Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan
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BELLINGHAM / WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGIC PLAN: 2018-2022 Prepared for: City of Bellingham By: Cheryl Hargrove, HTC Partners Bellingham / Whatcom County CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGIC PLAN 2018 - 2022 Bellingham/Whatcom County Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan – August 28, 2017 page 2 Bellingham / Whatcom County CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGIC PLAN 2018 - 2022 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Background/Planning Process Overview Page 4 2. Situation Analysis Page 9 3. Competitive Analysis Page 14 4. SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Page 32 5. Vision and Mission Page 34 6. Goals, Strategies and Outcomes Page 36 7. Management and Implementation Page 41 8. Measurement Benchmarks for Success Page 46 9. Appendices Page 47 1. Stakeholder Advisory Group – Recommendations for Cultural Heritage Tourism Projects 2. Stakeholder Pledges 4/28/17 3. Cultural Heritage Asset Inventory: Bellingham/Whatcom County 4. Marketing Segmentation & Trends Report (Hargrove International, Inc., May 2017) Surveys 5. Stakeholder Advisory Group Survey – initial priorities 6. Hotelier Survey 7. Stakeholder Advisory Group Survey – feedback on draft plan Relevant Plans and Studies 8. Roger Brooks Assessment Report, July 2015 Bellingham/Whatcom County Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan – August 28, 2017 page 3 Bellingham / Whatcom County CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGIC PLAN 2018 - 2022 1. BACKGROUND, RATIONALE & PURPOSE OF THE PLAN BACKGROUND & RATIONALE Bellingham and Whatcom County, located in the far northwest corner of Washington State, are home to a culture and heritage tied to abundant natural beauty, and an appreciation of local food and products. Bellingham/Whatcom County Tourism (BWTC), the official tourism agency representing the entire county, utilizes a “BE in Bellingham” campaign to promote the numerous and varied activities in Bellingham, Blaine, Birch Bay, Ferndale, Lummi Island, the Lummi Nation, Lynden, Sumas, Point Roberts, the Mount Baker Foothills Chamber and all of Whatcom County. The campaign tag line is “One Destination, Many Adventures,” which allows it to be flexible in promoting a variety of year- round visitor attractions including scenic beauty, outdoor recreation, cultural heritage venues, festivals and events, local food, agritourism, shopping Map of Whatcom County, Washington and more. BWTC has also developed a separate Basecamp Bellingham advertising campaign focusing on the “human powered” outdoor activities and special events which draw visitors seeking an adventurous immersion in nature, such as hiking, running, mountain biking, road biking, paddling, snowboarding, skiing and multi-sport races. The Basecamp Bellingham campaign was developed in collaboration with the county’s many race directors seeking to promote Bellingham on the national level as a cohesive outdoor recreation destination. Map of Whatcom County within Washington State Stakeholders of arts, cultural and historical organizations in Bellingham and Whatcom County have expressed a similar need to network with their partners and improve communication, coordination and collaboration to increase awareness of and visitation to the numerous cultural and historic venues, festivals and activities in Bellingham and the greater Whatcom County area. BWCT has been successful throughout the years in promoting these venues through media relations, utilizing their news releases of upcoming venue openings, exhibits and events to place stories with travel media. BWCT also maintains extensive information about the county’s cultural heritage venues on its website (Bellingham.org), including specific pages for Museums & Galleries, Theaters & Music, Attractions, Annual Events, Agricultural, and an active online Events Calendar Bellingham/Whatcom County Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan – August 28, 2017 page 4 Bellingham / Whatcom County CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGIC PLAN 2018 - 2022 searchable by date, activity and location. Cultural heritage is further promoted in BWCT’s annual printed visitor’s guide, on its social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), in paid advertisements, through brochure distribution at five locations in Whatcom County, and at travel shows throughout the West Coast. However, personnel at many of the county’s cultural heritage venues are unaware of the full range of efforts BWCT provides on their behalf, or of the activities of other venues in the community. Currently there is no clear system for these venues to work collaboratively or communicate collectively, and many promote independently of each other, resulting in inefficiencies of time and effort. The visitor experience also varies at these venues, ranging from highly developed and visitor-ready to undeveloped potential and limited access. The major goals of the Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan are to bring the county’s cultural heritage organizations and major stakeholders (such as government and hotel tourism industry) together to enhance coordination, collaboration, and communication; improve programming and services; and market collaboratively for success. What do we mean by Cultural Heritage Tourism? For the purposes of this plan, Cultural Heritage Tourism is defined as "travel directed toward experiencing the history, art and culture of a place.” “Culture” includes: ▪ All forms of traditional and contemporary arts - sculpture, painting, photography, music, performance, dance, theatre and film ▪ Activities that make up the current “culture” - the personality of a place - festivals, art walks, farmers’ markets, locally-sourced brewpubs & distilleries, etc. ▪ History and Heritage, including historic buildings, districts, sites, structures, objects, landscapes and archaeological sites, First Nation traditional arts and events, etc. ▪ Both culture and heritage can take the form of place-based activities and events that are unique to the area. For the purposes of this plan, “tourist” is used to describe both leisure day and overnight visitors, in keeping with the definition adopted by the Washington State Legislature. For tourism – and cultural heritage tourism – to flourish, the target markets are visitors originating from at least 50 miles away from Whatcom County and staying overnight. THE PURPOSE OF THE PLAN The purpose of this plan is to increase visitation - and the associated new spending generated from tourists – to or because of cultural and heritage attractions or activities. BWCT has worked with the City of Bellingham since 1978 to promote the city’s many attractions to tourists as a source of economic development. BWCT also works Bellingham/Whatcom County Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan – August 28, 2017 page 5 Bellingham / Whatcom County CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGIC PLAN 2018 - 2022 with the smaller cities and agencies throughout greater Whatcom County in a similar promotional capacity. The City of Bellingham’s role in tourism has been to provide funding and coordination services for tourism as an economic development activity, in addition to creating and maintaining an infrastructure conducive to cultural heritage tourism. Several cities – Bellingham, Lynden, and Blaine – run annual Tourism Promotion grant programs funded by lodging tax revenues. The City of Bellingham staffs a Tourism Commission that makes annual recommendations for allocations to local organizations. BWCT has representation on the Tourism Commission, and receives annual formulaic funding through the Tourism Program. The City of Bellingham and BWCT became motivated to work together after the City received a $15,000 grant from the State of Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation to create a Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan. In 2016 a scope of work was developed, and after a competitive procurement process Hargrove International, Inc. was hired to work with stakeholders and community leaders to identify, prioritize, and plan key strategies to grow cultural heritage tourism in Bellingham and greater Whatcom County to better utilize it as an economic driver for the region. Project Proponents The first step involved forming a small Core Planning Committee, and a larger Stakeholder Advisory Group composed of representatives from the county’s major cultural venues and attractions, Chambers of Commerce, historical societies. Below are the entities involved in both groups: CORE PLANNING COMMITTEE Bellingham/Whatcom County Tourism City of Bellingham / Planning & Community Development Downtown Bellingham Partnership Historic Fairhaven Association STAKEHOLDER ADVISORY GROUP 1. Allied Arts of Whatcom County 2. Blaine Chamber of Commerce 3. Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce 4. City of Bellingham Parks & Recreation 5. Ferndale Chamber of Commerce 6. Lummi Nation 7. Lynden Pioneer Museum Bellingham/Whatcom County Cultural Heritage Tourism Strategic Plan – August 28, 2017 page 6 Bellingham / Whatcom County CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM STRATEGIC PLAN 2018 - 2022 8. Mount Baker Foothills Chamber of Commerce 9. Mt. Baker Theatre 10. Nooksack Tribe 11. North Cascades Institute 12. Pickford Film Center 13. Point Roberts Press 14. Port of Bellingham 15. Spark Museum of Electrical Invention 16. SeaFeast 17. Sylvia Center for the Arts 18. Washington State Historical Society 19. Whatcom County Historical Society 20. WWU Heritage Resources 21. WWU Western Gallery and Outdoor Sculpture 22. WWU Theatre / Dance 23. Whatcom County Parks 24. Whatcom Museum The Planning Process Following a presentation