(Originally published in TOURISM)
Professional secrets about strategies to achieve tourism goals may be closely guarded in some industries, but the Government of Alberta’s Tourism Development & Services Branch was gracious enough to share with TOURISM how they have tackled the major challenge of creating a new tourism destination in that province.
Two of the leading proponents of the recently‑formed Canadian Badlands region are branch executive director Louise McGillivray and destination & product development director Kevin Crockett. Says McGillivray. “Our colleagues at Travel Alberta, who had been monitoring the evolution of markets like Japan, were constantly being told by buyers that – despite the iconic Rockies – Alberta needed new products and destinations.”
Alberta Economic Development has a mandate to work with entrepreneurs and not‑for‑profit community groups in the province to develop tourism products with a view to dispersing the economic benefits of tourism more broadly across the province. “We interpreted this in the context of wanting to get something happening in Alberta that was capable of generating international attraction," said McGillivray. Her team then looked critically at a number of Alberta's resources and came to the realization that Alberta’s badlands region offered the best opportunity to become that international attraction.
Previous experience had taught McGillivray that for any development to succeed there had to be ‘buy‑in’ from regional communities. She travelled through the region in the summer of 2003, meeting with operators and representatives from seven municipalities to invite interest in a destination tourism project, at the same time carrying out some brand testing around the Canadian Badlands theme.
Kevin Crockett continues the discussion: “That testing helped assess the potential. We tested in virtually all the major markets we thought had the potential to produce visitors— England, Germany, the rest of Canada and the US, particularly in Texas and California. We tested both the brand name (Canadian Badlands) and a multi‑themed concept that incorporated other aspects like aboriginal resources, ranching history, and the recreational mix that could be offered in the region.”
Crockett believes this new tourism region needed a much broader concept than simply ‘badlands and dinosaurs’. The testing yielded convincing arguments to help engage the local municipalities: “This is how they became aware there was more potential than perhaps they initially thought. We also shared with them the view that this region needed to be big geographically (a large area of, in this case, southeastern Alberta).”
The next step would be to establish an official municipal steering committee, enriched with representatives from Travel Alberta and other tourism destination region personnel, that would be tasked with the development of a researched‑based strategy to create a multi‑faceted, multi‑themed destination. “In conjunction with the CTC and one of the local municipalities, explains Crockett, “we undertook an opportunity assessment for the whole area, and as a result of what we learned, we embarked on a series of community tourism action planning projects for five sub‑regions (groupings of communities) that would make‑up the Canadian Badlands.”
“This was an important milestone because the municipalities had been brought together and had manifested a will to be part of this," continues Crockett. "They were asking: ‘How do we fit in? We are just a little agricultural community’. In my opinion, they really needed that extra research and guidance. Those community strategies were very helpful in getting people mobilized and to understand the Canadian Badlands concept.”
Crockett uses as an example to illustrate the progress made by one of the five sub‑regions (two municipalities associated with Dinosaur Provincial Park, the Town of Brooks and the County of Newell): “The Park is located 30 km outside of Brooks. We brought together representatives from the municipalities, the local tourism industry (hoteliers and other businesses) and representatives from Dinosaur Provincial Park. The process led to a number of initiatives now being implemented within the area park system, enabling all the players to integrate into the tourism infrastructure.”
Louise McGillivray gives details of the changes that occurred: “Years ago, Dinosaur Provincial Park offered guided bus tours into the restricted area of the park, on a first‑come, first‑served basis. In the height of the season, visitors would get out there and often couldn’t get on the bus until 3:00 p.m. People in Brooks knew this, so the normal practice at the time, when someone checked into a hotel, would be to tell them: ‘the tours are too busy, you won’t get on until late afternoon, don’t bother’. People would get in their cars and keep driving to Calgary. Three things happened: the park didn’t get the visitation, the hotel in Brooks didn’t get two nights’ accommodation, and the visitors didn’t get the exceptional tour experience.”
McGillivray says as a result of the discussion initiated by the Canadian Badlands development process, Dinosaur Provincial Park now has a reservation system for its guided tours, and visitors can be assured that if they go to the park, they are going to get the guided tour.’
Another step taken was the development of touring routes in the region, adds Kevin Crockett: “Once you get people into that landscape they love it, but the distances between major attractions are a challenge. We hired a consultant who suggested touring routes be developed to tie in secondary attractions between those major stops. That approach 'shortened' distances, while telling stories of the badlands and around the various themes. There were six routes originally; now they are working on six more, focused on historic walking tours and short loop tours in some of the key areas.”
It was soon recognized that some form of "champion" organization was necessary to further the development of this new destination. As of August 15, 2006, 35 local municipalities have come together to form a not‑for‑profit company called Canadian Badlands Ltd.; the company is setting out to develop and promote the region as a tourism icon destination.
McGillivray notes, “our department will continue its strong involvement in this initiative, (but) if the region is to achieve its full potential, it must become demonstrably driven by the local people.” This new company – just out of the starting blocks – will be hiring an executive director to look after administration and help move implementation forward.
For regional information visit: www.canadianbadlands.com.
Comments