Educational & Creative Tourism:
January 27, 2011; Arthur Child Heritage Museum, Gananoque

The base purpose of this workshop topic is to build strength and capacity in places, organizations and businesses that are dedicated to stewarding natural and cultural experience; and those that may be in position to facilitate visitor experience with the region’s natural and cultural heritage.

The Educational/Creative Tourism workshop was held in Gananoque, January 27, at the Arthur Child Heritage Museum. Invited were a cross-section of the natural and cultural heritage community, representatives from the accommodations and hospitality, and those from interests in local foods, arts and culture. The presenters at this workshop were from the travel industry. The construct of the workshop was first a panel of representatives from organizations that had explored educational or creative tourism to some degree.  These included St. Lawrence Islands National Park, Elderhostel, the Rockport Boatline, and an artist – Marg Grothier. Travel industry representatives included Jonview Travel, Routes to Learning and Paintbrush Holidays.

The discussion stimulated by the panel and presenters was steered to determine needs of the travel industry, to create mechanisms that would create a new tourism model to explore and provide experiences in the region’s heritage community, as sustainable tourism.  Straw-dog models were created and analyzed. Next steps were proposed. The notes will be compiled and synthesized in the next few days, and mounted at the www.fabr.ca website, and distributed.

A principal finding at the workshop is that a majority of natural and cultural heritage areas, small operators that involve with heritage and experience, and accommodation businesses at the scale of B&Bs are not linked in any mechanism currently to tourism providers such as travel companies. Specifics of that issue, and suggestions for resolution, will be summarized in workshop notes, and posted, shortly.  However, a major recommendation of participants was that a regional database of small businesses and heritage program providers and so forth, needs to be developed, cross-referenced and posted where it is accessible to all parties.  The database would be used to find like-minded potential partners, and linkages of services that could be part of developed programs— a “yellow-pages” approach. Participants volunteered to assist in the development of such a database, initially to be posted on the FAB web site.

Sustainable tourism is based on four pillars – healthy culture, environment, economy and society. The workshop tapped into the wealth of knowledge in the area and find ways to knit activities together into packages that make this area a sustainable tourism destination. With Rick Skinner as the workshop facilitator, we heard expert speakers from the travel industry, discussed needs, assets and opportunities, and networked together in workgroups.

Presenters List:

Kim Robinson, St. Lawrence National Park. Over the past three years Kim has run a program that takes kids from grades seven and nine on an 11/2 hour educational scavenger hunt at the “Island Quest” program of St. Lawrence Islands National Park. A similar hiking program for older teenage audiences is being developed. Partnering with others to expand the tours into sites and programs of other groups and businesses can be discussed, to bring greater benefit to the region.

Amy Whitehorn from the Brockville Museum has many interactive programs geared towards elementary and high schools aged children. She also runs outreach programs where she brings programs to schools, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.

Carol Sudds, Rockport Boat Line, offers Educational Student Tours for students to hike and take a boat tour with commentary about the Frontenac Arch Biosphere and the Thousand Islands.

Marg Grothier is an artist and arts teacher. She teaches travel classes throughout the United States and Canada. She would like to explore how artists can be incorporated in package tours where they can see shows, galleries and paint on the landscape.

Kathleen Burtch, works for Road Scholar, formerly Elderhostel. This tour provider organizes the entire package including activities, accommodations and food for tours of about 25 people. They currently offer a program about the Frontenac Arch Biosphere /Thousand Islands and the Rideau Canal for 5 ½ days. Ninety percent or more of the program attendees are American; there is a need to expand this program and make Canadians aware of it.

Vicki Clark of Joneview Tours, a Toronto-based in-bound tourism provider company.  Joneview sells to tour operators in business-to-business sales. Businesses that think they have a good product can approach Jonview, and vice versa. They offer a variety of different programs, with nature and animal watching being popular activities. 

What Joneview looks for from accommodation suppliers, attraction & sightseeing companies:

When creating package tours of an area, it is important to consider language, staff, and accommodation capacity for the area, as well as the how the international market travels; either by groups on coach tours or independently by car, train or scheduled bus service. Many tourists travel from place to place and stay 1 or 2 nights in one place, with some longer breaks at certain destinations.

Debbie Lloyd, owner and founder of The Travel Broker & Cruise Centre, has developed a package called “Creative Arts Holidays”, where she arranges trips out of the country on painting tours. Debbie would like to build a program that brings people here and is also looking to expand into culinary, photographic, and multidisciplinary arts. She has also developed “Canadian Woman Traveler” for single woman travelers.
www.CanadianWomanTraveler.ca, info@creativeartsholidays.com

 

Break out session – Four groups brainstorm package tours for the Biosphere area
            Discussion results:

Group one: A two night, three day package with outdoor experiences to talk about the history and geography of the area. The target audience is zoomers, with no kids; the theme: Vibrant Cities Close to Nature.

Group two: Target the shoulder season, spring and fall, when museums are still open and accommodations are in their slow season. Package would include cultural and heritage activities, agritourism, regional wine and theatre performances. Focus on attracting international tourists, who tend to stay longer and spend more.

Group three: Two to three nights in the Biosphere area, sandwiched in between larger book-end destinations. The target is independent travelers wanting to experience the cultural and arts of the area, walking tours, boat tours, shopping and local food during May to October.
Potential problems could be the day to day availability of sites, as well as the increase in motorists. We need to be cautious of how individual travelers would impact the environment—perhaps make electric cars, bicycles, solar powered boat cruises, etc. a part of the package.

Group four: Three days, two nights winter wonderland tours that could be part of a larger tour. Daily morning outdoor activities such as dogsledding, snowshoeing, skating on the river; followed by afternoon shopping, a spa or a visit to a farm.  Evening bon fire or curling. Cheese and wine at a B&B with Local Flavours breakfasts and dinners.

 

Tour Operators – Feedback on group discussions:

Start with what works and is market ready. When looking at developing a package, look at the demographic you are targeting first. The agenda does not need to be full; the package can include coupons that draw them into other activities. Consider early bird booking fees, or buy one get one free when traveling in the down season. Look for activities that are open 7 days a week. Also consider the marketing; people are booking farther in advance now. Marketing for international travelers starts in spring for the following summer; however, local and South American tourists are not as far advanced in their planning. A calendar of events and packages available needs to be established and where events and packages are guaranteed 18 months into the future, and constantly refreshed to stay 18 months ahead.

At international tourism shows, Canada and Ontario tourism agencies are present. Ontario Perhaps our regional Chambers of Commerce/Regional Tourism Organizations could take turns having representatives at international showcases.

Next Steps

Very much needed is an accessible and comprehensive database of programs, events, operators, sites and businesses of this broad Frontenac Arch Biosphere region. Needed is to map and catalogue the inventory (accommodations, attractions, shopping, etc.) with an online map application that filters by search criteria; a catalogue of things to see and do in the area would help tour operators develop packages. This would create one place for information on the area, where each entry in the database could be the responsibility of that entry to maintain, correct and update the entry.

 

There is a need to communicate with the people not present at the workshop: the Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development agencies,  to identify their roles and to include their interests and programs. We need to think collaboratively as all will benefit; and the more opportunities that exist across the landscape, the more likely people are to visit, and the longer they will stay. It will be beneficial to form a working group that focuses on sustainable tourism, with emphasis on educational and creative tourism activities and offerings.