As Hawaii strains to reorient its visitor industry management to better serve the community, British Columbia’s Vancouver Island has been breaking a trail for others to follow.

Their tourism marketing organization, formerly known as Tourism Vancouver Island, has been making news by initiating a remarkable makeover from an organization focused on marketing the area’s visitor industry, to a social enterprise with a new name, 4VI.

From a story published this week by Skift.com, which reports on the hospitality industry:

Tourism Vancouver Island announced in April it was dropping its traditional tourism marketing business model of more than 60 years to operate as a non-profit social enterprise — a business designed to invest all its revenue back into social goals. There’s no doubt this represented a paradigm shift in the debate about the expanded role of tourism boards these last two years, from destination management to destination stewardship and regeneration.

Rebranded as “4VI” to reflect its four key pillars — community, businesses, culture, and environment — this “social enterprise tourism board” appears to be the first such entity of its kind to date.

But of particular significance behind Tourism Vancouver Island’s decision is this: it pulls back on the “why” of a destination management organization and defines what “tourism as a force for good” actually means.

“They’re making an incredibly clear statement of, this is why we are here — we’re not here just to serve tourists, we’re not here just to serve the hoteliers; we are here to improve the quality of life and the tool that we have is tourism development,” said Jonathon Day, associate professor at Purdue University’s White Lodging-J.W. Marriott Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

“What you’re seeing is real clarity about the purpose of tourism development in a community: to make it sustainable and benefit the local people,” said Day.

I was struck by the emphasized quote: “…we are here to improve the quality of life and the tool that we have is tourism development.”

Another published article touts the need for new metrics to measure industry success.

According to Janet Docherty, chair of the 4VI board of directors, the focus on 4VI’s four pillars will help to attract educated and respectful tourists who “tread lightly” when they visit. This is because sustainability is becoming increasingly important to residents and tourists alike; people want to come to a destination known for prioritizing the environment and people.

“We’re seeing over-tourism in many places around the world, and there are even shades of it in the Tofino area,” says Docherty. “But the environment is changing, and we need to pay attention.

“We’re not just focused on measuring profitability. That’s important, but we need a more holistic approach. Tourism — and tourists — are demanding it.”

According to another: “Vancouver Island’s bold shift reflects a changing paradigm – managing and marketing tourism towards the primary goal of delivering positive social impact versus a sole focus on economic indicators. I’m confident that 4VI will be a true lighthouse example of systems innovation.”