Naomi Kerchinsky steps up as executive director for Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP) as they shift their marketing strategy.
Along with Kerchinsky’s move from director of marketing, TSP brought on Greg Albrecht on a year-long contract to coordinate a long-term event strategy, which is currently in the works.
Stepping into the role
Kerchinsky’s transition to executive director involved a number of moving parts, but with the transition period behind her, Kerchinsky has found her footing in her new position.
“Honestly, the hardest part of my career to date was those months, from January to April,” she said of the transition.
“I think in anything that I’ve done throughout, I’ve always kind of had the desire, capacity…where I go into a leadership role,” she explained.
Now, in a management role, she enjoys being able to work with community and industry partners on a deeper level.
How she got here
With a bachelor’s of arts in recreational sport tourism, Kerchinsky initially pursued tourism in rural Alberta, working for Travel Alberta to bring tourists into remote towns.
After some time as a travel agent, she managed a small venue in Red Deer, Alta., enticing acts traveling between Edmonton and Calgary to put on shows there. Because of this background in event management, her skill set is well-suited for working alongside Albrecht on TSP’s event strategy.
Her next career step was creating her own marketing company, but she had always wanted to be a part of the B.C. tourism industry.
“There just came a time in my mid 30s, I was just like, I want that dream job, I want to get back to a ski resort,” she said, having worked in ski patrolling and mountain tours before.
Her sister-in-law sent her the job for director of marketing at TSP and she’s now been here for two years.
A bit of what’s going on at TSP
When she was brought on as executive director, she was approached by the board about how Albrecht could be brought into the mix as well.
“With me coming in, there’s been more talk about destination management and destination development,” Kerchinsky said. Her joint hire with Albrecht is part of a shift in TSP’s tourism initiatives going forward.
As Albrecht develops an event strategy, Kerchinsky will be overseeing it.
“His position is to make a long-term event strategy to look at providing some economic drivers that are beyond our current target market of full-on outdoor enthusiasts, to help us diversify our spring, summer and fall product.”
They’ve been working on sending out event calendars every two weeks as well, so people can have their finger on the pulse of every event, big and small, going on in the community.
Transitioning into overseeing the big picture of destination development for Sun Peaks, she said the goal is transforming Sun Peaks into a vibrant year-round destination, “to move the perception from it being a bike and ski resort only… to be more of a mountain town.”
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