Government Tourism on the Fast Road to Extinction

Government Tourism is Throwing Away Money

We love tourism. We love sharing what our wonderful country has to offer. There is so much to share too.  We have such potential for tourism, yet we are in a free fall when it comes to tourism country rankings. Yet… we still have forests, we have oceans, lakes and rivers… not to mention we have wildlife to watch and to admire from afar.  We are recognized as friendly. We have parcels of land which we are protecting for future generations… however, we fall in the rankings. What is up? It is simple… poor management.

There is one facet about tourism which really irks us and that is the politics of tourism. The “big corporation” mentally of tourism benefiting the few… yet they say they represent the many. Hog wash! The egos of the many “so called” experts of tourism is embarrassing and childish. Tourism in the hands of big business is one of the big mistakes in our industry. There is no accountability and just like politicians there is always a “spin” when things go wrong.

Since we began our quest for representing tourism for what it is – a love for travel, wilderness, people and a  viable economic engine creating goodwill and jobs – we have been back stabbed at every turn and our advertisers have been threatened in some tourism communities.  Yes, it is sad and pathetic… but it is true. Team work is a myth in tourism.

In 2005 when we were planning on opening our first Tourism Information Centre on Vancouver Island with brochures, online computer terminals, a giant outdoor map of BC and giant TV screens and that was when the local tourism associations started their attacks. We had our building in place, landscaping was almost done and our advertisers were excited. Then the local tourism gang of bullies phoned us and threatened us, “You cannot open a tourism info centre,” they shouted! “We do not take kindly to competition.” They threatened our advertisers – “advertise with us or them but not both,” they said.  They ganged up on us and blind sided us in meetings costing us thousands.  It left a bad taste in our mouths.  Yes, it is true .. some tourism associations are made up of a bunch of bullies. And that is when we said enough with trying to work with these associations.

In hind sight we thank them. It is because they were arrogant, self serving that we moved on and established a new set of goals. So instead of tourism info centres across the province we got smarter and decided to expand across the country online. Online is a free and open market. Now… the little tourism association which attacked us is nothing but a dot on a map… experiencing funding cuts and poor results. Where would we be if they welcomed us and worked with us we will never know.

This brings us to the story on Prince Edward Island. A beautiful province with so much to offer… but they lacked vision and sound spending decisions digging themselves into a deep hole. An auditor report was released last week in parliament with some devastating facts. The report is just another example of how government and the vertical top-down tourismopoly is hurting tourism growth.

In the report Tourism PEI was identified as spending 4 million dollars each year (2009-2010 and 2010-2011) spanning over 31 unauthorized contracts. Yes projects with no oversight, approved on a whim. Many seem to be surprised at this irresponsible behavior. Not us.. we have seen it, heard it and experienced it before.

It is a sad state of affairs. The money could of been used for setting the ground work for growing tourism across the island… but instead it has led to lay offs, funding cuts and 3 steps backward for tourism on PEI.

If the organization had taken a step back and traveled the country, researching tourism, listening to businesses and watching results this free wheeling spending would have not happened. Why? Because they would of known that tourism is grown from the ground up not top down. You cannot buy successful tourism. The foundation for tourism must be in place first before bigger steps are taken.

For example … here are a few projects for building a foundation that are not in place yet,

– first impressions… build a new entrance area on the PEI side of the Confederation Bridge with a pull out area and day use picnic area. Presently there is nowhere to pull over to view the bridge or to admire the views. There is not even a “Welcome to PEI” sign with any impact.

– market the Northumberland Ferry as a cruise and not as a transportation link. Share the costs with Nova scotia. There is nothing on board the ferry currently except a limited concession stand. Nothing on the outer decks for promoting the scenery – no telescopes, no figurines to take pictures with and no comfortable seating for sightseeing. Heck… at least have someone talking over the intercom detailing the scenery and history of PEI building excitement during the cruise.

– so much money is placed into the short fishing and lobster season. But it is sad to say it is dwindling at a fast pace. Why not research the possibility of funding tourism attractions so in the off season boats can operate tours like – boat cruises to the lighthouses, picnics on remote islands, sightseeing marine wildlife, scuba diving adventures and  accessing private beaches.

– provide bigger tax breaks for tourism entrepreneurs so they can be part of growing tourism businesses.

– develop your roads to promote travel and include pull outs with regional tourism information for that part of the island promoting farm markets, lighthouses, trails, historic sites, farm tours, agricultural tours, beaches, etc.

– put in place tourism attractions which attract families. Market family friendly activities instead of big business. There is little effort marketing family activities but plenty to market golf and Anne of Green Gables. They do not attract families in large numbers.

Not all will work … but it is something to research and worthy of a cost analysis to see if it is viable. It is a heck of allot better than blindly spending 4 million dollars on big risky projects with short term results when there is no back bone in place.

We do not claim to have all the answers but we have researched over 500 tourism communities across the country so we know a bit about tourism. We urge tourism to stop thinking beyond their means. Putting all your eggs in one basket is risky and yet they continue to spend narrow mindedly. Why? Who are they trying to impress but themselves?