Northern BC Tourism (NBCT) and Tourism Prince George (TPG) are committed to improving the sustainability of the Northern BC region, and are seeking assistance to conduct research about tourism-related risk assessments across the destination. The research associated with this project will help to inform future sustainability efforts and actions across the Northern BC region.

There may be opportunities to network and communicate with a diverse group of individuals, including regional districts, local government, indigenous groups and other organizations and stakeholders who are responsible for tourism activities across the entire Northern BC region.

Project Outcomes

The practicum student will help both organizations achieve their goal of understanding tourism-related risks across the region. The research conducted will help identify risks including, but not limited to:

• Environmental risks and mitigation strategies, including climate change risks, to visitors and the tourism economy
• Ecosystem risks of tourism and capacity management strategies, related to visitor flow and site capacity (wildlife corridors/populations, etc.)
• Impacts of tourism on residents related to both demands and improvements to infrastructure and services as a result of tourism
• Impacts of tourism on indigenous and non-indigenous living cultures (language, traditions, heritage sites, artifacts, etc.)

Student responsibilities include (but are not limited to):

• Identify what risk assessment work (social, economic, environmental, cultural etc.) has already been done within the Northern BC region at the local, regional, provincial and/or national levels
• Create a system for tracking and monitoring existing sustainability efforts across the region, including:
• Completed, in progress, and future planned risk-related assessments or studies, including timelines
• Institutions, organizations or individuals responsible for various aspects of sustainability across the region
• The student will need to liaise and communicate with a broad spectrum of stakeholders to understand the current realities and gather data to assist this research project
• If time permits, begin research on the risks associated with tourism activities in the Northern BC region where none exists, working with Northern BC Tourism to prioritize what risks should be assessed first

Upon completion of this research, Northern BC Tourism will be in a strong position to make decisions about how to advance the sustainability of the region, including whether or not a more comprehensive risk assessment will need to be undertaken based on existing data identified through this research project.

Weekly meetings with Tourism Prince George or Northern BC Tourism