Between 30 to 50 professional guides attending the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC (SKGABC) spring exchange will paddle the waters around Lund from Friday, April 29, through Sunday, May 1.
“The exchange is basically an event where guides can maintain their skills, such as paddle strokes, rescue and technical abilities, as well as teaching interpretation about wildlife, culture and first nations,” said Footprint Nature Explorations co-owner John Hermsen, co-host of the event with Terracentric Coastal Adventures.
Guiding requires more than the skill of paddling a kayak, it takes a certain type of personality. According to Terracentric director and co-owner Christine Hollmann, a guide has to be a people person.
“As a company, we’re always looking for people who are super passionate about the coast and who can bring it to life for people,” said Hollmann. “It’s being a storyteller.”
For many of the guides attending the exchange, it will be their first visit to the area, which is fast becoming an attractive destination for tourists from around the world wanting to paddle the relatively easy navigational waters.
“It’s a neat chance for the guides to meet, mix, mingle and exchange stories,” said Hollmann. “Some of them travel internationally so you hear about other areas and what other guides are doing.”
Only SKGABC members can attend the event. The industry is self-governing, with the alliance setting standards for over 300 guides throughout the province, including seven levels of certification.
“A lot of the coastal companies comply to those standards, such as guide-to-client ratios and classifications of coastal waters from level one to four,” said Hermsen.
SKGABC has held exchanges since 1994. Guide exchanges are organized twice a year, one in the spring before the season starts and one in the fall after the season finishes. Lund is hosting the event for the first time.
“We offered to do it in the spring,” said Hermsen, adding that the two companies are squeezing in the earlier exchange because the upcoming kayaking adventure season is projected to be busier than ever.
Hermsen attributes the increase in bookings to a number of reasons, including the low Canadian dollar. As a result, more Canadians will visit the coast and a lot has been done by way of destination marketing for the region in the United States, he said.
A trade show held in the Netherlands for the last three years has paid off for Footprint, said Hermsen, and he believes the current security concerns around the world is affecting tourism.
“We also focus on the European market, on the Dutch market,” he said. “Canada is seen as a very safe country to travel to, and I think the global turmoil we see has also positively affected the tourism market.”
According to Hermsen, the area around Lund is climbing up the ladder as a destination for kayaking, adventure and ecotourism. The area is not as crowded as other coastal regions, which makes it a very attractive draw for eco-tourists, he said.
“We have all the things we need in the area to become the next big thing,” said Hermsen. “We have beautiful trails, we have fantastic marine parks and mountain biking is awesome. For outdoor enthusiasts, it’s a fantastic area.”
