IMPACT Session Speakers

March 31, 2021

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Keith Henry

President & CEO, Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada

Mr. Keith Henry is a Métis person that was born in Thompson, Manitoba and raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Mr. Henry achieved a B.Ed. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1995.

Mr. Henry began his career in 1995 with teaching positions and has become well known for his strategic administrative and negotiations skills. Since 1998 Mr. Henry has led numerous provincial, federal and industry negotiations on a variety of issues. He has been directly responsible for financial administration of a number of Aboriginal non-profits and has a proven track record of success.

Mr. Henry has become an international Aboriginal cultural tourism leader receiving Aboriginal/Indigenous recognition as the former CEO for Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia (AtBC). In April 2014 the inaugural World Indigenous Tourism Alliance award recognized the work of AtBC and Mr. Henry’s leadership. Mr. Henry has been spearheading the growth of authentic Aboriginal tourism in Canada as he worked to redevelop the national Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada as elected chair when this organization incorporated in April 2015. In October 2015 Mr. Henry took the full time role as the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada’s CEO.

In Canada Mr. Henry continues to be recognized across the country as one of the leaders in Aboriginal tourism and has led many new initiatives including the national strategy entitled “The Path Forward 2016-2021”, contributions to the development of national standards on market readiness and authenticity, cruise industry opportunities and the national Aboriginal tourism research project on the economic value of Aboriginal cultural tourism. Mr. Henry was instrumental in the development of the national Aboriginal tourism strategy The Path Forward 2016-2021 which will focus on increasing Aboriginal market readiness, increasing jobs, and increasing revenues. Over the course of the last number of years Mr. Henry has been invited to numerous international locations to support Aboriginal tourism strategies.

Mr. Henry volunteers time in the Aboriginal community and maintains several board positions including the former President of the Industry Council for Aboriginal Business, former chair of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, current Chair for the Native Education College, member of the Minister’s Council on Tourism, former member of the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Aboriginal Opportunities Committee, member of the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance, member of the International Marketing Committee Destination Canada member, and current President of the BC Métis Federation.

Marsha Walden

President & CEO, Destination Canada

Marsha’s career spans leadership roles in strategy and organizational renewal, marketing and communications, corporate social responsibility, operations management, and business innovation. She has worked with enterprises in many of Canada’s flagship industries and found her true calling in tourism. Marsha joined Destination British Columbia as President and CEO in 2013, leading the newly formed provincial Crown corporation to create ground-breaking strategies for tourism development and nationally recognized, data-driven performance marketing. A resident of Vancouver, Marsha holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of British Columbia and is an active volunteer with the YMCA and The Presidents Group championing inclusive employment. She loves travelling with friends and sharing time with family at their island cottage.

Katie Briscoe

President, MMGY Global

Katie Briscoe is the President of MMGY Global, the world's largest, fully integrated agency, specializing in tourism and hospitality.

Katie Briscoe is responsible for the development of core marketing services and talent along with helping to lead MMGY Global’s strategic growth through acquisition. In addition to being part of the global leadership team, Katie oversees the operation of the company’s integrated marketing communications brand, MMGY, which offers clients around the world full-service support, including brand planning, content and creative development, media planning and buying, marketing technology and data, CRM, and analytics. She also oversees the company’s North American PR, social and experiential brand, NJF.

Katie has spent over a decade with MMGY Global, leading strategic work for clients including Club Med, Marriott International, Destination DC, Namibia Tourism, Sixt Rental Car and Wyndham Hotel Group. She is currently a member of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Americas Board as well as the recipient of the organization’s 2017 Chair’s Leadership Award. She has been named to the Expedia Select Board and is a designee to the Visit KC marketing committee.

Welcome by Marion Joppe

Professor at the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph & President, Tourism Environment

We are proud to announce Marion Joppe as co-chair for IMPACT 2020. Marion is a Professor at the School of Hospitality, Food and Tourism Management, University of Guelph, and President, Tourism environment.

She received her doctorate in Law and Economics of Tourism from the Université de Droit, d’Economie et des Sciences d’Aix-Marseille III (France), where her research focused on government intervention in tourism, and the approaches taken by different political systems and countries. She specializes in destination policy, planning, development, and marketing, and teaches responsible tourism on three continents.

Prior to joining academia, she gained broad tourism industry experience in both the public and private sectors, holding senior positions in tourism with the Ontario Government, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, financial institutions and tour operators. Throughout, she has engaged with the tourism industry by leading diverse organizations such as Heritage Toronto, the Ontario Tourism Education Corporation, the Tourism, Recreation and Economic Opportunities Workgroup of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, the Tourism Committee of the Toronto Board of Trade, Destination Ontario’s Metrics Committee, and both the Canadian Chapter and the International boards of the Travel and Tourism Research Association. She has also been a member local, provincial and federal task groups, committees, and boards, ranging from the Green Tourism Association to the Tourism Industry of Canada working on a national responsible tourism approach, and Destination Canada, where she helped create the concept of Signature Experiences.

Examples of some of the major initiatives she has led include the community‑driven tourism and waterfront revitalization strategies, nodal developments, and projects captured in the Waterfront Regeneration Trust’s “Tourism, Recreation and Economic Strategy for the Lake Ontario Greenway”; developing Halton Region’s tourism strategy, focusing on supporting the Region's sustainability goals and objectives; and the “Study of Innovative Best Practices to Foster Place-based Tourism Development in Ontario’s Rural Communities", funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs that provides Ontario’s rural communities with the direction required to foster sustainable economic growth.

Moderated by Paul Nursey

CEO, Destination Greater Victoria

Paul Nursey joined Destination Greater Victoria in January 2014. He is an experienced and respected senior tourism leader and progressive tourism marketing, strategy and branding expert with 20 years of tourism-related leadership and management experience. He has held leadership positions with the Canadian Tourism Commission, Rocky Mountaineer Rail Tours, Mount Seymour Resorts and Tourism Vancouver — the Greater Vancouver Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Widely regarded as one of Canada’s top tourism policy minds, Paul serves on the board of the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia as the Policy Committee Chair, and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada as the Advocacy Committee Chair.

During his tenure at Destination Greater Victoria, Paul has transformed the organization using the Balanced Scorecard performance management framework. Successes to date include accommodation occupancy rates increasing from 66% in 2014 to 76% in 2018, with seasonality significantly reduced. In 2016, Paul negotiated a new funding relationship with lcoal hoteliers, the City of Victoria and Province of B.C. that enables Destination Greater Victoria to better execute strategic planning over the medium term. Under Paul's leadership Destination Greater Victoria has assumed responsibility in a natural evolution with SportHost Victoria to partner on sports tourism in Greater Victoria. He has also overseen increased conference business including co-founding the IMPACT Sustainability Travel & Tourism Conference.

Paul has led the transformation of Destination Greater Victoria to an organization focused on sustainability through attracting high yield customers, promoting Greater Victoria attractions outside of the downtown core and embracing innovation of small business. Destination Greater Victoria also recently became certified “carbon friendly” by Offsetters and is working towards a “carbon neutral” designation by 2021.

Paul holds a degree in Regional Planning from Simon Fraser University and has completed the Executive Development in Tourism program from the University of Hawai’i at Mãnoa. He has also completed the Institute of Corporate Directors Not-for-Profit Governance Essentials Program and is currently enrolled in the full Directors Education Program.

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