Visit Vancouver was registered in 1999 and launched online shortly thereafter.

Visit Vancouver's headline banner in 1999 when the web site was launched.

About Visit Vancouver

In 1999, VisitVancouver.bc.ca was registered with the University Of British Columbia who at that time were registering web sites for the province. Shortly thereafter the community web site went live on the internet and continued to grow throughout the years.

Groundbreaking Articles

"At the time we launced the web site hardly anyone had internet access or knew what the internet could become years later." Spokesperson for Visit Vancouver

One of the ground breaking articles was the Bear Bile farming interview with Jill Robinson who had established a bear rescue in China. The article exposed the cruel practice by farmers of extracting bile from bears kept lying on their backs in cages with no freedom or movement until the bears eventually die. It was the first time in Canada anyone had heard of or documented the atrocity. Visit Vancouver started an online petition and the public's outrage garnered thousands of signatures which were faxed to the Chinese consulate in Vancouver.

"It was then, back in 2005, where we saw the incredible impact that the internet could have as an information source for real change. Suddenly, people saw what was happening in the province, the country and internationally and could participate for change with this new media called the internet." Felicia Allen, interviewer with Jill Robinson on bear bile farming, for Visit Vancouver Bear Bile Farming in China

Visit Vancouver also documented the historic cultural exchange between Russia and Vancouver's Tamahnous Theater when Glasnost had been announced by the Russian government under Mikhail Gorbachev. "Glasnost opened the cultural doors to Russia," said Felicia Allen, who sought and obtained funding from three levels of government to tour a popular local theater production, Simple Folk, Songs of a Generation, co-written by and featuring Morris Panych and Ken MacDonald with Babs Chula. For the first time in Russian history, foreign theater performances of Simple Folk were held in Odessa, Leningrad and Moscow to delighted crowds.

"Many people here in Canada still don't know that our province was the first to introduce cultural exchange with Russia which had until glasnost been closed off to other countries. We changed that and now cultural exchanges between many countries and Russia are the norm." Felicia Allen, Administrator (1985-1987), Tamahnous Theater Society.

Over the years the community site became outdated as new internet technologies replaced existing coding for web sites.

However the web site continued and in 2024 a web site facelift began to make the community site more specific and more relevant. Many of the old articles were scrubbed from the web site to make way for new happenings, news and opinions or views. Contributors are still welcome.

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© 1999 Visit Beautiful Vancouver Online.