Local Tourism Operator Setting the Stewardship Standard
Local Tourism Operator Setting the Stewardship Standard
Every year, millions of visitors travel to Alberta and British Columbia to experience the mountain parks and surrounding areas. The allure of dramatic landscapes and access to wilderness hold great appeal for everyone travelling through the area. With more and more people visiting each year, there is greater awareness around maintaining the integrity of these special places for future generations, while still providing high quality experiences for today’s visitors.
Many tourism operators are adopting sustainable tourism practices and working to educate their guests about how they can help conserve the natural and cultural heritage of the area. Leading the way is Canadian Mountain Holidays (CMH), a local heli-ski and heli-hiking operator that brings thousands of visitors to the area each year to experience the wonders of mountain wilderness. CMH is committed to preserving and protecting the environment in which they operate, and transforms their values into actions.
One of CMH’s most exciting recent successes is the installation of a micro-hydropower system at their Galena Lodge, located near Trout Lake, BC. Not only is Galena one of the premier heli-ski destinations in the world, but it is also now one of the few backcountry lodges in British Columbia using this technology.
The hydropower system, which relies on local resources – steep terrain and falling water – to generate power, reduces fuel consumption by 75,000 litres of diesel and 25,000 litres of propane per year, which in turn reduces the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere by 226 tonnes annually.
This is just one of many innovative ways today’s tourism operators are addressing their commitment to environmental stewardship. By raising the standard in the industry, CMH hopes that tourism operators will work together to preserve this precious mountain environment and ensure it will be enjoyed and explored far into the future.
More on CMH’s stewardship practices are available on their website
