Upload
brian-white
View
53
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
Dr. Brian P. White
Royal Roads University
Building the Southern Gulf Islands
Destination
Why Tourism Destination Management and Development?
• Key ‘cold water island’ issues
• Destination Management and Development
• Destination organization : getting started
• Competitive advantage and comparative advantage
• Themed routes and competitive clusters
• Community Champions
Destination Management and
Development is---
---the envisioning, planning, and implementing of
changes to tourism-related infrastructure, services,
human resources, and visitor experiences that
enhance a destination’s competitive advantage.
Sense of Place
• What are the qualities of a real place, a
distinctive place, a place with its own history,
culture, and texture? What qualities give
certain places a feeling of character and
charisma that makes them worthy of a visitor’s
deep engagement and of a citizen’s love? Scott
Russell Sanders in Civic Tourism: The Poetry and Politics of Place, 2007
“Culture and heritage tourism occurs when
participation in a cultural or heritage activity is a
significant factor for traveling. … [Cultural tourism
includes] performing arts, (theatre, dance, music),
visual arts and crafts, festivals, museums and cultural
centres, and historic sites and interpretive centres.”
Canadian Tourism Commission
The Cultural Tourism Lens---
Cultural tourism is about telling and selling stories----
Some “Cold-water” island issues include:
-sustainability of island ecosystems , economies,
and societies,
• population displacement,
• tourism impacts,
• gentrification
• governance
(Warrington & Mill 2007, Gossling & Wall 2007, Connell 2007, Clark et al 2007)
Setting the Stage
• Competition for scarce water and other natural
resources
• Land conversion for residential and commercial
development
• Development of gated communities often driven
by retirees
• Locals forced to emigrate by rising land and
gentrification
• Unoccupied investment properties and second homes
impact community vitality. (Gossling & Wall 2007)
Island Tourism & Environmental Change:
Some Key Issues
• The Southern Gulf Island’s economy is small
business based, particularly focussed on
agritourism and arts and crafts, commuting
and tele-commuting
• The economic downturn impacts retirees, small
businesses, and developers focussed on
retirement properties
• Ferry Schedules and pricing critically impact
Island life
The Situation---
• Land development equated
with tourism by some
• Islands Trust seen by some as a brake on
development
• Emergent sustainable tourism economy not
supported as a fundamental economic reality by
some residents.
Some Issues---
• Community economies in BC have largely shifted to
services - based employment
• Rapid changes in global economic conditions means
shifts in destination preference
• Travel modes and choice of destination experience
are changing
• The world wide web has redefined competitive
advantage and increased awareness of alternative
travel experiences
Home Space
Days
Hours
Weekends
Weeks
Months
Years
Time Number of Trips
(interactions)
Long distance commuting
Day tripping
Visits
Shopping
Commuting
Extended
working
holidays
Migration
Vacation
Educational travel
Sojourning
Adapted from Hall in Theobald, 2006, p. 466
The Travel, Time and Space Continuum:
how people arrive in the Gulf Islands
Competitive Advantage in Tourism-
Is (based on) specialized factors, which are not
inherent but are created by each destination, such
as educational systems, technological “know-how”,
specialized infrastructure, and other capabilities,
which respond to the specific needs of an industry. (Richie and Crouch 2003)
Competitive Advantage in Tourism-
• Focus on tourism product development,
• Destination management organization,
• infrastructure that allow access to natural and
cultural resources,
• availability of long-term capital,
• personal security and quality hospitality
services, and
• sufficient municipal services
Key specialized factors
Destination Competitive Advantage
• Tourism included in Official Community
Plans and Economic Development Plans
•Sustainable level of financial contribution
•Sustainable organizational structure that
manages the destination
•Focus on support for Travel Generators
The Cultural Tourism Clusters
The Arts
Human
Heritage
Natural
History
Ag/Fishery
& Industrial
Heritage
Cuisine
An example: Human Heritage PPM
The Destination Development Process in Building Place---
STEP 1 On-site Inventory
What are our assets?
Organize cultural experiences by:
Cultural cluster Category of cultural experience Lead, supporting, or sustaining PPM status
STEP 2
Product Positioning Matrix (PPM) How do our assets relate to each other?
The PPM has 3 categories to which cultural
tourism experiences are assigned:
• The lead category
• The supporting category
• The sustaining category
STEP 3
Destination Typology
How do we define our destination & our
product?
Consider distribution of cultural experiences by cluster
Consider distribution by category & PPM status
Read the destination’s social and cultural history
Confer with local historians, artists, curators, naturalists,
government, and tourism operators
1.6, 1.7
STEP 4
Themed Routes
How to organize our cultural experiences?
Review destination typology and PPM
Remember the four cultural cohorts
Design each route to target at least one cohort
Hardy’s 10 Principles for developing themed routes----
(Hardy, 2003, p. 326)
Themed Routes----
1. Route and/or place developed as an integrated
attraction
2. The route is marketable
3. Efficient promotion
4. Involvement from many stakeholders
5. Promotion material based on visitor needs
6. Route clearly signed
7. Attractions reflect local culture, with quality service
8. Principles of interpretation applied resulting in
enjoyable thematic interpretation
9. Price of visitor’s route experience cost effective
10. Route sustainability ensured by protection of natural
and cultural assets.
The Competitive Cluster Approach
• A strategic set of activities and services organized as an effective tourism supply chain.
• The core of the “cluster” is the comparative advantage represented by a destination’s unique characteristics and interpretive programming.
• The competitive cluster links all the complementary visitor services and attractions in a destination area.
(after Hawkins, 2003)
Attractions
and events Tourism
Corridor-
land, water
Agri-tourism
culinary,
wine, art, FN,
spa tourism
opportunities
Hotels
B&Bs
restaurants
Air/land
/water
access
Unique or
exceptional
scenic
values
Gateway
city/town
The travel experience and the
destination competitive cluster
Destination
Visitor
information
Services
Attractions
and events
Access
emerging
markets
Agri-tourism ,
garden, culinary,
FN, wine, spa
tourism, etc.
Hotels
B&Bs
restaurants
Increase
market
share
Destination
Internet
portal/
information
services
Municipal and
regional
governments
Provincial and Federal
government policies and
strategies
Structure of a tourist
destination’s
competitive cluster
Community Champions:
supporting individuals and
community agencies
Common
vision,
programs,
marketing
plan,
leadership
Do any of these twelve tourism responses for local government
apply here?
1. Municipal and Regional District Committees
2. Contract for services
3. Incorporate Tourism in the Strategic Plan
4. Official Community Plan
5. Economic Development Plan
6. Five Year Financial Plan and Capital plan
7. % of business tax to destination development
8. Hotel Tax (HST---?)
9. Business Improvement Areas
10. Revitalization Areas (modest tax exemption)
11. Municipal Facilities & Services
12. Grants, sponsorship, project funding
Getting Started: what would work best for the
Southern Gulf Islands?
Building community tourism capacity:
What partnerships?
What organizational structure is needed to start
tourism destination planning?
Success stories require:
– solid vision
– strong leadership
– effective partnerships
– adequate financing
– ability to provide what visitors want
– understanding of how the industry functions
Identifying Champions
• Look for supportive, like-minded people who can help
• They may be…
– Business people, retired or not
– Spark plugs – forward thinking initiators who make things happen
– People behind community accomplishments/events
– High-profile people associated with volunteer sectors
– Artists/craftspeople
– Drivers of service and sports clubs
– New community members, e.g., immigrants
Tourism Champions come first---
• Providing inspiration, leadership and initiative
• Encouraging strategic thinking
• Identifying resources
• Organizing meetings
• Connecting local leaders and politicians
• Promoting the value of tourism
Building Community Support
Champions help community members understand tourism’s value by:
• helping to identify tourism needs and opportunities
• encouraging the community to support a tourism planning committee/task force
• accessing and distributing information
• encouraging council or governance boards to look at the value of tourism
• drawing upon outside resources and expertise
Thank You!
“A Great Place to Live is a Great Place to Visit”