Tourismopoly “Gains the Edge”

Tourismopoly peaks at this time of year in Canada. All the big money corporations, DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations), Chamber of Commerces and the many regional tourism associations hook up, pat themselves on the back, give themselves awards and meet with their respective Government officials to discuss how great they are.

We are never invited for input even though no one knows the country, Canadian tourism, in as much detail as our team. We are onsite, on location and in the mix. No tourism organization actually goes to historical sites, visits attractions, hikes trails, explores parks, paddles rivers and lakes in every tourism community and in every province and territory except one – EH Canada Tourism.

The local chambers, regional associations or government tourism groups, well, they barely get out from behind their desks and they call themselves so called experts. These experts work from a revolving door too… it seems every year a new person is running the tourism asylum. Must be allot of experts in one community.

Closed Information Centre on Weekend

We visit the info centres and ask questions. That is when they are open. Some are closed on weekends… can you believe it? We ask the info centres about parks, trails, natural attractions, historical sites, river routes, etc. and many “experts” draw blanks. Instead they “bait and switch” us and begin to push museums, high end attractions and the big corporate players in the community – it is funny too – these are the same big players who pay the largest association fees and property taxes. Would not want to bite off the hand that feeds you I guess.

It is not that we do not appreciate the work they do… but at least do it right. Start spending some dollars to properly educate your “experts”.  Teach the “experts” how to qualify a tourist! Simple sales techniques would do wonders! There is nothing worst than being told about something you have no interest in.

Take your “experts” out on research trips.  Not just to the biggest attractions! Sit them down with literature and teach them about their backyard. At a minimum have some literature on hand for travelers who enjoy the outdoors. Not everyone wants to sit in a theatre for 4 hours!

We keep telling the world we have a great backyard to play in… we even brag too much…  but really… how can we be so arrogant when we should at least be educated in our own backyard geography.

Here is a good example of tourism lunacy. It seems every couple of years associations deem it necessary to rebrand themselves. It usually occurs during the change of the guard. It seems new tourism leadership feels that they need to put their own stamp on their tenure of tourism rule. We see it over and over again – whether it works or not – a change is a change for good in their eyes.

For example in British Columbia, Canada the new Premier – Christy Clark – recently announced the new slogan for British Columbia – “Gaining The Edge”. OMG… I am getting a headache again. On the back burner goes “Super Natural BC” (one of the better ones) and in the trash bin goes the egotistical “The Greatest Place on Earth” (one of the worst ones).

“Gaining The Edge” is the new norm now. What the #$%# are they thinking! How does “Gaining The Edge” conjure up images of our beautiful wilderness, wildlife, greenery and top notch adventures in British Columbia?

How will “Gaining the Edge” entice people to visit BC? Is “Gaining The Edge” the best they could do? Give me a break… “Gaining The Edge” is more like slang used during a business conference, in competitive consumer reports, at stock markets and throughout corporate boardrooms.

Go ahead search “Gaining The Edge” on Google and see what pops up…. pages and pages of business jargon. This is what happens when you let non tourism people manage a tourism industry in which they have never taken the time to explore, talk with their base… let alone step out of a boardroom.

If only they would listen to the traveler instead of so-called experts. Regardless we are confident they will win many awards since competition is so intense in a monopolized market.