Getting people to stop on route - the ice cream factor

Ice cream is magic.  Last summer when I was in Okanagan Falls, I stopped at a very well marked venue called Tickleberry's just south of town. Yesterday on route down to Osoyoos, the place once again caught my eye and I thought I would do a post on the magic stopping power of ice cream. Sugar addicts can perhaps relate, but once a person gets a hankering for a taste of sweets like ice cream, it can lure a car off the highway as fast as a washroom break. For those who are struggling to try and get people to stop, a well positioned and run ice cream venue can do the trick - I've seen it work in Chemainus, Cochrane, AB and other areas.

Tickleberry's has a large building that houses an impressive collection of local arts and culinary treats and room for the long line ups that inevitably arrive each summer. There were at least 6 staff behind the ice cream counter yesterday serving generous amounts of ice cream to visitors - and in the time I browsed around the store - the line up was 12 people deep (Sunday at about 5 pm in June). When I was in the line up, two little boys were playing beside me and I realized that the store had thought about the store experience from the little guys perspective - they were looking at little bears in windows that were positioned about 2.5 feet high along the counter.  This was keeping the little guys occupied while waiting in the line up, likely a popular move with the parents.

Too bad my flight back is at 6 am on Thursday, likely a bit early for ice cream anyways! Stop in sometime when you are in the region or think about whether or not your area could use a well positioned ice cream shop to get visitors to stop for a bit = then lure them to explore or play a bit while they are out of the car.

Vancouver Island Visitor Center

Well, maybe it is because I am traveling so much these past few weeks but today I had a meeting up in Courtenay which was held at the new Vancouver Island Visitor Center - one of the icon centers in the province and I must say - WOW. This is a case study of every best practice that exists in visitor center development - I was super impressed.

The center is well signed and located just off the main entrance to the City and is identified by a symbol of the area - a plane. There is lots of parking and the facility is impressive in size and scope - inviting to say the least.  Inside, there is a nice new meeting room for community use, an open concept space with a large counter area for staff, a shopping space for local gifts, an area for computer searches and wireless access, couches and a fireplace for relaxing or reading...and most impressive - in the back area there is an interactive area that profiles the region for the visitor.  The displays profile the amenities of the area including wildlife, recreation and sports, agriculture and sustainability initiatives. When we were there the place was full of visitors in all corners of the venue. As we enjoyed our BBQ on the outdoor patio, I couldn't help but wonder how impressive it must be for visitors to arrive here and form a positive impression of the area. I also wondered, as I often do, about the inconsistent experience that visitors must have though as they travel throughout the province to different VIC's as they range in quality sometimes quite drastically.

It must have been a huge undertaking to accomplish this project, and I wish all those involved success with the venture and will definitely encourage my own guests this summer to stop in on route up island.

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!

Maximizing Collective Returns from Tourism

On Wednesday night, I was asked to do a keynote at the Parksville and Qualicum Beach Chambers of Commerce meeting in Qualicum Beach. The two chambers have been getting their members together for seven years now and this gathering had about 170 people in attendance.  I mentioned to them that it was not common for me to see two communities at the business level, come together in this way. This emphasis on collaboration within a somewhat unique region of Vancouver Island is commendable.

I decided to focus my talk on the nature of the visitor experience vs. destination development. While I often like to focus on supply side orientations, I have noted that many stakeholders involved in "product development" often do not understand that the product that is sold in tourism is a visitor experience. So, with that, I described, using others research - what the visitor experience is really all about.  I then used this to segue and deliver the message that many destinations should stop thinking about destination development and they should focus on visitor experience development. This is a growing trend in other countries - Australia links are in the presentation) and somewhat in Canada (Traveler types EQ) and more locally, the BC Tourism Strategy is now focusing on the five stages of visitor experience.

The group was great - they had lots of tough questions for me - but overall, I think the key ideas came across. Thanks Geoff for the invite and Peter for coordinating the event. Well done and continued success.

If you are interested in the presentation - you can find it HERE.
And, I made the news - here is a good summary of my quotes.

The value of horse drawn carriage rides for visitors

I am writing this entry from Charleston, South Carolina where I am visiting this week for the National Extension Tourism Conference - one of my favorites (and I will write more about it this week).

Yesterday, in an effort to get a feel for the City, I decided to take one of the horse drawn carriage rides throughout the City. I often try to do this as I have found that the experience provides me with a lot of benefits. I get familiar with the destination, learn a ton about the history and architecture, and it connects me to the products that I can add to my list during the visit. These benefits are not provided in many communities and I am not sure that those in the industry recognize the role that carriage companies play in overall visitor experience.

In the past few years, I have begun to think that a study to compare the strategies and supports used by various communities to attract or manage carriage companies is needed. When I was in Montreal, I learned that there were many issues for the companies in trying to work with the City. Some were being lured away by a progressive community in Manitoba that was trying to establish the service there. Yesterday, I learned about the regulations in place here in Charleston, and I also observed some of the innovative strategies being used to control the impacts of the industry - for example:

The City has integrated the stables for horses within the market square area - these are heritage buildings for the most part. The sense for visitors, of seeing horses in their stalls and part of the landscape is great - and I am sure it entices, as it did for us, a number of people to decide upon taking a trip. The location of the carriages waiting, is very visible for visitors. There is something about horses drawing a carriage that gets people's cameras out...

The horses are employees with excellent labour standards - they can only take out five trips per day, work 5 days a week with 2 off, and they have to take 3 months off after serving 6, so they work half the year. They also get new rubber shoes every 6 weeks - soft on their legs but also protects the streets and keeps noise down.

The companies use a lottery system to control where they take their guests. They pull up to a "bingo ball" unit and give a series of numbers to the recorder - the number of their unit, the number of people on the trip, the horses name (to control the number of trips a day) and the driver. They are then given a route to take, which disperses them throughout the city and eliminates too much congestion.

There is an equine sanitation unit on patrol. When a horse has nature call while on route, the driver drops a small flag on the pavement. Within 2o minutes, a sanitation truck comes by to clean it up - which prevents smell and unsanitary conditions from evolving. Horses also wear manure bags.

Drivers give cars the right of way - but on narrow streets, it is often difficult. I am sure there is some tension with the home owners, but from what I could see - they appear to have the right building blocks in place.

All this for $20 per person for an hour long trip! Quite affordable considering what I have paid elsewhere. The company we used said business is usually good - as tourism is the number one industry for the City.

So there you have it, many insights for others who are using this strategy for tourism. I often believe that these sorts of initiatives are ones that should be welcomed and supported by communities (vs. regulated to death) as they probably do a better job of connecting people to product than many of our current systems (i.e. visitor information centers).

More on NET to come in the next few days...