They are our friends not tourists

A Workshop on Creating Market Ready  Experiences for BC Visitors.

  Yesterday was a all day work shop about how to attract more tourism to BC, the Thompson Okanagan area  and then he Shuswap(it was sponsored by TOA, Shuswap Tourism and TRU). It was full there were people from as far away as Clearwater and the southern Okanagan.  They gave a breakdown on tourism trends and understanding the competition that we face bringing in visitors to the Shuswap. They gave steps in market ready planning for the new experimental tourist how to attract and keep them in your area.  As well what are 8 elements of creating a package to bring people to your area.  Who and what is an experiential traveler  (they are the largest growing tourist client)? The experimental traveler wants to interact with the community, it was said that people are more with drawn from nature and connectivity to the earth. These  people want to have that experience, so what we are aiming at is a different tourist- in fact they are not so much a tour-ist as a partner or friend coming to share your experience. 
     There was also the practical side of creating this experience; a pricing package for creating tours for your area. An incredible amount of information for  operators to help them get more experimental visitors to their area and the practicalities of how and why they should, bring people to share their, space. More than I can explain here.The main idea is working together we all win; working together we can find out what each other has and working together we can create a better Shuswap experience and pride for everyone..