February 9, 2010
Special Olympics edition

Just 3 days to go and Olympic fever has definitely taken over Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Tourism Region! Apart from the staff’s personal attempts to get out and see as many Olympic related activities as possible, VCM staff are also involved in the games on a professional level. The following is a quick round up of how Vancouver, Coast & Mountains is being represented during the 2010 Olympic Games. For more information about any of activities below, feel free to contact Kevan Ridgway at 604-638-6930 or kevan@vcmbc.com.

Watch Chris’ video reports here - http://www.youtube.com/user/2010torch

BC Street at the Richmond O Zone
Shawna Leung and Alicia Cenci have been working diligently over the past few weeks to pull together Vancouver, Coast & Mountains’ presence on BC Street, an interactive pavilion and showcase of the region’s communities. Located at the O Zone, the largest official celebration site for the 2010 Games, BC Street is designed to give visitors a glimpse of the region’s beautiful destinations by highlighting some of the best attractions, festivals, arts, culture and history in a one block radius.

At the Vancouver, Coast & Mountains pavilion you can have your photo taken and send a virtual postcard or video to friends and family back home. Come in and pin where you are from on our world map to receive a free souvenir pin. Sample some products of the Fraser Valley with free tastings of local wine, cheese, honey, hazelnuts and coffee. Enjoy various artists in action and performers from the Sunshine Coast. Ride a mechanical bull, try out the golf swing simulation or enjoy a geo-caching treasure hunt within the pavilion for great prizes!

Community Partners involved in BC Street include: Tourism Harrison, Tourism Langley, Tourism Abbotsford, Sunshine Coast Tourism, Gold Country Tourism, Tourism Surrey, Tourism White Rock.

BC Street, located at Richmond’s City Hall, will be open daily during the Games, February 12 to 28, 3:00pm – 11:00 pm on weekdays and 12:00pm – 11:00pm on weekends. Richmond O Zone is accessible via the Canada Line. For more information visit: www.richmondozone.ca

Everyone is welcome! We’d love to see you on BC Street!

Agri-Tourism Event
VCM has been invited to attend an Agri-Tourism Event on Sunday, February 14. Co-hosted by the BC Ministry of Agriculture & Lands and the BC Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, the primary objective of this event is to highlight the diversity of landscape, people and food that Canada has here in BC to media, through a showcase that takes our international and local guests on a culinary tour of the six tourism regions of the province. The event will use food /wine tastings and farmer/vintner stories to generate interest in BC food and the places where they are grown and processed. The overall theme of the event will focus on welcoming the world to discover the wonderful diversity of our food products and “meet the makers” while also highlighting our wonderfully diverse landscape that is tended with the great pride and skill of our diverse people. Kevan will be in attendance for Vancouver, Coast & Mountains and is looking forward to getting an opportunity to interact with media from around the world.