June 2025: Introducing Our New Executive Director

Oct 26

Dear WTA Community,
Summer is officially here! A big update for us this month- we are happy to announce Cassandra Zerebeski will be joining the WTA team as Executive Director! With over 25 years of experience, she will lead the WTA in strategy, partnerships, communications, and advocacy work. Cassandra is coming to us from Destination Silver Star, but has a long history of work in tourism, including with Tourism Whistler, Destination Canada, Pacific Destination Services, and Global Affairs Canada.

As part of the WTA’s partnership with the Tourism Industry Association of BC (TIABC) Cassandra will also be joining their team as Director of Policy, analyzing and advising TIABC on policy and regulation relevant to tourism. We’re very excited to work with her, and to continue our collaboration with TIABC. Welcome Cassandra!

MERS Humpback Whale Catalogue for Sale

The Marine Education and Research Society (MERS) has updated their digital Humpback Whale Catalogue for May 2025 and it is now available for purchase on their website. The Catalogue details all the humpback whales documented from the upper Georgia Strait to Bella Bella, as well as the waters off northwest Vancouver Island. It also includes information on MERS research and humpback whale biology.

MERS is a conservation society dedicated to researching, preserving, and providing education on marine ecosystems. Sales from their shop go towards their research and education efforts.

Purchase the Catalogue here

Volunteer to Maintain Trails with the Wilderness Committee

BC is home to some of the most spectacular forests in the world- and this summer, you can experience them while helping build and maintain trails as a volunteer with the Wilderness Committee. Trips range from single day to four-day hikes, consisting of clearing trails, trimming undergrowth, and building boardwalks, as well as learning about local ecosystems and efforts to preserve them from your guide.

Trips fill up fast! More information can be found below.

become a volunteer

Member Feature: Knight Inlet Lodge

Our member Knight Inlet Lodge was mentioned in an article in The Times, My bear-spotting adventure in Canada’s version of the Amazon. The article also details the uniqueness of the Great Bear Rainforest, including its grizzly bears, endless forests, and remoteness.

Knight Inlet Lodge is an Indigenous-owned wildlife viewing destination located in the Great Bear Rainforest, 240 kilometres north of Vancouver. They offer fine dining, accommodation, and grizzly bear and other wildlife viewing tours, all with a lens of conservation and sustainability. In 2017, they helped in the effort to end the grizzly bear trophy hunt in BC. To learn more or book a trip, see their website below!

Visit Knight Inlet Lodge