“No other industry establishes a boots-on-the-ground connection between people in the natural world without really aggressively taking something out. And we need to be louder and prouder about that.” – Amy Thacker

What conditions lead to regenerative tourism practices, and how do we know it’s not greenwashing? The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast (CCC) region of British Columbia is taking on that challenge, even if some residents hesitate to use terms like “sustainable tourism” or “Biosphere-certified” to describe their offerings.

For Amy Thacker, CEO of Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association, an authentic connection to the land creates the most powerful regenerative impact. She says tourism is a path to improvement across the CCC. “We often call it a force for good. It not only empowers people to maintain their traditional lifestyles and preserve and share cultures or increase health, but, most powerfully, it spreads knowledge through creation and connection.” 

Amy points to practical examples, like operators who started with simple herb gardens to address supply chain challenges and evolved into comprehensive food systems serving guests, staff, and locals alike. Fish Pot Lake Resort is another. After devastating 2017 wildfires, the resort independently invested in replanting thousands of trees to protect watersheds, exemplifying the region’s “just get it done” attitude.

The region’s Indigenous partnerships and experiences also play a role in regeneration by emphasizing culture over commodity. They provide visitors with meaningful connections to diverse First Nations knowledge and values. Amy challenges visitors to become more accountable travellers, researching where their money goes and choosing businesses that align with their values. 

CCC is among the five BC regions with Biosphere certification. But locals are sometimes hesitant to associate with sustainability frameworks that are imposed from the outside. “Many of our most regenerative operators don’t see themselves that way. They don’t see themselves as needing to certify as sustainable because it’s not about the label. It’s the way of life.”  

The conversation reveals how destinations can achieve meaningful impact through authentic community values rather than imposed frameworks, offering a blueprint for tourism that truly leaves places better than it found them.

On Travel Beyond, you’ll also learn:

• Why the region’s “just get it done” attitude led to independent forest restoration projects worth millions without waiting for government programs.
• Why Indigenous tourism partnerships in the region prioritize culture over commodity, creating authentic experiences rooted in traditional knowledge.
• What role heritage tourism plays in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast’s “history shaped by nature” approach to visitor experiences.
• How the region built tourism industry resilience after devastating 2017 wildfires through collaborative emergency protocols and rapid recovery planning.

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Show notes

Biosphere Responsible Tourism Certification – The certification program mentioned by Amy that helps tourism operators track and improve their regenerative impacts through the Responsible Tourism Institute.

Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association – The destination management and marketing organization for the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region, leading regenerative tourism initiatives across rural British Columbia.

Fish Pot Lake Resort – Featured resort that independently invested in replanting thousands of trees after 2017 wildfires, exemplifying the region’s proactive approach to environmental restoration.

Great Bear Rainforest – One of the world’s largest temperate rainforests, featured as a must-see destination within the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region for its pristine ecosystem and wildlife viewing opportunities.

Indigenous Tourism British Columbia – Organization supporting authentic indigenous tourism experiences throughout BC, aligning with the cultural tourism values Amy discussed for the region.

Photos provided by Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism Association.

Episode transcript

Amy Thacker: No other industry establishes a boots-on-the-ground connection between people in the natural world without really aggressively taking something out, and we need to be louder and prouder about that.

Peter McCully: Welcome to Travel Beyond. I’m Peter McCully for Destination Think. On this episode, we look at travel’s role in making a better world, and we highlight leading destinations and change-makers. Our guests are taking local action that the world can learn from. They’re helping to regenerate ecosystems, communities, and economies, and they’re making positive change happen from the bottom up.

Many of the voices we’ve highlighted are part of the Destination Think Collective, a peer group of more than 20 ambitious, forward-thinking destinations working towards a better future for travel and the planet. Located in central British Columbia, the Caribou Chilcotin Coast region demonstrates regenerative tourism through practical examples. Operators who started with simple herb gardens to address supply chain challenges evolved into comprehensive food systems serving guests, staff, and locals. The region faces unique challenges in a remote landscape, but residents respond with a distinctive “just get it done” attitude. After devastating 2017 wildfires, Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort independently invested in replanting thousands of trees to protect watersheds, exemplifying this proactive approach.

The region’s Indigenous partnerships emphasize culture over commodity, providing visitors with meaningful connections to diverse First Nations knowledge and values. We spoke with Amy Thacker, CEO of Caribou Chilcotin Coast Tourism, about how authentic connection to the land creates the most powerful regenerative impact and why many of the most regenerative operators don’t seek certifications because regenerative practices are simply their way of life.

Amy Thacker: I am Amy Thacker. I’m the CEO of Caribou Chilcotin Coast Tourism. Like every other non-profit leader in the world, I do a little bit of everything.

Peter McCully: Let’s talk about the Caribou Chilcotin Coast itself. You wear a couple of hats—one being a tourism professional and the other being a farmer. Perhaps you could tell us about your connection to the land.

Amy Thacker: Absolutely. I was born and raised ranching and farming across British Columbia. I’m a 4-H alumni. I grew up on a remote farm without power and running water, where we camped, fished, hunted, and picked berries. Being connected to that land is a way of life, was a way of life, and continues to be our culture today.

Even though I have this role, and today I have power on my new farm, we still spend as much time as we can with the land, working on regenerating our property or spending time in nature with our family.

Peter McCully: Amy, from your point of view and putting on your other hat, what purpose does tourism serve and why is it important?

Amy Thacker: Tourism is a path to improvement. Peter, we often call it a force for good. It not only empowers people to maintain their traditional lifestyles and preserve and share cultures or increase health, but most powerfully, it spreads knowledge through creation and connections with people, with the planet, and with really powerful ideas.

Peter McCully: Where do your visitors come from? If I bumped into some folks on a trail or a ranch, or maybe even in a restaurant, where would they be from for the most part?

Amy Thacker: As a remote BC destination, the majority of visitors to the Caribou Chilcotin Coast are Canadians. They’re followed closely by visitors from the United States, Germany, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and some other parts of Europe.

Peter McCully: Tell us about regenerative tourism. What is it and why do we need it?

Amy Thacker: Simply put, regenerative tourism is leaving the places we visit better than we found them. It’s a mindset and a commitment to the four pillars of regeneration. Our team focuses on people, planet, prosperity, and purpose as our shortform way of speaking about those pillars.

As a destination or a tourism business, we target future growth with protection or a holistic view on our impacts. For our visitors, it’s a responsible way of travelling and discovering new places. We need regenerative tourism to correct our global path. It’s a way to restore environments, to enrich our local communities, to boost physical and mental wellness, all through really meaningful connections.

Peter McCully: Your marketing emphasizes that visitors are rejuvenated by the change of pace that allows them to slow down. Perhaps you could describe the mindset towards the land and the values of the locals that live there.

Amy Thacker: This is a hard one for us to articulate, and I often just tell people it is our way of life or our culture. We believe that it’s one of the reasons Caribou Chilcotin Coast communities are so special. There are still people here who are stewards of the land, living off the land, creating education through tourism opportunities. Locals are still connected to each other. They’re passionate about their lifestyles and homes.

We do move at a different pace that is more connected to nature than the clock. It’s just who we are, and our visitors get a glimpse into that when they’re here to share and experience it.

Peter McCully: Does that mindset rub off on visitors to the area? Are they influenced by that in some way?

Amy Thacker: Absolutely. There’s an infectious love of the land rooted in everyday life, and yes, our guests feel it. They get to see practical solutions, small changes that can turn into larger impacts. They experience our owners and operators who have a passion and love for the land. How could that not inspire guests to become ambassadors in their own communities when they return home?

Peter McCully: Let’s look for some examples. Amy, could you talk about what kinds of experiences tourism operators are creating that might have that potential to be regenerative or to leave a lasting impression or even change a visitor’s life?

Amy Thacker: Our examples and experiences are as varied as the landscape, but some that come to mind would be Siwash Lake Wilderness Resort and Ranch, where they share wellness through nature and reconnecting with the land. They provide wildfire education, have their own forest research centre, local food systems with virtually no food waste in a remote location that teaches people how simply it is to live within that balance, and work strongly with their Indigenous communities. We have local non-profits such as Scout Island Nature Centre that provides education to visitors about nature and small aquatic rescue.

Or consider Fishing Pot Lake Resort, who after a wildfire several years ago is replanting thousands of trees to regenerate a forest and protect the watershed in their backyard. Another example would be Bella Coola Grizzly Tours, a multi-generational, family-run tourism operator that led to the transplant of grizzly bears into a habitat to rehabilitate an ecosystem.

It really depends on what the visitors’ interests are, and they can follow their passions and find that place that will connect most strongly with their values.

Peter McCully: Sounds like some interesting experiences for sure. What’s the overall impact of tourism in the Caribou Chilcotin Coast? What does it do for the region?

Amy Thacker: Tourism is an important part of the Caribou Chilcotin Coast. It supports families, nations, and communities across the entire region. According to BC Stats, we have approximately 250 businesses that employ about 2,500 people, contributing to $55 million in wages. That, Peter, doesn’t include our small owner-operators that aren’t actually paying wages but do this as a lifestyle because it’s their passion to share or improve where they live.

Our team at Caribou Chilcotin Coast Tourism works with over 500 businesses that serve tourism, and it generates $265 million in revenue. We talk about all those numbers, but most importantly to us, tourism supports families. It supports livelihoods and vibrant rural communities. It creates services that wouldn’t be there without tourism for our locals, and it’s a way to share our connected way of life with travellers and amplify those positive practices with the world.

Peter McCully: Amy, I’m interested in your thoughts on how tourism can become truly regenerative.

Amy Thacker: To be truly regenerative, you have to start with a purpose. Stay true to that purpose of leaving things better than we found them. It’s as simple as small changes day to day that become big habits. I don’t think it’s any different than other change management that we do in our lives or corporate worlds, but regenerative tourism is a model that provides a balance of wellbeing with profit, and it’s something every single one of us can contribute to.

Peter McCully: Do you have some examples of how some tourism businesses are becoming regenerative?

Amy Thacker: Some simple examples that we can follow, that line of small changes day to day becoming habits, are through the sourcing of food. We have operators that had supply chain challenges or were looking at their carbon emission impacts because we are remote in central British Columbia and rural. Bringing food in, they started simply with an herb garden and expanded to bring in bees for honey and now have multiple commercial greenhouses on the property and can provide not only the food that they serve to their guests but also their staff, and they also sell to locals and are part of the agriculture solution in the community. Those little building blocks of a person with a purpose wanting to make a difference and commit to regeneration grows in time to leave that bigger, lasting impact that now others are following and can see how they can adapt and be part of that solution.

Peter McCully: In your opinion, what barriers are standing in the way of moving regenerative tourism forwards?

Amy Thacker: That’s a big question, Peter. I think a lack of understanding is a big barrier for us in moving regenerative tourism forwards. There’s a lot of large greenwashing programs or big business with marketing dollars that use the language but don’t necessarily walk the walk or leave that connected lifestyle.

Many of our most regenerative operators don’t see themselves that way. They don’t see themselves as needing to certify as sustainable because it’s not about the label; it’s the way of life of what they do. When they hear words like sustainability or green or regenerative, they think solar panels, which is great, and many of our operators have benefited from switching to solar and alternative things. But to create thriving communities that protect resources has so much more potential for creative solutions, and regenerative tourism is bigger than just solar panels. We believe if everyone works collaboratively towards abundance, we can reach that goal of regenerative tourism much faster and move through some of those misunderstandings and lack of communication.

Peter McCully: Do visitor expectations need to change, and if so, is that locally or more broadly?

Amy Thacker: I don’t think that we need to change expectations of visitors on their travel experience in the Caribou Chilcotin Coast specifically, but maybe their understanding of accountability and the power that they hold in their hand. Peter, I would encourage visitors to make conscious choices and decide where and how they spend their money and their time. Research exactly where those eco fees are going. Are they even staying in the community that you’re visiting or the province or the country? Is the offset of tree planting actually benefiting someone here or being planted on the other side of the world?

Is that business making truly regenerative efforts, or do they just have really good marketing words and visuals? Can you find a business that’s doing something that’s part of a solution that fits your why and your purpose? I believe that travellers can keep corporations and communities accountable by where and how they choose to spend their dollars and spend their volunteer efforts. Choosing locally always makes a larger impact.

Peter McCully: In the Caribou Chilcotin Coast, what role does Indigenous tourism play in the visitor experience, Amy?

Amy Thacker: Indigenous tourism in the Caribou Chilcotin Coast is a large part of our visitor experience. It’s rooted in regenerative values. Our Indigenous people value culture over commodity. We’re incredibly blessed to have positive relationships with many of our Indigenous communities who share those visitor experiences of their diverse cultures and values and knowledge, and provide some of that teaching for our visitors to take home with them.

Peter McCully: Tell us about the opportunities for visitors who are interested in heritage tourism.

Amy Thacker: One of the areas in the Caribou Chilcotin Coast uses a marketing tagline, “History Shaped by Nature,” and it could be true for many of the communities and experiences in our region. The power of visiting a place where people are still connected to the land is that they’re also connected to their history and each other.

We have several iconic heritage tourism destinations that share stories from the past to inform the present, and there’s so much to be learned from the mistakes or hardships of previous generations that can help us do better, to be more regenerative, and to not repeat what we now see as poor choices.

Peter McCully: Amy, for visitors who are interested in sustainability and ecotourism, the Great Bear Rainforest sounds like a must-see destination.

Amy Thacker: We are very passionate about the Great Bear Rainforest and are very biased in believing it’s an amazing must-see destination. As my team would say, also the Chilcotin, the Gold Rush Trail, and Land of Hidden Waters, which is why we call our region a land without limits. We believe that those operators who are leading that work in regeneration are the reason that these are the must-see places to visit.

Peter McCully: What’s one thing you hope travellers take away from this story?

Amy Thacker: I really hope your listeners and the travellers allow themselves time for deeper immersion, no matter where they travel, whether they come to the Caribou Chilcotin Coast or the other side of the world. Give yourself time to immerse with real people in the local culture. Give yourself time to have a greater opportunity to contribute positively before you go home. Give yourself time to be mindful and learn local customs, traditions, and etiquette, and then go home and tell everybody about regenerative tourism and encourage them to adopt those practices.

Peter McCully: Amy, what would you like tourism to look like in the future, and what impact would it have on your region?

Amy Thacker: Peter, I hope that tourism will be a model for regenerative practices for all sectors globally, that it supports thriving people in communities that remain authentic in their culture, values, and connection with the land.

Peter McCully: This has been Travel Beyond presented by Destination Think. Our thanks to Amy Thacker from Caribou Chilcotin Coast Tourism. To learn more about regenerative tourism in the Caribou Chilcotin Coast, you can visit LandWithoutLimits.com. For more resources and show notes, visit our website at DestinationThink.com.

This episode was hosted and co-produced by myself, Peter McCully. David Archer composed the theme music. Sara Raymond de Booy is co-producer. Lindsay Payne, Amy Bjarnason, and Cory Price provided production support. 

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