Bearfoot Canada - BC Travel Portal

Bearfoot Canada provides a collection of services:

For Responsible Travelers - Bearfoot Canada is your travel portal to unique and exciting Canadian experiences. Visitors can explore nature, adventure and culture on one of the many Bearfoot Routes throughout British Columbia. Walk, bike, canoe or drive The Canadian Desert; The Monashee; The Golden Mile…and more. Bearfoot Canada connects travelers with knowledge about travel risks so that they may travel safely as responsible travelers on our changing planet.

As Non Governmental Organization dedicated to the development of responsible travel

Bearfoot Canada is a clearinghouse of initiatives, services and research programs from innovative individuals, businesses, organizations and communities all seeking to develop and promote responsible travel in British Columbia.

As an independent business network we focus on helping small family owned businesses achieve success though both advocacy and business services that includes accessible marketing programs.

Bearfoot Canada conducts a program of research, extension services, and teaching for the benefit of communities, organizations and business in British Columbia. We seek to improve understanding of the relationships between outdoor recreation and tourism, natural resources management, community economic vitality, and quality of life.

Through collaboration and cooperation, Bearfoot Canada will be a source for the creation, communication, and transfer of knowledge on natural resources-based recreation and tourism issues affecting social, economic, and environmental systems.

As a source for information, Bearfoot Canada assists resident’s, travelers, professionals, and decision-makers in learning more about the role of natural resources in outdoor recreation and tourism development.

Our goal is to help the residents of British Columbia’s communities make good decisions about such issues to enhance both community and environmental sustainability, and to train future professionals in effective decision-making and create a movement of sustainable and responsible travel.

Research Function - Bearfoot Canada helps to identify research needs in outdoor recreation and tourism for communities and natural resources management agencies in British Columbia. We help coordinate public and private sector efforts to study and solve related problems, as well as identifying and generating supplemental research funds from state, federal, and private sources.

Specialists at Bearfoot Canada collaborate with scientists and professionals in B.C., Canada and elsewhere, to enhance the knowledge base in outdoor recreation and tourism, as well as providing a clearinghouse of research publications, online resources and marketing tools.

Extension Function - Bearfoot Canada can provide Specialists in Outdoor Recreation and Tourism to work with government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in the private sector, offering consultation and training sessions in outdoor recreation, tourism development, facility management and marketing.

On a regular basis Bearfoot Canada conducts surveys and prepares forecasts then publishes a series of informative reports and “fact sheets” on outdoor recreation and natural resources-based tourism development. Through its Voyager Network business tools are available to tourism businesses including live calendar services, upselling tools and links to online research resources for marketing, management, trade contacts and risk management.

Teaching Function - Bearfoot Canada offers short courses for outdoor recreation professionals and businesses on various topics related to business and community development and responsible travel on a changing planet.

Contact Us

Bearfoot Canada began as an initiative powered by Adventure Okanagan Cooperative and the Canadian Tourism Commission. Since 2003, Bearfoot has been promoting responsible travel in British Columbia and has been on the leading edge of tourism innovation that links small tourism businesses and communities to the travel trade.

Bearfoot Canada has now expanded from its roots in the Okanagan Valley and presently develops new travel experiences throughout British Columbia and beyond.

Today Bearfoot Canada is produced by the Watershed Intelligence Network. WIN represents a clearinghouse of efforts, initiatives and services, which has grown and matured into a comprehensive, multi-purpose multi-media and planning organization engaged in the development, production and distribution of information, business and community development services that considers economic and environmental sustainability and stewardship principles.

WIN assists the travel industry by providing learning programs from the Voyager Network