CEO’S MESSAGE: FEBRUARY 2025

Dear Team Richmond, 

The countdown is on! On January 28th, we officially marked the 500-day countdown to the FIFA World Cup 2026™, a groundbreaking milestone event for Metro Vancouver, host of 7 games in one of the world’s most anticipated sporting events.

Tourism Richmond, together with Destination BC, have kicked off a special campaign to build excitement for the games with limited-edition commemorative scarves and enthusiasm for the tournament and its visitors. Along with stakeholders such as the City of Richmond, Richmond Olympic Oval, Richmond Night Market, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, and Fairmont Vancouver Airport, we promoted the 500-day countdown across social media channels to show our support and create energy around the milestone.

Stay tuned for more exciting developments and ways to get involved in the lead up to the official one year out kick off on June 11.

In other exciting news, we celebrated the Year of the Snake with a lively dumpling-making workshop for media and influencers that is generating great attention (see Instagram post) for the revitalized Dumpling Trail. You can see more highlights from this fun event on in February Stakeholder newsletter under the Tourism Richmond Updates section.

Finally, as we see some challenging times ahead with trade disputes and increased negative rhetoric that will have economic ramifications across the board, I really believe tourism has a unique opportunity to be a catalyst to drive our economy forward and a bridge to celebrate diversity, respect, dignity and equality – core values in our country and in our city. I am involved in many industry discussions and roundtables about industry implications, and I will keep you posted on developments.

As well, Tourism Richmond is actively pursuing new and emerging markets in Asia that will diversify our markets and insulate us against situations such as this. Stay tuned!

Stay well,

Nancy Small

Tourism Richmond Team Member

Chief Executive Officer