategic Plan to enhance our region’s tourism product and to promote these products more effectively.
As part of the information gathering process, 110 tourism stakeholders and community residents provided input through an online survey.
Additional information was gathered through interviews, phone calls, e-mail and media responses, all of which has been included in the research.
The committee and the corporation will carefully consider all the input received to identify a draft list of priority tourism initiatives, implemented or initiated within the next two to three years.
Residents will have the opportunity to review and comment on these initiatives at three open houses scheduled for Nov. 14-15 in north Nanaimo, south Nanaimo and Gabriola Island.
A final report will be released toward the end of 2012.
For more information, please call Tourism Nanaimo or economic development at 250-591-1551.
