MEDIA RELEASE
[Vancouver, BC] The team from BCIT’s Tourism Marketing Management Diploma Program was crowned the winner of this year’s provincial Winning Pitch competition at the BC Tourism Industry Conference today.
The Winning Pitch, organized and presented by go2HR, BC’s tourism human resource association, is a post-secondary student case competition. This year, student teams had to develop a new product or service that supports the development of accessible tourism opportunities in their respective regions.
The BCIT team, made up of students Eleanor Canning, Zophia Espinosa, Caitlin Ledingham, and Marni Weinstein, took home first place and a prize of $1,000 with their proposal of “Reel YVR”, a Vancouver-based tour company that blends the then-and-now of the local film industry through immersive movie and TV location tours across the Lower Mainland.
Fourteen teams from ten post-secondary schools presented their four-page concept paper to industry judging panels at regional competitions held in Osoyoos, Vancouver, Victoria, and via online submission for the Kootenay Rockies. The winner from each regional competition met yesterday at the provincial finals, held at the BC Tourism Industry Conference.
The finalists, who presented their full business plans to close to 200 conference delegates, include (in order of presenting):
- the VIU team with their proposal of “Reach Vancouver Island”;
- the BCIT team with their proposal of “Reel YVR”;
- the Okanagan College team with their proposal of “AccessFest”;
- and the College of the Rockies team with their proposal of “Kimberley Alpine Outdoor Adventures”.
Conference delegates had the opportunity to vote for their favourite business pitch, which contributed to the overall score, as determined by a panel of judges including:
- Kirby Brown, General Manager, Sea to Sky Gondola
- Jocelyn Maffin, Manager, BC SCI Resource Centre, Spinal Cord Injury BC
- Alison McKay, Director, Destination and Industry Development, Destination British Columbia
- James Terry, Chair, Partners in Tourism – TIP Society
“All the proposals showed out-of-the-box thinking, attention to detail, and insightful design, and we couldn’t be more pleased with their efforts,” said Arlene Keis, CEO of go2HR. “We commend all the students for applying their knowledge and skills to think of ways to support accessible tourism in BC, and taking on the daunting task of pitching and presenting their ideas to the industry.”
Partners in Tourism Society and Destination BC were the major provincial sponsors of the Winning Pitch competition. To supplement their knowledge and insight around accessible tourism, students were able to draw on the mentorship and expertise of Nancy Harris, Regional Development Liaison, Spinal Cord Injury BC.
Note to media: To interview the winning BCIT team, please contact Amy Chen, 778-384-7245.
About go2HR
go2HR is BC’s tourism human resource association, responsible for coordinating the BC Tourism Labour Market Strategy. go2HR provides tourism employers with resources in the area of recruitment and retention, as well as training and certification programs to develop relevant skills for prospective and current tourism and hospitality employees. For more information, visit www.go2hr.ca.
About the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT)
For more than 50 years, the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) has been training the experts, innovators, and professionals who shape our economy – across BC and around the world. With five campuses and over 50,000 students enrolled each year, BCIT is one of BC’s largest post-secondary institutes. Through our unique applied education model, students gain the technical skills, real-world experience, and problem-solving ability needed to embrace complexity and lead innovation in a rapidly changing workforce. The BCIT curriculum is developed through close consultation with industry and delivered by instructors who have direct, hands-on experience in their fields.