PAUL NURSEY
VICTORIA – This week, Destination Greater Victoria (DGV) celebrates World Tourism Day and its theme for this year, Tourism and Sustainable Transformation. Since DGV began its sustainability journey with the launch of our first Environment Committee in 1992, our achievements along the way have demonstrated that guiding our actions through a sustainability lens helps us better serve local communities while also helping responsibly grow our visitor economy.
DGV is currently advancing several community-focused initiatives, including a Sustainable Drinking Water Program, which aims to reduce single-use plastic water bottles in Greater Victoria’s hotels through the installation of 20 new drinking water stations by February 2026. Thanks to funding support from Alacrity Canada and the Province of B.C.’s CleanBC Plastics Action Fund, many hotels across the region are already installing refill stations. This fall, a water station map on DGV’s website will help visitors and locals locate free, clean drinking water stations.
In 2023, Greater Victoria became the first urban destination in North America to achieve the internationally recognized Biosphere Certification, which is based on the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. Since then, we achieved recertification in 2024 and 2025 and have worked with our membership, which now has 69 members participating in the Biosphere program. Twenty are now fully Biosphere Certified, with others working towards certification supported by DGV’s Biosphere Certification Accelerator Program. The program provides an industry-specific toolkit, collaborative learning sessions, networking, personalized mentorship and practical application of the sustainable development goals.
This week also saw the release of the latest Global Destination Sustainability (GDS) rankings, which evaluate a destination’s performance pertaining to environmental policies and infrastructure, tourism-related supply chains (hotels, airports, venues, restaurants, etc.), social factors (livability, safety, inclusivity, health and wellness, etc.) and the commitment to sustainability of its destination management organization. Victoria ranked third place globally in the small city category. With a worldwide ranking of 27th, Victoria is also one of just three Canadian cities to place in the global top 40.
Throughout the year, DGV is guided by its Sustainability Strategy and Climate Action Plan, which provide long-term guidance for numerous sustainability initiatives and serve as a roadmap to align our sustainability goals with community values and long-term business success. While World Tourism Day is celebrated just once a year, the progress Destination Greater Victoria is making towards a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient future with our members, partners, and community is something worth celebrating every day.
Paul Nursey is the President and CEO of Destination Greater Victoria
