By Kathy Cooper

Another year is drawing to a close; 2025 rings a bit differently for all of us here at Kootenay Rockies Tourism (KRT). We close the chapter on my long career with KRT and move into the next era with our new CEO Brad Parsell who joined us at the beginning of the month.

Throughout the many years I have spent working in this industry, there have always been significant challenges and threats to the sector’s sustainability and resilience. I am dating myself but to name a few, we withstood SARS, 911, the crash of ’08, budget fluctuations, the global pandemic and threatening climate events such as wildfires and floods, and as of late, the geopolitical disputes and disruption of the flow of business between Canada and the US. Throughout it all, this Association has persevered and continued work on behalf of the collective tourism industry in this region.

To be sure, there have been many highlights along the way, Expo 86, the lead up to the 2010 Winter Games and the excitement once the games began, year over year of economic growth and visitor numbers climbing. Tourism is exciting, uncertain and often a challenging industry, but it is never dull.  I have been fortunate to be a part of it all over the years.

A sincere thank you to all of you who shared your knowledge, your experiences, your challenges and your insights with me.

As only one person in this organization, our success in a large part is due to the talented, bright individuals who make up the team at KRT, whom I will miss very much but I am thrilled that Brad has stepped in to lead this dedicated group into the next era. I know they are well positioned for continued success.  It has been a privilege to work on behalf of this region all these years.

I wish all of you a happy, prosperous and successful 2026! Until we meet again, I will say bye for now.

Kootenay Rockies Tourism photo

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