Examining the Pacific Marine Circle Route

Circle tours or routes are a strategy to disperse tourism throughout regions. They have been used widely around the world to create economic benefits in rural areas. By designating scenic routes and promoting the amenities available to visitors, destinations simplify complexity for visitors and enable them to access areas that may otherwise be missed.

I often advocate for tourism routes because of their ability to support rural areas that are using tourism for diversification. This week, I am taking ten graduate students in the new Masters in Sustainable Leisure Management at VIU into the field to develop a case study on the Pacific Marine Circle Tour on Southern Vancouver Island. Together, we have done research on route tourism in other contexts such as South Africa, Australia, USA and Canada to learn from their approaches. We are comparing what we have learned, to what we see and experience in the field. We are also comparing what is being promoted on the route vs. what we actually experience. In this sense, we are doing a modified gap analysis and our results will be fed back to those involved in championing the route to visitors.

Over the week, I have asked each student to submit a short blog entry on a portion of their experience. This sort of fieldwork is important for students, and it will provide some information to those in the communities along the route - a win win. Wish us luck!

Just ducky to be back at work

As I transition back to work, I decided to take my new textbooks for the MA in Leisure and Sustainability with me on the long weekend. I have to decide what reading these new students will be exposed to, which is always a challenge. Not only are there lots of books out there nowadays, but they vary greatly in their ability to get ideas and content across to audiences. Academics, as wise as they can be, are often terrible at getting their wisdom across to the very people that can most benefit from it. This often leaves important knowledge out of touch and inaccessible for people, including students. I am a real advocate for selecting reading that stimulates thinking and discussion and encourages students to see things from opposing sides (not what they necessarily want to hear).

So, in the end, I chose a couple of great ones that I hope will do just that. The first is by Cecile Andrews - called "Slow is Beautiful: new visions of community, leisure and joie de vivre".
I chose this one so that students could see the link between consumption, the pace of society and our quest for status and overall sustainability. While they are not likely to agree with everything, or to digest some of her messages easily, it will inspire good discussion. We are skyping Cecile in on the first day so she can discuss the background of the book with them as well. I always find that meeting the authors can help one situate their work a bit better.

I also chose Andres Edwards "Sustainability Revolution: Evolution of a Paradigm Shift" as a way to bring students onto the same page with sustainability concepts. He packs a lot of background and initiatives into this little book and covers off a variety of principles that various groups have developed to try and move sustainability from and idea into reality. I think that the duck on the beach at Walnut Beach Resort in Osoyoos enjoyed this book too, as he and his buddies were hanging around me while I read it (taking any opportunity to nibble at the food I had with me).

After this, the students will get lots and lots of readings from Dr. Tobias Luthe, our visiting scholar and lots of independent studies as well. I hope it inspires great dialogue and reflection, the goal of all teaching.