The Role of Tourism in Positioning Vancouver Island for Long Term Prosperity

1. The Role of Tourism in Positioning Vancouver Island for Long Term Prosperity Tourism Vancouver Island Professional Development Road Show 2014 – Sidney and Tofino Dr. Nicole L. Vaugeois BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development

2. The big picture – realities impacting the resilience of rural and coastal areas • the challenge of stabilizing the population base and attracting younger populations Attracting a new reality… The understated role of tourism in regional resilience Exposing alternate trajectories Enhancing regional collaboration in tourism The road ahead…

4. Stabilizing population dynamics • Stemming outward migration and population loss • Addressing population gains and associated development pressures • Attracting investment • Enhancing climate for small business success • Diversifying, integrating and managing different economies • Addressing aging infrastructure and services Pre-occupations for communities seeking to be resilient…

5. Not alone – stats on other coastal communities

6. BC Average Median Age 41.9 and % over 15 years of age 84.6

7. Above BC Average growth AND lower than BC average Median age

8. For interest sake Whistler’s median age is 32 yrs (younger than others) 57% are between the ages of 20-44 (BC is 34%) and 4% are over 65 (BC is 15%)

9. Thinking of sectors • Providing subsidies • Viewing rural areas as places of production (resources) • Exporting goods Moving towards Paradigm shift in regional development • Thinking of places (regions) • Making Investments in places • Viewing rural areas as places of consumption (amenities) • Importing people, ideas and investment

10. Despite overall trend of population loss, some are growing… This growth is highly correlated to the presence of amenities which are speculated to drive rural development. Why the shift?

11. Amenities refer to the pleasurable aspects associated to natural and cultural features of rural areas. These make rural areas attractive places to visit, play, live and prosper. Amenities

12. The use of valued amenities in rural regions to: 1) promote the attractiveness of rural areas for tourism, relocation and investment, 2) protect the future value of amenities, and 3) to create economies (directly and indirectly) from the presence of amenities. Amenity-based rural development

13. Natural amenities Amenities that are based on the natural attributes of rural areas including climate, air quality, land and water and which provide the scenic settings and materials for work and leisure pursuits of residents.

14. Amenities based in the cultural context of rural areas including heritage, recreation and sports, arts, work and community and which serve to enhance quality of life in rural regions. Cultural amenities

15. System amenities Amenities that enable the development of natural and cultural amenities including infrastructure, services and connectivity. These enable and support rural areas to realize and manage impacts from in-migration, enterprise development or tourism activity.

16. Visitors– attracted to experience the amenities and contribute to local economy; • Residents– attracted to live near the amenities and for overall quality of life; • Investors– attracted to create economic value from the amenities – directly or indirectly. The three audiences

17. It is the front door to most economic development efforts • People visit a place first, form an impression and consider relocating or investing… • This is often not fully recognized by stakeholders in economic development Tourism is a vehicle of change for communities – moves our thinking from a generator of economic impacts to its potential in addressing broader needs of communities. How does tourism fit into this bigger picture?

18. Tourism Development and Marketing Visitors Investors, Entrepreneurs Residents Visitors Consumption through recreation as a driver for lifestyle ATTRACTIVE CAPACITY Natural and Cultural Amenities of Regions

19. Who is involved in promoting your amenities? How are they being promoted to the outside world? • Are the visitors you are promoting to, the desired residents of tomorrow? • Who is involved in protecting your valued amenities? How are they currently protected? Are they protected enough or too much? Are you fully prepared with the right tools?

20. Tourism that enables residents to enjoy an enhanced quality of life by showcasing and sharing their amenities with outsiders in a way that infuses revenue into households, businesses and the tax coffers. This revenue is reinvested back into the amenities that are valued by local residents in ways that ensure core natural and cultural amenities withstand promotion and use over time. My definition of sustainable tourism…

22. The lifestyles provided by natural and cultural amenities are influencing labour mobility decisions… Love of leisure over labour mobility. Evidence from BC Resort Communities…

23. A structure to support future development in the VI region… We need a unifying concept and approach for place based development It is happening already without planning supports to guide it and without recognition of the links between tourism, population change and new economies. Communities need a model that encourages regional collaboration;

24. Need for long term vision, planning and appropriate supports. “Many communities are not yet equipped to deal with the planning consequences of amenity-led development. The explosion of impacts has caught many areas unprepared.” Word of caution

25. Why? Amenity Based Rural Development requires communities to think and act regionally Amenity argument Marketing argument Visitor argument Financial argument Human capital argument Planning argument

26. Regions shared amenities can act as stronger attractors for visitors, residents, businesses; • Regions can share and create more wealth and stability for communities within; • Regions can absorb shocks better than individual communities; In other words…

27. Shared trips are not always easy • Complicated landscape of stakeholders • Unfamiliar partners and lack of trust • Protectionism and competition • Lack of political will • Lack of understanding about visitors in the region

28. What would help us think and act with a more regional approach? • Political leaders • Leaders sharing priorities, building trust, thinking about what is best for the region, investing in regional structures, initiating regional planning around tourism amenities. • Businesses • Identifying similar businesses in adjacent communities, collaborative marketing, packaging • Tourism and economic development • Bringing stakeholders together to identify shared amenities, and goals. Defining working regions, supporting ground up regional initiatives, building trust, market research to understand visitor behavior, pool resources

29. Holistic Amenity Based Focus Innovative Resilience Model Attractive anchors Resilient Regions – wealth and health Region as beneficiary Community as beneficiary Industry or Sector towns Traditional Growth Model Regional wealth Alternate trajectories Sector based focus – tourism vs. others

30. Think resilience vs. growth • Identify attractive regional amenities • Invest in recreation and leisure as ways to consume amenities • Think about tourism not as a sector but a tool for exposure • Promote amenities to visitors as potential new residents • Balance promotion and use with protection • Work with neighbors Summary thoughts

31. BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development Vancouver Island University Phone 250-753-3245 Local 2772 Email: nicole.vaugeois@viu.ca Nicole Vaugeois