1.1
BACKGROUND
The
Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture (MSBTC) is sponsoring a Tourism
Opportunities Study (TOS) for the Quesnel Forest District. This project is one of several studies being
conducted in the province. It is a continuation
of the Forest Recreation and Tourism Studies that the Tourism Branch has
completed over the last several years, and the Tourism Resource Inventory (TRI)
product modelling undertaken since 1992.
The
intent of this study is to identify tourism opportunities and prepare a report
that can be used as a planning tool for the expansion of existing, and
development of new, tourism businesses.
The study encompasses ecotourism and adventure tourism opportunities within
the forest district, focusing particularly on Crown land.
Tourism Opportunity Studies are defined as information tools that can be used to identify and develop tourism development opportunities. The studies are intended to be tools for existing and potential operators, government planners, and local communities. A TOS is intended to:
- Identify adventure tourism markets, trends and product development demands
- Create an updated inventory of natural features and tourism resources, which would be of interest to adventure tourism developers and operators.
- Identify existing adventure tourism operators in the region, their products and their geographical areas of interest.
- Provide an analysis of local characteristics and land and resource management issues that could affect adventure tourism development.
- Identify those adventure tourism products and activities which the region has the best opportunity to develop, and
- Provide an adventure tourism product development action plan for parties interested in developing the region’s related opportunities.
The key purpose of the Quesnel TOS is to identify opportunities for future tourism development. Expansion of the tourism industry is intended to:
- diversify the local economy
- maintain access to recreational resources for local residents
- minimize conflicts between resource users
The information provided by this study is intended to identify specific tourism development opportunities within a number of product categories. It is intended to provide market rationale and resource suitability analysis, and identify general locations that are deemed to have potential for development.
Internationally,
tourism is the world’s biggest industry (as measured by export earnings). In 1999, tourism generated over $455 billion
(US) based on about 664 million cross-border trips. Receipts from international tourism have increased by an average
of 9% annually since the 1950s, while international arrivals have increased by
nearly 7%.
Directly
and indirectly, tourism is reported to make up 11% of global gross domestic
product and supports about 230 million jobs.
In spite of the large size of the industry, tourism has been growing at
double-digit rates for the last decade.
After two years of flat growth in the 1990s, growth is expected to
continue based on the aging baby boom generation in North America and a growing
middle class in many developing regions.
Tourism has been growing faster than the general economic growth
throughout much of the developed world.
(Source: World Tourism
Organization.)
Tourism
is a relatively young industry in Canada and British Columbia. It is only in the last 50 years that tourism
has become a mass market and family oriented activity. Over this period, but particularly in the
last two decades, tourism has changed dramatically in B.C. In one generation, tourism has evolved from
a predominantly summer activity to one which is multi-season with a wide
diversity of activities. A generation
ago, the typical summer activities involved camping, beach activities, fishing
and touring. Tourism facilities consisted of small hotels, campgrounds, auto
courts, and some very original roadside attractions. Today, tourism is splintered into numerous specialty niche markets
based on activities such as outdoor sports (summer and winter); arts, theatre
and cultural attractions; and wildlife viewing. Tourism facilities now include commercial attractions, themed
restaurants, strata-titled hotels, timeshare resorts, and ecotourism lodges.
At
the provincial level, events of the last few years have combined to cause
dramatic changes to the B.C. economy.
These include changes to timber harvesting practices, declining markets
in Asia, historical lows in base metal and other commodity prices, and the
virtual collapse of the commercial fishing industry. These and other issues have caused the provincial economy to
struggle with performance below the national average. Outside of the urban areas of Vancouver and Victoria, rural
economies have been particularly hard hit.
One
of the potential bright lights in the economic mix has been tourism. By encouraging non-residents to visit B.C.,
and residents to travel within the province, significant impacts can be
realized in local economies. The
diverse nature of tourism spending - and economic spin-off effects - causes
tourism to have a major impact on local economies. By expanding and improving the range of tourism facilities and
products, the tourism industry can help diversify local economies.
A step in the process to facilitate
the expansion of tourism is to identify the resources on which tourism is
dependent. Assessing the quantity and
quality of these resources, and matching them with markets, provides the
preliminary information necessary to encourage the development of tourism
locally. This information can then be
used to identify the tourism products (commercial recreation) that appear to
have potential, and the locations for these products. This resource assessment, market identification, and product
location analysis can then be used to develop strategies and action plans for
tourism development.
The
overall purpose of this analysis is to conduct a Tourism Opportunity Study for
the Quesnel Forest District. The
deliverables are:
· Research & Analysis
The TOS includes detailed background contextual research and analysis on key issues affecting tourism development in the study area. This research includes analysis and discussion of:
- international, national & provincial tourism market information
- provincial and regional tourism development statistics (especially trend analysis)
- local tourism and other economic development strategies
- land & resource management planning and development activities in the study area and their impacts on tourism development.
Included
in this component of the TOS is an analysis and discussion of the general
opportunities and constraints to ecotourism, adventure travel, and culturally
based tourism development in the study area.
· Opportunity Identification
Based on the information generated above, the TOS includes an analysis and recommendations on the major ecotourism, adventure travel, and heritage and cultural tourism development opportunities that the study area could support and develop. The methodology for this opportunity analysis includes map-based location analysis. Upon completion of an opportunity identification overview, the analysts worked with a local advisory committee (LAC) to identify ten key tourism product/activities for more detailed analysis. Using the inventory information being obtained separately, the TOS also indicates the most appropriate location for each of the identified key tourism product/activity opportunities within the study area.
· Local Tourism Development Action Plan
The final TOS report includes an Action Plan section, which identifies specific strategies and actions that local economic/tourism development organizations within the study area could undertake. These actions are intended to develop and expand ecotourism, adventure travel, heritage and culturally based tourism opportunities in the TOS area.
The study area for this project is the Quesnel Forest District. This region encompasses 210,000 square kilometers located in central British Columbia. The region stretches from the headwaters of the Blackwater (West Road) River in the west to Bowron Lake Provincial Park in the east. The northern border is the confluence of the West Road River and the Fraser River while the southern border is around the communities of Marguerite and Tingley Creek. To distinguish the study area from the larger Cariboo region, and the from the City of Quesnel, the study area has been referred to in this report as either the Quesnel Region or the North Cariboo Region.
Figure 1
Quesnel Tourism Opportunity Study
Area
Completion of this project involved a combination of secondary source information, and primary data from interviews and meetings. The project also relied on the considerable amount of tourism related research that has been conducted in the region over the years.
Completion of the analysis involved a number of steps within a variety of separate topics. These are summarized as follows:
·
Administration
and Background:
- Project signed and initiated mid October, 2000
- Contacted Land Use and Policy Branch representative to discuss project start-up process, timing, meetings, information sources, methodology refinement, etc.
- Formed a project Local Advisory Group (LAC) from a broad cross-section of agency and association representatives (See the Acknowledgements page)
- Obtained and reviewed a large number of relevant background reports and studies. (See Appendix A – Information Sources).
·
Map and Database
Information:
- Obtained the 2000 tourism facility operator listings that had been prepared separately for this project.
- Obtained digital and paper map versions of the study area base map, recreation features, and tourism use areas that had also been collected separately to aid this project.
·
Start-up Meeting
with the LAC
- Met with sixteen members of the LAC in early October to discuss the purpose and scope of the project.
- Refined the proposed work program to better reflect the needs of the group and to best take advantage of the tourism research done to date.
·
Preliminary
Research
- Prepared a profile of the study area containing information on physical features, socio-economic status, and future outlook.
- Summarized information on the area’s tourism facilities, tourism features, and recent tourism performance.
- Documented the administrative structure of tourism in the area.
- Obtained information from a number of background reports on the strengths and weaknesses of the area.
- Described the key land and resource issues affecting future tourism development.
·
Product Analysis
- Developed a product evaluation system for a range of land, water and snow-based activities.
- Selected the top ten commercial recreation opportunities for further market and location analysis.
·
Second LAC
Meeting
- A second meeting was held December 6, 2000 with the LAC to present interim results of the analysis, discuss issues crucial to the analysis, review the proposed Table of Contents, and confirm the product selections.
- Researched the general societal and tourism trends that are expected to shape interest in and demand for commercial recreation in the future.
- Researched product-specific trends that will influence demand for the commercial recreation activities selected for this project.
- Prepared draft analysis and write-up of market issues generally and by specific product. Issues addressed included product descriptions, market size, demographics and trends.
·
Product Location
Mapping
- Opportunities for development of each product were mapped. Field mapping was completed on paper and mylar overlays at 1:50,000 and 1:250,000 scales, depending on information availability.
- The mapped polygons and lines were digitized onto two separate maps – one denoting winter and the other indicating summer activity areas.
·
Action Plans
- Specific analysis was conducted on each of the ten products reviewing such factors as Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats (SWOT), trends, development issues, and success factors.
- General and specific locations were proposed and mapped.
- Specific strategies and actions were proposed that local economic/tourism development organizations within the study area could undertake to facilitate development.
·
Third LAC Meeting
- A third meeting was held with the LAC March 7, 2001, to discuss the draft analysis and action plans.
- This meeting was conducted as a workshop to allow agency representatives the opportunity to contribute to the action planning process.
- Numerous comments and suggestions were made resulting in additional analysis and interpretation of the information and a more comprehensive Action Plan.
·
Draft Final and Final Report
- Based on LAC comments, the draft final report was prepared. This included the edits and additions requested at the March 7 LAC meeting, and the Action Plan recommendations.
- Field maps were edited and the final digitized versions prepared.
- The report was submitted electronically to the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture for further comment in late March 2001.
- Numerous edits were suggested, which were incorporated in April and again in early May, and a final report prepared for client review.