Welcome!

You’ve landed here because you’re curious about the future of tourism in Whistler, and we’re glad you’re here. This space is part of an ongoing conversation about what it means to live, work, and visit Whistler in 2050. The Smart Tourism Vision we’ve been developing in collaboration with the Smart Tourism Committee is a starting point - a creative, forward-thinking draft designed to spark imagination and help us dream bigger, together.

We’re inviting you to explore this vision, reflect on it, and share your thoughts through a short survey. Your feedback will directly shape the next phase of planning and action.

We believe that bold visions are especially vital in times of uncertainty - and Whistler is facing some real, complex challenges. The Whistler Sessions helped bring many of these issues to light through the creation of four future scenarios. However, rather than surfacing a clear, aspirational path forward, the process primarily revealed our collective anxieties about what lies ahead. As we revisit our forward-thinking journey through Smart Tourism, these are the things that continue to keep us up at night:

• Climate grief and uncertainty are real. It’s hard to talk about long-term sustainability when the climate crisis feels overwhelming. Many in our community are understandably grieving the changes already underway.
• Affordability is eroding the future for many residents. It’s difficult to inspire long-term thinking when people aren’t sure they can stay in Whistler next year - let alone in 2050.
• Our seasons are shifting. Higher freezing levels, wildfire scares and smoke, and climate variability make it harder to plan for the future of mountain life as we know it.
• Regional population growth is on the horizon through densification. Preserving our sense of place while accommodating change is one of our greatest challenges - and greatest opportunities.

We know we don’t have all the answers. But we also know we can’t let these challenges stop us from imagining what’s possible.

The Smart Tourism Vision isn’t a checklist or a finished plan. It’s a creative draft, built to provoke, stretch, and inspire us to think forward - not backward.

We know it’s not perfect. It doesn’t address every angle of tourism or sustainability or every issue we face. But it offers something deeper: a collective hope, creativity, and the belief that Whistler’s best years are still ahead. We see this as a launchpad. A collective invitation to reimagine what tourism can become when it truly supports the people, planet, and purpose of our mountain home.

Tourism is powerful. In Whistler, it fuels our economy, shapes our experiences, and connects us to the world. But to be truly sustainable, it needs to give back more than it takes. We must evolve.

By aligning with Líl̓wat Nation, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw and our community, partners and local businesses, we can co-create a version of tourism that feels authentic, consistent, and meaningful - one where we are all moving towards a better future, together.

Smart tourism is already happening here, from regenerative events and Indigenous-led experiences to year-round programming and business sustainability tools and innovations. This vision simply helps us pull those threads together into something bigger than any one initiative.

We expect, and welcome the fact that everyone reading this will imagine a different future for Whistler. That’s the power of a shared vision: it sparks ideas, dialogue, and action.

We want to hear what this vision inspires in you.

We invite you to take just 15 minutes to slow down and truly imagine the future of Whistler.

Find a quiet spot, get comfortable, and read through the Smart Tourism Vision. Take your time with each section - pause, reflect, and picture what success could look like to you in each area.

We encourage you to approach this with the mindset that Whistler’s best days are ahead, not behind us. Think about:

• What risks we need to be aware of
• What creative solutions we should explore
• What ideas we should aspire to grow together

This isn’t just about tourism - it’s about the future of our town. Let’s build it with care, imagination, and purpose.

Our next step is to build a strategic plan that paves the way for smart, sustainable, community-first tourism. Your input will help us get there - boldly and creatively.

Take the Survey and help shape what’s next for Whistler.