Deadline: December 17, 2021.

Whether you are an individual, a start-up or an established small business or non-profit organization, there can be many challenges and barriers to bringing a new tourism idea, experience or partnership to fruition. 

​They want to help. The “Spark” Program will match selected candidates with a tourism mentor and provide a source of financial support to help take your great new tourism idea to the next level of development or implementation. They are looking for:

New Indigenous tourism ideas that address one or more of the following:

• Enhances current tourism offerings
• Creates new, high-quality tourism experiences
• Addresses gaps in tourism products and services
• Motivates travel, longer stays and repeat visits
• Increases visitation and tourism spending

ELIGIBILITY

• Indigenous tourism entrepreneurs, small businesses, community groups and non-profits based in British Columbia
• Eligible businesses and organizations that are 51%+ Indigenous-owned, operated and controlled and will offer a bookable cultural experience
• Applicants must be enrolled as an Indigenous Tourism BC member/stakeholder before submitting their “Spark” Program application. Join now for free!

BENEFITS

Selected applicants will receive:

• 3 month mentorship with a tourism innovator, experienced operator, industry leader and/or sector expert
• $5,000 “Spark” grant to support tourism idea development activities
• Access to a support network of tourism innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders
• ​Ongoing guidance on other resources and support services provided by partners

APPLICATION

Submit a short document (1,000 words maximum) with responses to each of the following 8 questions:

1. Contact information (name, phone number, email, business/organization name, website)
2. Tell us about yourself, your small business or non-profit organization.
3. What’s your new Indigenous tourism idea?
4. How is your idea innovative or unique?
5. What stage are you at with your idea?
6. Who are your target market(s) and/or partner(s)?
7. How would you utilize the “Spark” mentorship and grant funds if selected?
8. What are your hoped for outcomes and impacts?
Copy and paste these questions into a word document and provide a response for each, keeping the full application document to 1,000 words or less. 

In addition to the application document, please include a file or link to a short (1 minute maximum) unedited, unproduced video introducing yourself, your small business, or non-profit organization, and your new tourism idea. For example, use your smart phone to take the video, and then upload it to a file sharing service (eg. Dropbox, Google Docs) or a publicly accessible video sharing website such as YouTube (if you don’t want other people to find it, mark it as unlisted) and include the file or link in your email with your application document.

IMPORTANT: Both the document (1,000 word maximum) and video (1 minute maximum) are required for a complete application submission. Incomplete applications or applications that are above the maximum word/time limits will not be reviewed. 

SUBMISSION

Please submit your application to info@tourisminnovation.ca by December 17, 2021 at 11:59pm PT and include “Indigenous Tourism BC Spark Application” in the subject line. Emails will be sent within 24 hours to confirm receipt of all applications. If you do not receive a confirmation email, send another email or call 1-844-455-0325 ext. 101 to make sure we received your application.

OFFICIAL LINK