Northern Rockies Regional Municipality
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Northern Rockies / Fort Nelson Tourism Strategic Plan Final Report Prepared for Northern Rockies Regional District and Town of Fort Nelson By and In association with Bold Point Centre Novemer 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 – Executive Summary: Recommended Tourism Development Strategies............ 1 Develop/Implement Sophisticated Northern Rockies Destination Marketing Program............................................................................................................ 2 Facilitate Tourism Attractions/Facilities Enhancement/Development and Tourism Investment Attraction.......................................................................... 5 Product Delivery: Tourism Industry Organization and Training......................... 7 2 – Northern Rockies Destination Marketing Program ............................................ 10 Marketing Objectives and Target Markets....................................................... 10 Key Target Markets......................................................................................... 11 Tourism Marketing Strategic Initiatives ........................................................... 12 3 – Tourism Attractions/Facilities Enhancement and Development....................... 22 1. Develop Additional Interpretation Related Opportunities............................ 23 2. Facilitate Development of Soft Adventure/Ecotourism Tourism Product Opportunities.............................................................................................. 28 3. Encourage Development of Hard Adventure Tourism Product Opportunities ............................................................................................................... 32 4. Encourage Development of First Nation Tourism Opportunities ................ 34 5. Facilitate/Encourage Private Sector Upgrading and Enhancement of Existing Attractions, Facilities and Services ............................................... 36 6. Create Awareness of Strategic Tourism Investment Opportunities ............ 37 4 –Product Delivery: Tourism Industry Organization and Training ........................ 38 1. Implement a Community and Industry Awareness Program on the Benefits of Tourism .................................................................................................. 38 2. Organize and Engage the Northern Rockies Tourism Industry as a Group 39 3. Facilitate Enhanced Hospitality and Interpretive Guide Training within the Region........................................................................................................ 41 5 – Implementation and Action Plans........................................................................ 44 Action Plans for Recommended Strategic Initiatives....................................... 44 Overall Implementation Schedule ................................................................... 51 APPENDICES Appendix A – Study Process ................................................................................... A-1 Elements of Tourism Strategic Plan...............................................................A-2 Steps in the overall study Process .................................................................A-2 Research, Site Visits and Consultation ..........................................................A-3 Appendix B –Tourism Resources and Infrastructure ............................................ B-1 Principal Attractions/Features ........................................................................B-2 Tourism Facilities and Services ...................................................................B-10 Need for Enhanced Visitor Interpretation Infrastructure and Services .........B-14 Appendix C – Tourism Market Analysis .................................................................. C-1 Preliminary Review of Visitor Markets........................................................... C-2 Characteristics of Relevant Tourism Market Segments ................................ C-9 Key Target Markets..................................................................................... C-11 Appendix D – SWOT, Competitive and Impact Analyses....................................... D-1 SWOT Analysis............................................................................................. D-2 Competitive Analysis..................................................................................... D-8 Impact Analysis – The Value of Tourism..................................................... D-11 Appendix E – Participants in Consultation Process ...............................................E-1 Appendix F – List of References...............................................................................F-1 1 – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: RECOMMENDED TOURISM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES This study’s focus is to prepare a comprehensive Tourism Strategic Plan, which will be an overall blueprint for developing the Northern Rockies’ and Fort Nelson’s tourism industry as an important sector of the economy. The Fort Nelson to Watson Lake corridor known as the Alaska Highway / Al- Can Highway, Pioneer Road / Highway 97 is at a point of significant change and required decision-making for both public and private sector officials. The infrastructure is in need of substantial renewal/enhancement and a comprehensive regional tourism strategic plan can help decision-makers target strategic investments. As the location map in Figure 1.1 shows, the Northern Rockies is at the confluence of four provinces and territories, as well as providing the main overland travel route to Alaska. Figure 1.1: Northern Rockies Location Map Source: BC Ministry of Transportation Recommended Tourism Development 1 Strategies Northern Rockies / Fort Nelson Tourism Strategic Plan Visitors very seldom come to a region for a single specific activity. More often it is a combination of opportunities that will attract and hold visitors in a region – and result in them being able to recommend the area to others and return themselves in future years. Based on this fundamental premise and the analysis presented in the preceding chapters, the consulting team is recommending three overall core strategies for further developing and promoting the tourism industry in the Northern Rockies: ♦ Marketing and Awareness – Develop and implement a sophisticated Northern Rockies Destination Marketing Program. ♦ Product Development – Facilitate tourism attractions and facilities enhancement, development and tourism investment attraction. ♦ Product Delivery – Enhance community and industry engagement, tourism industry organization, and hospitality training. There are a number of specific recommended strategic initiatives associated with each of these core strategies. These are described briefly on the following pages of this chapter. The details on the destination marketing program core strategy can be found in Chapter 2 of this report. The recommended tourism attractions and facilities enhancement, development and tourism investment opportunities are described in detail in Chapter 3. The product delivery strategic initiatives are described in detail in Chapter 4 of this Strategic Plan document. DEVELOP/IMPLEMENT SOPHISTICATED NORTHERN ROCKIES DESTINATION MARKETING PROGRAM This overall core strategy is a prerequisite to encouraging further investment in the upgrading and development of tourism attractions in the Northern Rockies. Strong marketplace awareness of the Northern Rockies as a premier tourism destination is essential to maintain and strengthen the volume of visitor activity and to encourage investment in the upgrading of existing attractions and facilities and development of new ones. We recognize that the Northern Rockies Regional District is already engaged in destination marketing to some degree and works with other partners such as NRAHTA and Northern BC Tourism. All of this needs to be taken to the next level, however, with additional public and private sector investment in destination marketing, as well as a revamp and enhancement of what is Recommended Tourism Development 2 Strategies Northern Rockies / Fort Nelson Tourism Strategic Plan currently being done. Therefore, we recommend the following four specific destination marketing strategic initiatives, each of which is described in detail in Chapter 2 of this report, the Northern Rockies Destination Marketing Program: 1. Revamp existing print and electronic promotional materials 2. Implement image and awareness advertising and promotional activities 3. Undertake effective regional partnership marketing and packaging 4. Focus on strategic promotion to niche market segments that are best suited to the Northern Rockies. On the following page, in Figure 1.2, we have listed the four Marketing and Awareness strategic initiatives along with the specific projects associated with each of them and the priority level for each project. Recommended Tourism Development 3 Strategies Northern Rockies / Fort Nelson Tourism Strategic Plan Figure 1.2: Specific Projects and Priorities for Marketing and Awareness Strategic Initiatives Priority Marketing and Awareness Strategic Initiatives / Specific Projects Level 1. Revamp existing print and electronic promotional materials featuring the Northern Rockies’ brand New Northern Rockies Travel Guide 1 Northern Rockies Touring Map 1 Tourism Northern Rockies website 1 Updated Northern Rockies promotional video 2 2. Implement image and awareness advertising and promotional activities Selective advertising in highly targeted media 2 Travel trade