A long-overdue co-operative marketing effort could help the communities from Langdale to Lund cash in on the expected Olympic tourism boom.About 50 people, mostly tourism operators, met at Rockwater Secret Cove Resort last Friday (May 2) for the first meeting of the Sunshine Coast Tourism Partnership. The Coast is one of the few regions of B.C. without a destination marketing organization (DMO). Forming one will mean both the Upper and Lower Coast can be marketed jointly to off-Coast visitors, said Chris McNaughton, president of Tourism Powell River.
"We'll be able to leverage marketing dollars in order to ensure we reach the broadest possible audience this way," he said. With the 2010 Games on the way, Sunshine Coast tourism operators are getting significant support from the Canadian Tourism Commission, that was convinced to move their head office from Ottawa to Vancouver in December 2005, said West Vancouver- Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP Blair Wilson.
"You've got a unique opportunity to brand the Sunshine Coast as green and sustainable," Wilson said, adding the tourism boom can be expected to take shape after the Olympics.
Municipalities on the Lower Sunshine Coast have committed $56,000 of their Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) phase two funding - which comes from provincial funds, not local tax dollars - towards the creation of the DMO. It's less than the $80,000 commitment sought by the partnership last year and agreed to in principle by the four local governments. "We're still hoping local government will honour their original amounts," said McNaughton. The DMO is seeking $349,000 in total, with the remainder to be covered by tourism stakeholders such as hotels, bed and breakfasts and other businesses.
A couple of applications to the Island Coastal Economic Trust (ICET) could also help. A $2.12 million regional plan running through 2014 aims to attract more travel writers to document the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island and to better market the off-season and shoulder season - an idea Pender Harbour cabin owner Rick Harmer said he's fully in support of.
"Summer sells itself, but it's quiet in the off-season," said Harmer, owner of Bluff Hollow bed and breakfast. Events like the Rotary art auction in November, combined with the winter-long draw of Dakota Ridge, can provide good off-peak season revenues if marketed properly, he said.
He's also excited about a pending $1.5 million ICET application to expand the 180-kilometre Sunshine Coast Trail south to Langdale and to add backcountry chalets for travellers. It's a move that's been in the works for 15 years, said Eagle Walz of Tourism Powell River.
"Visualize hiking through old growth, then staying in a resort in the middle of the wilderness," he said. McNaughton cited Premier Gordon Campbell's goal to double tourism revenues by 2015. For the Sunshine Coast, where annual tourism revenues today are about $60 million, this means a goal of $120 million in revenue by 2015.
The partnership will hold its next meeting in Powell River in June.
