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”