Penticton students get chance to learn tourism biz

Penticton youth are getting the chance to delve into the tourism business.

In early Fall, Travel Penticton began working with KVR Middle School to develop an innovate new program that would see Grade 8 pupils become more involved with tourism in the community.

The Youth Influencers Program is the brain child of Travel Penticton Executive Director, Thom Tischik.

"This program, gives us a unique opportunity to directly engage with a younger demographic while allowing the participants to develop essential social media and marketing skills that will be transferable to numerous different job roles in the future," Tischik said. "Tourism is a major contributor to the economic and environmental stability of Penticton. Whether they know it or not, youth has a huge influence in this arena. Often they are the key consideration in deciding where families vacation."

The Youth Influencers program focuses on five key themes: Why live here? stewardship, business and economy culture, fun and activity.

Students will complete a series of tourism-related projects that will include: writing blogs and social media posts, creating videos and designing marketing materials.

"Our goals is to encourage students to become Penticton ‘digital influencers’ and share their ideas and experiences across our social media platforms.

If you would like to find out more about the Youth Influencers Program contact jo.charnock @visitpenticton.com or call 250-276-2161