All day - go2HR Wellness Lounge - Step away. Slow down. Take a breath. - Ida Room

10:00 AM - Annual General Meeting Registration - Ballroom A

10:30 AM - Annual General Meeting

11:30 AM - Summit Conference Registration - Foyer

12:00 PM - Summit Lunch - Ballroom A

12:30 PM - Summit Official Opening & Indigenous Welcome - Ballroom A

12:45 PM - Opening Keynote: Our Doors Are Open to New Realities and Possible Solutions - Ballroom A

Given today's complex geopolitical and economic climate, understanding the forces shaping our world and discovering how the tourism industry can respond is more critical than ever. Laura Jones, the President and CEO of the Business Council of British Columbia, will tackle the tough questions and learn about possible solutions.

Featuring Laura Jones, CEO of Business Council of British Columbia

2:00 PM - Bus Departs for Kamloops Learning Journeys - Three Concurrent Learning Journeys, all ending at the BC Wildlife Park (choose 1)

View full details and choose your journey HERE

• Learning Journey 1 - Secwépemc Museum, Kamloops Heritage Railway, BC Wildlife Park

• Learning Journey 2 - Lions Head Meadery, Monte Creek Winery, BC Wildlife Park

• Learning Journey 3 - Rocky Mountaineer Station, Build Kamloops Vision at Riverside Park, BC Wildlife Park

5:00 PM - Tourism Kamloops Welcome Reception at BC Wildlife Park

Join Tourism Kamloops at the 2026 TOTA Summit Welcome Reception at the BC Wildlife Park. For 60 years the BC Wildlife Park has been giving visitors the opportunity to experience B.C.’s wildlife while supporting conservation, education and wildlife rehabilitation. The park is home to nearly 200 animals representing 65 species who call British Columbia home, including bears, cougars, wolves, birds of prey and reptiles. Beyond the visitor experience, BC Wildlife Park is also home to the Fawcett Family Wildlife Health Centre, a wildlife rehabilitation center that cares for injured and orphaned wildlife from across B.C. You don't want to miss the TOTA Summit Welcome Reception where we will kick off the Summit, learn more about the BC Wildlife Park and spend time networking with tourism industry colleagues.

7:30 PM & 8:00 PM - Shuttles Return to Coast Kamloops Hotel

Keep the Social Going at TABLE twelvefifty‍ ‍

The party doesn’t stop when the Welcome Reception wraps up! After an evening at the BC Wildlife Park, make your way back to the Coast Hotel and keep the good times going at TABLE twelvefifty. Settle in for a nightcap with live music, specialty drinks and a late-night eats menu. Live music from 8:30–10:30 PM. Come for a drink, stay for the music, and keep the TOTA Summit celebrations going.

All day - go2HR Wellness Lounge in the Ida Room - Step away. Slow down. Take a breath.

7:15 AM - Registration Opens - Foyer

7:30 AM - Breakfast - Ballroom B

8:30 AM - Day 2 Opening & Indigenous Welcome - Ballroom A

9:00 AM - Open Door to Possibility: Attracting Investment, Building the Future - Ballroom A

To ensure destinations across Canada are able to continue inviting visitors to new and existing businesses and destinations, investment will be crucial. Learn about Destination Canada’s strategy for attracting and maintaining investors, the efforts they are already making, and how you can get involved.

Featuring: Jennifer Horsnell, Senior Director, Destination Development at Destination Canada and Erik Fisher, CEO of Tourism Kamloops

9:45 AM - Break - Ballroom B - Brought to You by Okanagan College

10:00 AM - Breakout Rooms 1 - Three Concurrent Breakout Sessions (choose 1)

• Session A: Our Doors Are Open to the Iconics: Connecting Local Experience to BC's Bigger Tourism Story - Ballroom A

  Learn how to leverage the research-backed brand strategies and new tools from Destination BC to create content that inspires responsible travellers internationally and domestically.

  Featuring Fiona Tso, Senior Social Media Specialist at Destination BC and Jessica Huxtable, Senior Specialist, Brand & Creative at Destination BC

• Session B: Opening Our Doors to Sustainability - Climate change is something being faced all over the world - Columbia Room

  We, as the tourism industry, are often questioned on whether we are part of the cause or the solution. Join Eve to learn about some of the climate crisis happening in the region and some of the actions we can take to become part of the solution with programs like TOTA Biosphere Program. Together, we can make a big impact.

  Featuring Eve Layman, Destination Development & Stewardship Specialist at TOTA and Rodney Payne, CEO of Destination Think

• Session C: Our Doors Are Open to Opportunity: Using Research to Understand Changing Visitor Patterns - Ballroom C

  Tourism patterns are changing, and research can help us understand what those changes really mean. This interactive session will explore how tourism data can challenge assumptions, reveal emerging opportunities, and support better decisions around seasonality, visitor markets, and local tourism trends.

Featuring Symphony Tourism Services: Amy Kneller, Operations Manager of Symphony Tourism Services and Charlney Van Wyk and Leonardo Arroyo Trejo both Research Specialist of Symphony Tourism Services

10:45 AM - Break - Ballroom B - Brought to You by Okanagan College

11:00 PM - Breakout Rooms 2 - Three Concurrent Breakout Sessions (choose 1)

• Session B: Opening Our Doors to Sustainability - Climate change is something being faced all over the world - Columbia Room

  We, as the tourism industry, are often questioned on whether we are part of the cause or the solution. Join Eve to learn about some of the climate crisis happening in the region and some of the actions we can take to become part of the solution with programs like TOTA Biosphere Program. Together, we can make a big impact.

  Featuring Eve Layman, Destination Development & Stewardship Specialist at TOTA and Rodney Payne, CEO of Destination Think

• Session C: Our Doors Are Open to Opportunity: Using Research to Understand Changing Visitor Patterns - Ballroom C

  Tourism patterns are changing, and research can help us understand what those changes really mean. This interactive session will explore how tourism data can challenge assumptions, reveal emerging opportunities, and support better decisions around seasonality, visitor markets, and local tourism trends.

Featuring Symphony Tourism Services: Amy Kneller, Operations Manager of Symphony Tourism Services and Charlney Van Wyk and Leonardo Arroyo Trejo both Research Specialist of Symphony Tourism Services

• Session D: Our Doors Are Open to Travel Trade & Media: Value of Working with these Guests - Ballroom A

  Learn how partnering with travel trade and media can expand your reach to qualified travellers, why these relationships matter for building credibility and awareness for BC, and why this work matters more than ever as AI and LLMs increasingly shape how travellers discover and choose destinations — plus practical steps you can take to start or strengthen your engagement with trade and media partners.

  Featuring Monica Leeck, Manager, Market Development, Asia/Pacific & Mexico

12:00 PM - Lunch

12:30 PM - Biosphere Recognition - Ballroom A

Celebration of businesses throughout the region that have become Biosphere Certified in 2026.

Featuring Eve Layman, Destination Development & Stewardship Specialist at TOTA and Biosphere Certified Businesses

12:40 PM - Presentation by Rodney Payne, CEO of Destination THINK - Ballroom A

1:00 PM - Our Doors Are Open During a Crisis: A Continuous Communication Strategy - Ballroom A

As wildfires become more frequent and severe in the Thompson Okanagan and around the world, our communication and response efforts must also adjust. This year the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) responded to a crisis with a livestream hosted by Erick Thompson, the Senior Manager of Communications and Engagement, and other members of the Regional Emergency Operations Centre (EOC). The team shared real-time information and updates as the status of the Bald Range Wildfire changed. Erick and several other members of the EOC were also under an evacuation order.

Learn about the response this effort received, and the lessons learned by the information section at the Regional EOC.

Featuring Erick Thompson, Senior Manager of Communications and Engagement at the Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen

1:45 PM - Opening Doors to Stronger Communities: The Value of Tourism - Ballroom A

Tourism brings communities an economic and social opportunity that many don’t understand and the efforts of a DMO are not always recognized. With the proper research and continuous communication of said research and examples of the impact that tourism has on a community, its residents, and businesses, we can share that value and in turn create unexpected champions of tourism that will help you make a larger impact in your community and destinations.

Moderated by Bev DeSantis, Consultant, Tourism & Destination Strategist

Panelists: 

• Elizabeth Clark, Fractional CMO and founder of Canopy Collective

• Christina Pilarski, CEO and co-founder of CIPR Communications

• Bill Sarai is a City of Kamloops Councillor

• Jenna Robins, Founder and CEO of Trilogy Solutions Ltd., and Tourism Marketing Coordinator at Salmon Arm Tourism

• Amy Kneller, Operations Manager at Symphony Tourism Services

2:30 PM - Open Doors Built with Purpose - From Community Roots to Global Investment - Ballroom A

Learn from Brett Soberg how a family built a business from strong advocacy, passion, and love for wildlife and the outdoors and turned it into a highly regarded and successful tourism company that is recognized internationally.

Featuring Brett Soberg Co-Founder, General Manager, and Captain

3:15 PM - Break - Ballroom B - Brought to You by Okanagan College

3:30 PM - Opening Doors to Advocacy, Preparedness and the Future of Tourism - Ballroom A

Tourism is one of British Columbia’s economic powerhouses, but is its importance fully reflected in the policies, systems and decisions that shape our sector? Using the analogy of a door, TIABC CEO Amber Papou explores where tourism currently stands, why the door is open but only ajar, and what it will take to open it fully.

Through economic comparisons, real-world examples and lessons from emergency management, Amber will examine how tourism can move from being consulted after decisions begin taking shape to being part of the conversation from the start. The session will explore the role of advocacy, collaboration and a consistent industry voice, and why opening the door will require all of us to knock.

Featuring Amber Papou, CEO - Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC) 

4:15 PM - Summit Closing Keynote: Opening Our Doors to the Past - Ballroom A

Discover how a local society took a well-known attraction and transformed it into a world-class visitor experience—and what happens when we get back to the basics of great tourism: creating something authentic, engaging, memorable, and worth talking about.

Featuring Hugh Culver, Chair of Friends of the South Slopes

4:50 PM - Summit Closing Remarks - Ballroom A