National Extension Tourism Conference 2011

Well today was jam packed with great sessions at this years National Extension Tourism Conference. This is one I try not to miss and have been to the one in Vermont 4 years ago, Utah 2 years back and now in South Carolina. The US has a different system than Canada with an embedded support to work with regions/communities and operators in rural tourism. Their Land Grant institutions have what is called an extension arm - where professionals from the Universities work as agents of change within their regions in a variety of specialist areas. Earlier this week, a conference was held for the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (March 7-9th) here in Charleston as well.

I first became familiar with this system when I did my PhD at Michigan State. My research work with the Recreation and Tourism Resources Center was in rural tourism in the Michigan Thumb region. I often wish that we had an equivalent system, at least with the same structural supports within Canada. Our system in Canada seems to place Universities within communities and regions, but there is not a clearly articulated mandate to serve and work with them for change. While it can be found in mission statements, there are few funded structures to enable things to happen long term. My position is one however, at VIU, that was created as a long term strategy to create some of these links. If I could only have a team of specialists like down here though...

I digress - the conference. Today was packed with good sessions - here are some tidbits to take away for those who can't be here:

David Sheatsley was the keynote this am (US Travel). He gave an overview of some research on visitation to the US. Their total domestic visits have been increasing and are expected to hit a new record in 2012 as Americans are encouraged to travel closer to home. Consumer confidence is on the upswing - but is still only at 70.4% whereas 90% is considered healthy - so a ways to go yet. There is a gap between the perception of affordability of travel and people's money available to do so - this gap is biggest for boomers. One of the issues, not surprising, is the effect that fuel prices is having on an already weakened system. For example, of the top concerns that may impact travel, the top ones were all financial - including gas prices, airline costs whereas the impact of personal debt on travel has been decreasing in significance. The reasons people are indicating they may travel more this year? 40% to relieve stress, 40% for a break from home or work, 39% they have additional time, 39% to reconnect with family or friends, 25% had put off travel due to the state of the economy and 15% due to household budget improving. The outlook for 2011? People will continue to stay close to home, but will drive further. High fuel costs will impact household budgets so value and frugality will reign.

I attended a series of sessions on the use of mapping to assist in tourism planning and marketing. These were useful, but I found myself wondering if costly investments into developing databases and then maintaining them are not better done in the private sector. One session on Market Maker was quite interesting - it connects producers to buyers of agricultural products - but they have been expanding the application across various states and into new sectors, such as agritourism.

Carol Patterson and Miles Phillips did a great workshop on the "Good Bad and the Ugly of tourism" complete with sound effects. Based on numerous experiences, they outlined how operators creatively used their ideas to either produce successful ventures or to "gain experience". Too many examples to share - but you can check out Carol's information for regular updates and newsletters.

And, the last of the day was a great workshop on how Ohio extension agents have been introducing social networking applications to agritourism businesses. Julie Fox provided details on their introduction sessions and their hands on workshops and outlined some of the lessons learned. They have piloted their approach a number of times and I kept thinking that this is something we need to build in as a collaborative approach between students and operators in BC. A couple of the tips they share at their experiential workshop are:

1. Know what people are saying about you (online already) Use google alerts, social mention to find out and get alerts from online mention of your business name

2. Become familiar with popular media sites such as twitter, face book, YouTube and linked in - and think about how they could work with your business;

3. Get engaged in great content - give people something to talk about - photos, videos, chats, polls, stories

4. Get the customer engaged - have them tell their stories, ask for feedback on new products, and build a relationship with them

5. Integrate social media into your marketing plan

Well, I will update more tomorrow and am presenting on how tourism needs to be embedded in broader rural development strategies, like amenity based rural development.

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...

Registration is open and plenary panelists selected!

The Upcoming Rural Tourism Conference is almost here! April 19-21 in 108 Mile House, BC.

Registration is now available - to proceed with registration CLICK HERE
Early Registration Feb 1st -March 11th $210
Regular Registration March 11 - Apr 8th$250
Student Registration Feb 1st -Apr 8th$175 Sponsored

The program schedule will be released shortly, we are just confirming our presenters. There was a fantastic response to the call for submissions and the program is shaping up to bring a diversity of presenters to share their expertise with delegates.

Plenary Panel
We have invited three experts to share their perspectives on the use of amenities in rural tourism development. The esteemed panel will open and close the conference - first to set the stage and initiate discussion and later to provide insights on how rural areas in BC can use their natural and cultural amenities in tourism development in the future.

Dr. Simon Milne
Simon Milne is Professor of Tourism at Auckland University of Technology, where he directs the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (www.nztri.org). Simon completed his PhD in economic geography at Cambridge in 1989 and then taught at McGill University, Montreal until 1998. Simon’s current research focuses on the links between tourism, IT and sustainable development. Simon has worked as a consultant to a number of international organizations including UNESCAP, UNDP, the European Union and the Organization of American States. Simon will bring an international perspective to the use and promotion of amenities for regional tourism development.

Dr. Laurence Moss
Dr. Moss is one of the most recognized names in amenity led development. His consultancy work across the globe has provided him with rich insights into the role of amenities in rural development and its links to tourism. His professional work has focused on regional and local change and sustainable development. During the past 20 years he has targeted cultural and environmental sustainability issues in mountain regions, particularly the effects of amenity migration, tourism and related global forces. His expertise is sought by many and has resulted in him working for clients in 25 countries. He has sustained active engagement with numerous professional associations and is the author of numerous publications that have helped raise the awareness and understanding of amenity migration across the globe. He lives with his family by the Kootenay Lake in Kaslo, BC, Canada and currently works principally through The International Amenity Migration Centre and Glorioso, Moss & Associates.

Pat Corbett
Pat is a well recognized and respected leader in tourism and amenity based rural development in British Columbia. In the 1970’s he was the project manager for 108 Mile House, a resort community built to take advantage of the wealth of natural amenities in the area. He later conceptualized, built and has successfully operated the provinces first health resort – the Hills Health Ranch. He and his resort have won numerous awards to recognize their achievements in the industry and he has maintained an active leadership role with numerous organizations nationwide. Pat will speak to these experiences and his insights about rural tourism development from an operator perspective during the plenary.

Luncheon for BC Research Chairs

Today I attended a luncheon to recognize research and innovation in BC, hosted by Premier Gordon Campbell. As he nears the end of his leadership for the BC Liberal Party, this was an opportunity to recognize one of the legacies he will leave for the province.

Back in 2002, the province created the BC Leading Edge Endowment Fund and invited proposals from Universities across the province to create Research and Innovation Chairs to add to the intellectual capital of the province in a variety of fields. The fund asked institutions to match funding from the province to create endowment funds that would support research positions in perpetuity. My chair position, the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development, was one of those funded in the province.

As I listened to some of the other accomplishments of the Chairs and the Premier, I was motivated to think boldly about the opportunities ahead in my position. Having a position funded “forever” and in a neutral body like the University allows for some certainty and consistency to pursue questions that need to be answered in rural development. I left the event tasking myself about the key research questions, the potential work and the legacy that the Chair can make for rural BC communities. I don’t have the answers yet, but there are a few ideas that I am going to bounce off some trusted colleagues and stakeholders in rural tourism development. I believe that good decisions are made with good information and my role in the system is to identify gaps in this knowledge and then work with others to fill those gaps and get information to those that can most benefit from it.

As I head back into the field to collect data for my current research project - this experience has reminded me of the privileged position I have in the larger picture and I plan to think boldly about how to make the best use of the opportunities before us. I am always open to hearing ideas – so if you are thinking boldly as well – I encourage you to share your thoughts with me.

Finding success stories in Amentiy Based Rural Development

I am currently working with a team of researchers on a contract for the Canadian Rural Secretariat to profile three rural regions of Canada where natural and cultural amenities have been used to drive development in a collaborative way. Our team has been out in the field conducting research in the case regions we have selected including Kings County, Nova Scotia, the Charlevoix region of Quebec and the Columbia Basin region in BC. We hope to be able to understand what some of the keys to success have been in these regions so that ABRD, as an approach for rural Canada, can be advanced with evidence based decision making.

ABRD is new language and I have found myself having to explain it to folks a bit while in the field. So, thought I would take a chance to give the ABRD 101 version on the blog.

Amenity based rural development is an approach to rural development. Essentially, natural and cultural amenities are viewed as potential drivers of development. But instead of being viewed as resources for extraction, they are seen as things that make regions attractive – to visitors, residents and investors. The attractive value is used to draw people, ideas and investment INTO rural areas, vs. exporting resources out. It differs from traditional views of economic development in that it prioritizes bringing people into an area before jobs – people, especially creative and entrepreneurial people (creative new economy) will then choose to live in rural areas because of their attractive value and in doing so, they will create new economies. These new economies can be linked to amenities (so industries like tourism, recreation, arts and culture) but they can also be unrelated – for example, someone could choose to run their oil company in Calgary while living in an amenity rich rural area. The key to success for this type of approach is balance – natural and cultural amenities need to be promoted and developed so that people in urban areas know about them and maybe attracted to visit or relocate. But they also need to be protected over the long term so that their value remains constant or better yet, appreciates. I order to do this, areas need to collaborate with multiple stakeholders – and they need to engage in long term planning.

Planning and collaboration are often lacking in rural areas. By and large, most rural areas do no have a planner on staff and if they do, they are often hired at the community vs. regional level. Rural communities are not always engaged in collaboration with regional stakeholders either – by and large, they function at a local level – community by community. Why is this problematic for ABRD? There are thousands of rural communities across Canada – and most have very limited financial and human resources to pursue ABRD on their own. Besides, most natural amenities are not located in communities – they are in peripheral regions and transcend municipal boundaries. The proper promotion and protection of these amenities must be done by multiple stakeholders – local and regional governments, not profit associations and the business community. Each of these stakeholders plays an important role in ARBR – governments in service provision, economic development and planning, not for profits in protection and promotion activities and the business community has to be able to create economy from the amenities.

In many ways ABRD is a new paradigm for rural development. It creates an umbrella, and a unified approach to enhance the quality of life in rural areas by utilizing the amenities available. As a tool, it can bring rural audiences together, support grassroots efforts, and align resources to address issues of depopulation, loss of service provision and economic well being.

If you are interested in learning more about ABRD – there are two events coming up on the calendar that you may want to note – first is a webinar on ABRD hosted by the BC Rural and Community Development Ministry on March 31, 10 - 11:30 am. For more information on how to register keep posted here as I will add that as soon as it is ready. The next is a gathering of minds in one of BC’s amenity rich destinations – 108 Mile House in the Cariboo – at the Hills Health Ranch on April 19-21st. The conference is the Rural Tourism Conference co hosted by TRU, VIU and UNBC (collaboration!). Registration is open and for more information go to www.ruraltourismconference.com

Capacity building in the industry

This week I was asked to lead a workshop on “Understanding your visitors” at the Tourism Vancouver Island Professional Development series. TVI organized full day workshops as a way to build capacity in the industry. From what I can see, they were a great success. One was held in Port Alberni on March 8th and another in Cobble Hill on March 10th.

The line up included an update on TVI marketing opportunities, the workshop on understanding your visitors, followed by a session by "How your business keeps score by Meyers Norris Penny, a session on "Networking - how to" by Nick West, and a closing session on social networking by Jay Somerville from Webacom Media on "Social Networking for your Business".

As the majority of the tourism industry is comprised of small and medium sized businesses, many of whom enter the industry from other occupations – there is a strong need for professional development events like these ones. People need opportunities to keep abreast of what is going on, to learn new things and most of all, to connect with one another. Without these investments in human capital, our industry cannot remain innovative and responsive and we will not have the capacity to collaborate on the many initiatives that we need to.

The event gave me a chance to speak about a topic I am quite passionate about - the need to understand our visitor markets. I am often amazed at how much risky and costly decision making is made on sheer assumptions about who is visiting, what they want, etc. We don't have an ongoing system to provide accurate local data on our visitors, so I tried to get across to folks that they can develop systems to produce their own, or better yet, they can collaborate together to produce information across regions. If you want to know more about the key messages, feel free to download the "how to understand your visitors handbook" on the TRIP site (under resources - for free).

Kudos to TVI for these efforts and for other regional groups in the industry, consider adding more professional development opportunities to your list of industry services – planting these seeds is sure to be appreciated and will pay dividends in the long term.

Photo: team discussing how to use data from visitors at the Cowichan event

Reminder about the upcoming rural tourism conference in BC

Thompson Rivers University, Vancouver Island University and the University of Northern BC are pleased to extend this reminder of the Call for Submissions for the Rural Tourism Conference 2011 - April 19-21st in 108 Mile House (Hills Health Ranch) in BC. We would particularly like to encourage operators and leaders in rural communities who can speak to their own initiatives to submit a session. Delegates are keen to hear about who is doing what out there to develop tourism in rural communities.

Presentation options include: posters, oral presentations, experiential workshops or panel discussions (see attachment for details). Potential audience members include those working in: community economic development, tourism marketing/management, government, non profit and academia.

NOTE: - We have also added a sponsorship package to the site for those of you who want to partner with the organizers. And, for rural delegates - we have provided an application form for a subsidy to attend the conference.

Conference Theme: BROADENING OUR HORIZONS: AMENITIES, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COLLABORATION

Location: Hills Health Ranch, 108 Mile House, British Columbia

Date: April 19-21, 2011

Conference Website: www.ruraltourismconference.com

Deadline for workshop abstract submissions is January 30, 2011.

Feel free to share this announcement widely with colleagues.