BC's first Economuseum - Merridale Cidery

On Friday I attended the Inauguration of BC's first Economuseum at the Merridale Cidery in the Cowichan region.  Merridale, along with the Hazelwood Herb Farm, will be piloting this innovative model in the province.

For those who want to learn more about the Economuseum model - see the International Economuseum site here. A quote from this site might help describe it best "This word designates a small, artisanal business, whose operations are not subsidized, and which is recognized for the quality and authenticity of its know-how. Open to the public, the business has special areas for animating and interpreting its art trade by means of pedagogical tools similar to those used in museum interpretation. All of the businesses are self-financed through the sale on site of traditional-style products."

I have had the good fortune to work with Pascale Knoglinger, the catalyst behind this movement making it to the westcoast, on other projects.  She has asked me to assist in evaluating the economic impact of the transition for the first two businesses in BC, to which I have agreed.

This effort piggybacks nicely with my previous post on visitor experience. The Economuseum model is based on producing consistent, high quality visitor experiences at the business level plus collaboration and business clusters.  It has shown to work extremely well in other regions of Canada and internationally. I feel very optimistic about the entry of this model into BC with both Merridale and Hazelwood and hope to see the influence permeate other operators and those involved in regional economic development within the province. Congratulations Merridale!