COWICHAN VALLEY – This month we celebrate two years of relocating the Chamber offices and visitor services to the new Cowichan Regional Visitor Centre, adjacent the BC Forest Discovery Centre. We have never looked back! The Centre has doubled the number of visitors serviced in the new facilities. Much of this success can be attributed to the highly visible and accessible location, complimented with lots of parking and easy access for RV’s, trailers and buses.
The Centre continues to break records for the number of visitors serviced, in both the Centre and the community via our mobile visitor services outreach program. Whereas many suggest that “brick and mortar” visitor centres will experience a decline in visitors, our numbers tell a different story. While many travellers use digital technology to research and book travel arrangements, there are many who wish a personal connection, so they may experience all that a destination has to offer. We see this trend continuing, especially since the Cowichan Valley is burgeoning as a popular BC tourist destination.
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The Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce is one of the oldest Chambers on the Island, established in 1908 under the Board of Trade Act. On November 24, the Chamber will hold its Annual General Meeting. Similar to other years, we expect the AGM will be a high energy event with over 50 voting members attending. It’s an opportunity to reflect on the successes of the past year, and to share highlights for the upcoming year, which will include hosting Cowichan’s 20th Black Tie Awards on April 9, 2016. We will start receiving nominations for the eight Award categories on December 1. It really does seem like yesterday that we were announcing nominations for our 2015 Awards!
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The Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce would like to recognize and welcome the following new members: Steelhead LNG, 360 Comfort Systems, Time to Heal Treatment and Workshop Facility, Island Time Tours, and Red Arrow Brewing. Consider joining Cowichan’s most active business networking organization.
– Sonja Nagel is Executive Director of the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at manager@duncancc.bc.ca or 250.748.1111.
