3.0 Who is Involved in Culture, Recreation and
Tourism Inventories?

A total of 83 agencies were contacted to participate in the Inventory User Needs Survey. Of these, six indicated culture, recreation and tourism inventory information is not relevant to their agency, 22 did not respond, and 55 completed a survey. The 55 who responded fall into the following categories:

Federal Government	7	13%
Provincial Government	20	36%
Local/Regional Government	7	13%
Association	8	15%
University	3	5%
Tourism Industry	2	4%
Other Industry	3	5%
Consulting Companies	4	7%
Crown Corporations	1	2%
	55	100%

Agencies interviewed identified their specific tourism, recreation and/or
culture focus as follows:

Tourism	22	40%
Recreation	13	24%
Culture	5	9%
Tourism and Recreation	8	15%
Tourism and Culture	3	5%
Recreation and Culture	1	2%
Culture, Recreation and Tourism	3	5%
	55	100%

Of the 55 responding agencies, over one-third are wholly involved with tourism, one-quarter with recreation, and one in four with culture. The remaining agencies deal with culture, recreation and tourism as components of their overall mandate. Among these latter groups, some have a department or individual solely responsible for relevant issues while the others deal with such issues on an ad hoc or more generalized basis.

A review of the analysis focus of responding agencies indicates a clear distinction between agencies involved in "managing" resources and agencies who "use" resources. The following examination of the mandate/objectives of resource management agencies and user agencies outlines their perspectives.

3.1 Resource Managers

Agencies representing all levels of government use culture, recreation and tourism resource information as part of their resource management function. These include (for example):

• Tourism Canada
• Forestry Canada
• Parks Canada
• Department of Fisheries and Oceans
• Ministry of Tourism
• Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks
• Recreation and Community Services Branch
• Heritage Conservation Branch
• Heritage Trust
• Royal B.C. Museum
• Ministry of Forests
• Ministry of Economic Development, Small Business and Trade
• Economic Development Commissions
• Regional Districts
• Planning Departments
• B.C. Hydro

Of all the agencies who completed a survey, 65% are involved in resource management. The scope of these agencies' resource management responsibilities is largely reflected in their name, i.e. Parks Canada manages all of Canada's national parks. For some government ministries or departments, responsibilities for the management of resources are divided. Thus, the Ministry of Environment, Land and Parks has branches responsible for overseeing wildlife resources, fisheries resources, etc. Despite the diversity of resources overseen by these various agencies, responses to the question of agency mandate were similar for each and generated the following types of answers:

• protect the resource
• promote or enhance the resource
• conserve the resource
• manage the resource
• encourage economic development using the resource
• encourage appreciation/awareness of the resource
• market the resource
• improve the resource
• facilitate development of the resource
• set priorities for the resource
• undertake planning activities related to the resource
• encourage sustainable development of the resource
• map and describe the resource
• provide information about the resource
• develop programs based on/using the resource
• fund initiatives related to the resource.

3.2 Resource Users

Virtually all non-government agencies who responded to the survey can be described as users of tourism, recreation and/or culture resources. These agencies include:

• tourism associations
• universities
• operators
• consulting companies
• tourism, recreation or culture organizations/clubs
• industry (non-tourism, recreation or culture focused)

The mandate of these organizations and their involvement in culture, recreation and tourism varies as follows:

Tourism Associations:	Promote and develop the tourism industry of a specific geographic region.
Universities:	Undertake academic research.
Operators:	Use resources to sell an opportunity and create employment.
Consultants:	Provide consulting/information services to clients regarding development feasibility, market potential, inventory, impact assessment, programming interpretation, and research.
Organizations/clubs:	Serve as an umbrella group to oversee the particular needs of their members.
Industry:	Involved in promoting an economic opportunity and generating employment in a manner which indirectly or partially involves use of resources