Resource Based Tourism Product Development Opportunities

Ontario Resource-Based TourismDiversification Opportunities Report

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

FOR RESOURCE-BASED OPERATORS

December 2002

Ontario Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Opportunities Report

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESOURCE-BASED OPERATORS

Prepared for Ministry of Northern Development and Mines By

In association with WILD International Insignia Marketing Research Inc. Commonwealth Historic Resource Management Ltd. Tourism Consulting Associates December 2002

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 – INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................1-1 Ontario Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Program ..................................1-1 Purpose of this Document.....................................................................................1-2 Disclaimer………………………………………………………………… ...................1-3

2 – MARKET AND PRODUCT TRENDS 2-1 Adventure/Ecotourism Market Trends...................................................................2-1 Product Characteristics for You to Consider .......................................................2-11

3 – DEVELOPING NON-CONSUMPTIVE PRODUCTS 3-1 Determining Product Potential ..............................................................................3-1 A Brief “How to” guide for Developing Non-Consumptive Resource-

Based Products ..................................................................................................3-3

4 – MARKETING/PROMOTION OF PRODUCTS AND PACKAGING 4-1 Why Focus On Packaging?...................................................................................4-1 Defining Tourism Packaging .................................................................................4-2 Tips for Marketing Your Lodge and Resource-Based Tourism

Packages............................................................................................................4-3

5 – OVERALL PRODUCT OPPORTUNITIES 5-1 Product Categories ...............................................................................................5-1 Range of Possible Resource-Based Tourism Diversification

Opportunities ......................................................................................................5-3 Shortlist of Opportunities to Consider ...................................................................5-5 Planning for Trail Systems Development ..............................................................5-6

6 – NATURE APPRECIATION PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GUIDES 6.1 Wildlife Viewing........................................................................................6.1-1 6.2 Bird Watching...........................................................................................6.2-1 6.3 Old Growth Forest/Forest Canopy Tours.................................................6.3-1 6.4 Wetlands Interpretation Tours..................................................................6.4-1 6.5 Marine Life Interpretation Packages ........................................................6.5-1 6.6 Astronomy/Star Gazing Packages ...........................................................6.6-1 6.7 Rock Hounding ........................................................................................6.7-1

7 – OUTDOOR ADVENTURE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GUIDES 7.1 Bicycling/Mountain Biking Tours ..............................................................7.1-1 7.2 Walking/Hiking/Trekking Packages..........................................................7.2-1 7.3 Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction/Guided Excursions ..........................7.3-1 7.4 Orienteering/Survival and Outdoor Skills Programs ................................7.4-1 7.5 Tour Boat Cruises of Lakes and Rivers ...................................................7.5-1 7.6 Rock and Ice Climbing .............................................................................7.6-1 7.7 Developing ATV Touring Products/Packages..........................................7.7-1

Table of Contents (cont’d)

8 – CULTURAL HERITAGE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GUIDES 8.1 Overall Cultural Heritage Packaging Guidelines......................................8.1-1 8.2 First Nations Cultural Heritage Products/Packages.................................8.2-1 8.3 Developing Railway Cultural Heritage Products and Packages ..............8.3-1 8.4 Forestry and Mining Cultural Heritage Products and

Packages .................................................................................................8.4-1 8.5 Arts and Crafts Workshops ......................................................................8.5-1

9 – WINTER PACKAGES PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT GUIDES 9.1 Snowmobile Safari Tours.........................................................................9.1-1 9.2 Lodge-to-Lodge Cross Country Ski Expeditions ......................................9.2-1 9.3 Winter Getaway Packages.......................................................................9.3-1

Federal and Provincial Guidelines and Regulations While not specifically referred to in this document, it should be emphasized that any public and/or private sector organizations and individuals implementing any of the suggested product opportunities and ideas contained in this document should adhere to all appropriate federal and provincial guidelines and regulations.

Web Sites and Web Addresses It should be noted that the Government of Ontario does not endorse any specific web sites referred to in this document, whether public or private sector. Web addresses and examples of web pages are provided for preliminary informational purposes only, and as examples of information sources tourist operators may wish to consider while researching new product opportunities. Web site addresses were correct at the time of preparation of this document but may change over time, so it may be necessary to do a search for some organizations referred to in this document, particularly as time passes.

1 – INTRODUCTION

Ontario's Resource-Based Tourism Industry encompasses some 1,650 licensed tourist operators that generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues annually. This accounts for a significant component of Northern Ontario's tourism revenue, which is where most of these operations are based. The majority of these operations have traditionally focused on fishing and hunting, taking advantage of Ontario's world-class product in this regard. The province's extensive freshwater base (considered to be larger than anywhere else in the world) includes hundreds of thousands of lakes and rivers which offer tremendous fishing and other outdoor opportunities, along with extensive tracts of boreal forest, featuring an abundance of big game and other wildlife.

In addition to fishing and hunting, many operators have diversified into a broader base of outdoor adventure activities, family summer vacation experiences, and more specific nature-based and ecotourism products.

The purpose of the Ontario Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Opportunities Study, which was conducted in 2001, was to identify alternative resource-based tourism product development opportunities beyond the traditional fishing and hunting markets. There are a number of emerging markets that traditional operators could access with appropriate knowledge and well-conceived business plans. The Study which was undertaken helps provide a better understanding of the magnitude of demand for various types of alternative resource-based tourism activities, market preferences, marketing and packaging opportunities, and the quality expectations of potential customers.

ONTARIO RESOURCE-BASED TOURISM DIVERSIFICATION PROGRAM

In October of 2000, the Minister of Northern Development and Mines announced a $6.3 million Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Program to help resource-based tourism operations that use Crown land Crown Resources to grow, diversifying the economy of rural Ontario. This Program is expected to complement other government initiatives and build partnerships.

Introduction Page 1.1

Ontario Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Opportunities Study – Product Development Opportunities for Resource-Based Operators

The success of the Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Program depends upon the extent to which tourist operators understand the market and are able to use market intelligence to shape their business plans, capital investments and marketing plans. One of the key ingredients for the success of this Study component of this Program is the extent to which some of its key findings are accessible to and helpful to tourist operators in their businesses. Therefore, we have developed this comprehensive document entitled: Product Development Opportunities for Resource-Based Operators. This document is intended to be a helpful reference for tourist operators looking to expand into non-traditional resource-based tourism products and packages.

Providing assistance for entrepreneurs to develop resource-based tourism in Ontario must be sensitive to the environment and indigenous cultures. Sustainable tourism and maintaining cultural authenticity are indeed cornerstones for developing new resource-based tourism products and packages. This document has, therefore, been conceived with a long-term vision, but is designed to help move forward short-term opportunities for enhancing resource-based tourism product and market development on the part of individual tourist operators.

PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT

The principal purposes of this document, Product Development Opportunities for Resource-Based Tourist Operators, are as follows:

To help operators identify new resource-based tourism product opportunities that you can pursue to diversify your businesses

To stimulate ideas for developing unique and innovative products and packages which will allow you to tap into new and emerging markets

To provide advice on how to develop, market and operate resource-based tourism products and packages which go beyond the traditional fishing and hunting markets

To provide examples of unique new resource-based tourism packages already on the market

To serve as a reference document and source of information to help you diversify into new products and markets.



In subsequent chapters of this Product Development Opportunities document, we have included some information on market and product trends, guidelines for developing new resource-based tourism products, and tips on how to promote your new products and packages effectively. In Chapter 5 a long list of a wide range of possible product and package opportunities is presented, followed by a shortlist of those which resource-based tourist operators may consider pursuing in more detail.

Subsequently, in Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9, we have included specific product development ideas and guidelines for each of the shortlisted opportunities, designed to help you in considering new market segments to invest in, to diversify your resource-based tourism businesses. As seasonality patterns can be quite different for some of these unique market segments, there may be opportunities for attracting new business during portions of the season which are not as busy.

DISCLAIMER

This document is intended to provide ideas and guidelines which will help Ontario’s resource-based tourist operators to diversify their product lines. It is important to stress that operators should continue to pursue existing market segments which are successful for them. Operators will find helpful information in this document on a wide range of outdoor adventure, nature appreciation and cultural tourism opportunities. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this document at the time of preparation (mainly fall of 2001), the marketplace is constantly changing so market data and information, telephone numbers and web sites will change as time passes. There is no guarantee of success whatsoever implied by following the guidelines in this document. The degree of success which any operator has in pursuing any of the product opportunities outlined in this document will be dependent on the following: having a good business plan to begin with; the extent of additional product and market research and analysis undertaken by the operator; appropriateness of product development (suitability for target markets); effectiveness of marketing initiatives; and the quality of product actually delivered. Changes in overall market conditions can have an overriding impact on the degree of success, so operators should endeavour to adjust their activities in accordance with changing business conditions and market circumstances.


2 – MARKET AND PRODUCT TRENDS

ADVENTURE/ECOTOURISM MARKET/PRODUCT TRENDS

We have tapped into several data sources to document the following relevant trends

Magnitudes of the potential markets for outdoor activities

• Based on participation rates

• Including wide range of outdoor and ecotourism activities, and compared to fishing and hunting

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• Examined both U.S. and Canadian data

Activity preferences and demographics of ecotourists and nature-based tourists

Market potential and growth trends in specific outdoor sub-segments, including:

• Wildlife viewing and birding

• Fishing and hunting

• Water-based activities

• Winter activities

Learning vacation activities

Accommodation preferences for ecotourists

These are reported on in the remainder of this chapter.

Magnitudes of Potential Outdoor Markets by Activity

There is a large potential U.S. market for non-consumptive forms of outdoor recreation, as shown in Figure 2.1. Many of the non-consumptive activities have much higher participation levels than fishing or hunting.

Market and Product Trends Page 2-1


Figure 2.1: U.S. Participation in Outdoor Activities

58

78

87

122

134

140

149

163

173

189

Snow and Ice

Fishing

Boating/Sailing

Camping/backpacking

Swimming

Sightseeing/Driving

Learning/viewing

Viewing/photographing

Picnicking

Biking/Walking/Hiking

30

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Hunting

Number in Millions

Source: USDA Forest Service, 2000

U.S. participation in key outdoor activities specifically relevant to Ontario’s resource-based operators shows significant market potential, as indicated in Figure 2.2. Ontario has the natural resource base to offer high quality outdoor experiences in many key product niches that have high levels of participation in the U.S. Once again, several activities have higher participation levels than fishing and many have higher participation levels than hunting.



Figure 2.2: U.S. Participation in Niche Outdoor Activities


U.S. Participation in Niche Outdoor Activities

23

30

41

46

58

71

78

81

107

108

126

Rafting/floating

Hunting

4x4/ATV/motorbike

Camping

Motor Boating

Hiking

Fishing

Birding

Visit Historic site

Wildlife viewing

Visit Nature centre/trail/zoo

22

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Canoeing

Number in millions


U.S. participation is also high for other outdoor activities that may be relevant to Ontario’s resource-based operators, as indicated in Figure 2.3. These activities also have good potential and will help operators diversify the products offered and build volume in the winter season.



Figure 2.3: U.S. Participation in Other Outdoor Activities

11

13

20

25

45

71

83

Cross country skiing

Snowmobiling

Skiing

Horse Riding and Equestrian

Mountain Biking

Swimming Freshwater

Biking


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Snowboarding

Number in millions


Within Canada there is also strong interest in outdoor-oriented activities, which are shown in Figure 2.4. Again, many outdoor activities have higher participation levels than hunting and fishing.



Figure 2.4: Canadians Participating in Outdoor-Oriented Activities

9.6

9.2

7.7

7.0

5.6

5.5

5.3

4.7

3.3

2.9

2.8

2.6

1.5

0 2 4 6 8 10

Relaxing in Outdoors

Sightseeing in Outdoors

Picnicking

Swimming/Beach

Camping

Hiking/Backpacking

Recreational Fishing

Photography in Outdoors

Gathering Berries/nuts/wood

Kayaking/canoing/sailing

Power Boating

Biking

Hunting

(Millions)12

Source: Environment Canada, 1996

Participation across the provinces in outdoor activities averaged 85% of the total population, with Alberta the highest at 89% and Yukon the lowest at 77% – Ontario was at the average 85%.

Canadians also have a strong interest in winter activities such as alpine skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and cross country skiing.

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Characteristics of Ecotourists

There is a large North American market for outdoor adventures, ecotourism and nature-based tourism. Studies estimate that nearly half (48%) of all U.S. vacations involved some form of nature-based activity. Key activities include:

Boating, hiking, camping, biking, wildlife viewing, skiing, touring, fishing, local cultures and walking.

Typical demographics are shown below:



Ecotourists spend more than general tourists, with 26% spendingExpenditure

1) Enjoying scenery/nature, and2) discovering new places/experiences

Motivations

50% female and 50% male, although there are differences by activityGender

35 to 54 years old, but varies with activityAge

The North American Ecotourist Profile


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The majority (60%) travel as couples, 15% as families and 13%alone.

Party Size

$1000 plus per trip.

Tour operators from Asia-Pacific region who offer ecotourism products have experienced annual growth rates of 10% to 25% in recent years.

Ecotourism and all nature-related tourism account for approximately 20% of total international travel (WTO, 1998).

Wildlife viewing and birding are popular outdoor activities. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports that nearly 63 million Americans observed, photographed or fed wildlife in 1996. More recent studies (U.S. Forest Service, 2000) estimate the number of wildlife viewers in the U.S. to be approximately 108 million, indicating rapid growth in this market. Demographics are shown below:

Source: ARA Consulting Group Inc. and HLA Consultants, 1995.

Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1996

19% (65 +) 46% men 37% - $100,000 +

25% (35-44) 54% women 40% - $75-99,999

Age Gender Income

Wildlife Viewer Demographics

Nearly 80% of all wildlife watchers are believed to be birders according to the American Birding Association.

Spending by people who view wildlife has increased over the last few years.


Fishing and Hunting Segments

Fishing and hunting markets are showing modest or no growth, which is cause for concern for resource-based operations. Participation levels and demographics are shown in Figure 2.5.

Figure 2.5: Fishing and Hunting Segments

Demographics

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6

21

23

31

55

72

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Waterfowl

Small Game

Big Game

Coldwater

Warmwater

Freshwater

MillionsSource: USDA Forest Service, 2000

73% men27% women

27% (35-44)20% (25-34, 45-54)

FishingDemographics

91% men 9% women

27% (35-44)20% (25-34, 45-54)

HuntingDemographics

GenderAgeActivity

Source: US Fish and Wildlife Service, 1996

There has been some growth (2-5%) in the fishing market in recent years, particularly in the Catch-&-Release market.

Fishing remains one of the larger outdoor activities and one that is compatible with other types of resource-based tourism.



◆ Hunting overall has remained relatively stable, with declines in some segments such as waterfowl hunting.

Other Outdoor Activities

Ontario is well-placed to take advantage of the large U.S. water-based activities market. Motor boating is a very large water-based activity with over 58 million participants, as shown in Figure 2.6, followed by rafting, canoeing and sailing.

Figure 2.6: U.S. Participation in Water-Based Activities


9.6

11.7

22.3

22.5

58.4

Rowing

Sailing

Canoeing

Floating/Rafting

Motor Boating

7.0

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Kayaking

Millions

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There is a large market for non-motorized water activities that are compatible with ecotourism.

Kayaking and floating/rafting, including both whitewater and flatwater, have seen very significant growth in recent years.

Winter activities have also demonstrated strong growth and offer potential for the resource-based operators. Although the number participating in winter activities is small compared to summer, these activities have been experiencing substantial growth.



Figure 2.7: Winter Activities

% Growth in Winter Activities

Downhill skiing, snowboarding relevant to operators in close proximity to these facilities

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7.4Dowhnill Skiing

Participation(millions)Activity

1.0Snowshoeing

2.3Cross country skiing

4.3Snowboarding

5%

18%

iing

eing

ng 31%

Alpine Skiing

Cross country sk

Snowsho

Snowboardi

Other activities such as dog sledding and ice fishing also experiencing some growth.

Dog sledding, cross country skiing and snowshoeing particularly popular with European markets (e.g., Germany, France, Austria and Scandinavia).

Learning vacations are a fast growing segment of the travel market, also with high participation levels, as shown in Figure 2.8. Learning about nature, the environment, culture and history are significant motivators for outdoor recreation. Resource-based activities such as ecotourism provide ideal environments for learning and education.



Figure 2.8: U.S. Participation in Learning Vacation Type Activities


45.8

78.4

106.6

125.7

Visit a Prehistoric or Archaeological site

Visit a wilderness or primitive area

Visit a historic site

Visit a nature centre, nature trail or zoo

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

Millions

Accommodation preferences of the North American ecotourism market are consistent with much of what is offered by resource-based operators (see Figure 2.9). Accommodations are important to ecotourists, but secondary to the experience/activity and natural setting.



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Figure 2.9: Accommodation Preferences of Ecotourists vs. General Consumers

5%2%RV

3%5%Other

4%20%Cruise Ship

1%40%Ranch

56%41%Hotel/Motel

10%55%Bed and Breakfast

17%58%Tent

14%60%Lodge/Inn

14%66%Cabin

General ConsumersEcotouristsType of Accommodation

Source: ARA Consulting Group Inc. and HLA Consultants, 1995.

Price is not a primary concern, but a range of activities and value for money are important.

Customer service is also a high-ranking criteria.

PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER

As you consider whether or not to diversify into new resource-based tourism market segments, be mindful of the product characteristics that outdoor adventure, ecotourism and cultural heritage travellers are looking for. You may already be offering many of these product characteristics. If not, you may need to consider some facility upgrades (e.g., in the case of accommodations) or partnerships (e.g., perhaps in order to be able to offer food and beverage and attraction/activity components in your new products). Specific product characteristics you should consider include:



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Quality of accommodations – while you do not need 4 or 5-star facilities to attract these markets, your lodge and cabins should meet at least the following standards:

• Attractively sited cabins/accommodations in a lakeside or other attractive natural setting

• Exterior design, either traditional or contemporary, using natural materials (wood, logs, stone) as much as possible.

• Three or four-piece bathrooms in all cabins and lodge rooms.

• Clean, well-kept and attractive cabin and lodge interiors, again ideally with liberal use of natural wood paneling and trim, stone fireplaces, and walk-outs to verandahs or decks.

• Full American Plan capability (restaurant and bar) or housekeeping facilities with restaurants available in the area.

On-site recreational activities, including swimming, boating, hiking.

Well-kept property, largely in a natural state, with some natural looking landscaping and flowers where needed.

A range of potential nature interpretation and cultural heritage opportunities available in the immediate region to provide the basis for interesting packages and products.

The need to cater to compatible market segments – for example, catering to hunters and ecotourists could result in conflicts, whereas catering to hunting and certain outdoor adventure products (e.g. ATVs, snowmobiling) may be more compatible. Catch-and-release fishing is usually fairly compatible with ecotourism.

Value added – more than price, the overall value for money you offer will influence your success in the marketplace. You can charge a high price if the quality is high and be quite successful. Make sure that you are including features in your products and packages which are unique to your own operation and perhaps reflect some special knowledge or skills you have in relation to the specific products and packages you are offering.


3 – DEVELOPING NEW RESOURCE-BASED TOURISM PRODUCTS

Ontario’s tourism product is in need of rejuvenation, particularly in light of increasing competition for strong emerging markets seeking heritage, culture and nature product. Indeed many other provinces and countries have restructured their tourism product positioning quite successfully to reflect these market shifts.

Attention to ecotourism, including heritage and nature-based tourism is increasing world-wide in response to market demand. It is the focus of product diversification efforts in many jurisdictions and is considered an important strategy for what has been identified as one of the fastest growing segments of tourism in the world. Ontario’s resource-based tourist operators can play a key role in developing new resource-based tourism products for these markets.

DETERMINING PRODUCT POTENTIAL

Resource-based tourism operators need to assess which new product areas are most appropriate for them to diversify into. It is useful to define several of the key terms used throughout this study in order to ensure that their meaning is clear.

Ecotourism – Purposeful travel that creates an understanding of cultural and natural history, while safeguarding the integrity of the ecosystem and producing economic benefits that encourage preservation. Ecotourism implies a scientific, aesthetic, or philosophical approach with a high level of interpretation. (from Canadian Tourism Commission web site; credited to Newfoundland and Labrador Dept. of Tourism and Culture).

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◆ Sustainable tourism is envisaged as leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled, while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological

Developing Non-Consumptive Products Page 3-1


processes, biological diversity and life support systems. (World Tourism Organization)

Adventure travel may be defined as a leisure activity that takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness destination and tends to be associated with high levels of activity by the participants, most of it outdoors. Adventure travelers expect to experience varying degrees of risk, excitement and tranquility and to be personally tested or stretched in some way. They are explorers of both an outer world, especially unspoiled exotic parts of our planet, and an inner world of personal challenge, self-perception and self-mastery. (Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia).

• Hard adventure travel – combines a unique experience in an outdoor setting with excitement and a degree of risk. It frequently demands physical exertion as well as a level of skill. (from CTC web site)

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• Soft adventure travel – also focuses on providing a unique outdoors experience or ‘adventure’. However, it involves only a minor element of risk, little physical exertion and no skill. (from CTC web site)

Cultural/heritage resources are our society’s inheritance from past generations. They include archaeological sites, buildings, structures, streetscapes and related landscapes, and aspects of our communities’ lives which, rooted in their individual histories, help convey our collective identity and make them appealing places for residents and visitors.

Heritage attractions refer to historic sites, museums, interpretive facilities, and events, which serve to attract visitors. The word ‘attraction’ usually is reserved for a large development or major event.

Cultural/Heritage tourism is that component of ecotourism, which involves both attendance at attractions by visitors to the area, and the enhancement of the tourist experience provided by the areas tourist resources. Often there is a learning experience associated with the interpretation. The tourism base of the region can be effectively enhanced by co-coordinating, improving and interpreting its culture/heritage/eco attractions and resources.

Developing New Resource-Based Tourism Products Page 3-2


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Resource-based tourist operators should use the following criteria to consider what new product areas to diversify into:

Quality of your area’s resources relative to product requirements

Suitability of your facilities and accommodations for the market segments that would be attracted

Anticipated investment required to enter the market

Expected return on investment and likely per-visitor yield

Compatibility with existing markets you serve (e.g., anglers and hunters)

Your own relevant knowledge base about the new product area.

Most types of resource-based tourism activities are associated with some degree of risk, which leads to liability and insurance issues. Operators should consult with qualified lawyers and insurance professionals to address these issues early on in the development process and certainly prior to any marketing initiatives or actual operations of new products and packages.

The degree of risk and the extent of liability and insurance issues can vary substantially by type of activity, product and package. In some cases, there are associations of operators specializing in certain types of products and packages that may have additional helpful information and/or access to specialized insurance coverage.

A BRIEF “HOW TO” GUIDE FOR DEVELOPING NON-CONSUMPTIVE RESOURCE-BASED PRODUCTS

Diversifying existing tourism products into the field of adventure and ecotourism involves an analysis of product options and the resource base available. The next step in the process defines the knowledge and facilities requirements to effectively implement the new products.



Diversifying into ecotourism and adventure tourism can be achieved by enhancing existing products or by creating new product components. The categories of adventure, nature and ecotourism are often used interchangeably and in many cases there is a high degree of overlap between these types of tourism products.

Outdoor Adventure, Nature and Ecotourism Products

Ontario contains many examples of outdoor adventure products, which often focus around the core activities of canoeing/kayaking, hiking and biking. Adventure tourism encompasses any leisure-based activity that takes place in an unusual, exotic, remote or wilderness destination and tends to be associated with physical activity.

Nearly all outdoor activities (hunting, however, is a notable exception) have the potential to be enhanced into more of a nature/ecotourism type of product that offers clients more than just the activity by encompassing a much broader-based experience through the use of interpretation and education.

As of the time of preparing this document (fall of 2001) the Ecotourism Association of Australia (EAA) was virtually the only major western country to have adopted formal ecotourism accreditation standards. The EAA has adopted a number of core principles it uses to assess a product’s eligibility as a nature tourism or ecotourism product, which are also relevant to the Canadian and Ontario context.

Nature-Based Tourism Products:

1. Focuses on personally and directly experiencing nature;

2. Represents best practice for environmentally sustainable tourism;

3. Consistently meets customer expectations; and

4. Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic expectations.

Source: Ecotourism Association of Australia, 2000.

The criteria for ecotourism products requires a higher degree of commitment to the principles of sustainability.



Ecotourism Products:

1. Focuses on personally and directly experiencing nature;

2. Providing opportunities to experience nature in ways that lead to greater understanding, appreciation and enjoyment;

3. Represents best practice for environmentally sustainable tourism;

4. Positively contributes to the conservation of natural areas;

5. Provides constructive ongoing contributions to local communities;

6. Is sensitive to, interprets and involves different cultures, particularly indigenous culture;

7. Consistently meets customer expectations; and

8. Is marketed accurately and leads to realistic expectations.


The preceding points provide an indication of the types of product attributes required to begin diversifying into the nature/ecotourism market. They also reflect the growing attitudes of many consumers that are looking for an increasingly more authentic experience.

A number of Ontario’s existing operators are already well-qualified to label themselves ecotourism operations, while many more fit within the broader categories of nature tourism and outdoor adventure, which are equally important and growing markets.

Cultural/Heritage Tourism

Another way of increasing the appeal, uniqueness and adding value to an outdoor adventure product is through cultural heritage components. The combination of land and people makes for a rewarding and distinctive adventure experience as an area's social and natural history are intertwined. However, for cultural heritage to be effective as part of the resource-based tourism experience, it must be interpreted and explained.



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The community or people of an area and its physical setting make it unique. Therefore, an adventure product that is able to capture some of uniqueness through interpretation can provide a highly distinctive experience to its clients.

Knowledge Based Requirements and Interpretation

Offering ecotourism products and enhancing existing activities with interpretation requires some research into the resources available, such as:

Local flora and fauna characteristics.

Local heritage and cultural features and attractions that can be integrated into the product.

Existing trail networks and access/ownership issues.

Some of the key contacts available for obtaining this base information are listed in the table at the end of this section as well as in the overall report bibliography.

One of the most important aspects of adventure, nature or ecotourism products is people (guide/staff) and their respective knowledge. The guides/staff ability to interact with and interpret features and events for clients in an entertaining and educational manner is one of the keys to success in eco/nature tourism.

Interpretation is an integral component of nature-based tourism and the core component of an authentic ecotourism experience. Interpretation is more than just relying on information: it provides a method for relating information to a particular setting or experience, which ultimately provides the visitor/client with a more meaningful and enriching experience. To benefit from providing an interpretation program it is important to identify the core criteria that contribute to a successful interpretation program, these include:

1. Understanding your audience

2. Researching content

3. Structuring the content into a meaningful story



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4. Being entertaining


These four criteria provide a starting point for those seeking to offer interpretative programs. However, there are a number of other elements that can also be incorporated into an operation to set it apart from the competition such as:

Encouraging customers to provide written feedback

Sharing ideas with other operators through publications and training programs

Commitment of resources to regular community service

Promotion of concepts of ecotourism beyond area of operation

Commitment to upgrading skills and training of staff/guides

Establishing links to other partners that offer a similar or complementary products (i.e., museums and National Historic Sites)

In addition to the benefits that interpretation offers clients, operators also receive numerous benefits like those detailed in Figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: Potential Benefits of Interpretation

Potential Benefits of Interpretation

Enriches the visitor experience and hence customer satisfaction

Encourages appropriate behaviour and ensures the experience is sustainable

Differentiates your tourism product from the more mainstream

Attracts a higher yielding customer

Establishes your environmental credentials


Interpretation can also be used to enhance other outdoor and adventure activities, such as hiking, walking, biking, canoeing and kayaking, wildlife viewing and birding.



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Fishing and, in particular, catch-and-release fishing is also an outdoor activity that is well-suited to interpretation. Guides have the opportunity to educate guests on the principles of maintaining a sustainable fishery, the environment or local history and culture.

Facility and Equipment Requirements

An ecotourism and adventure product focuses primarily on the experience and setting as opposed to facilities or physical amenities. Products can often be established with little or no infrastructure or by partnering with existing providers.

Many of the core activities such as walking, hiking, wildlife viewing and birding can potentially be initiated with very little investment into either facilities or equipment.

Other activities such as kayaking, canoeing and to a lesser extent snowshoeing and cross-country skiing require more investment related to specialized equipment for the activity.

However, an incremental approach to purchasing the required equipment would also make these activities a realistic opportunity for the majority of operators.

Operational Guidelines

The following paragraphs highlight key areas that are essential to a viable and sustainable non-consumptive resource-based tourism operation, particularly one advocating or promoting nature, ecotourism and adventure products.

Product and delivery. Ecotourism and adventure travel focus on the actual experience – therefore, the quality of this experience is all-important. Operators can employ a number of strategies and methods for ensuring the quality of their product and ultimately client satisfaction. For example:

• Strive towards high service levels

• Create codes and standards for operations and clients

• Enhance the product with interpretation



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• Know where improvements can be made

Customer service and pre-trip contact. Customer service is an integral part of tourism and, in particular, nature/adventure tourism, where groups are often small in size. One important and often overlooked aspect of customer service is pre-trip contact. Establishing pre-trip contact with the customers to pass on information related to their forthcoming trips helps to ensure that they are aware and prepared for their experience, and as a result, more likely to have a favourable experience. An example of some of the elements of pre-trip documentation are listed below:

• List of activities to be undertaken

• Highlights of the areas to be visited

• Types of equipment and infrastructure that will be used

• Perhaps a code of ethics for the area to be visited

Other elements of customer services such as post-trip follow up, listening to suggestions/comments, maintaining flexibility and striving to exceed expectations are also extremely valuable attributes to incorporate into your operations.

Environmental ethics. Ethics that demonstrate a respect and appreciation for the environment and acknowledge the finite nature of the resource are an important part of sustainable tourism and the cornerstone of ecotourism practices. The essence of ecotourism is captured in the International Ecotourism Society definition:

“responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of the local people.”

This sustainable approach will become increasingly important as the industry develops and travelers themselves become more sophisticated and aware of the concept of ecotourism.

As a result, there will be a greater emphasis placed on ethics and consumers will be able to easily differentiate between companies that genuinely act in a sustainable manner and those that focus on revenue generation at the expense of the environment.



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Community involvement. In addition to environmental sustainability operators should also make every effort to contribute to and work with local communities. Sustainable tourism requires the support and ongoing interaction with local communities and cultures. Key elements include:

• Working closely with local community

• Supporting local resources, most commonly through the purchase of local goods and the hiring of local people

• Enable clients to experience local communities in a sustainable manner

Sources of Information to Help in Developing New Products

Developing a product or modifying existing product offerings requires a knowledge of market/consumer preferences and an ability to respond to these constantly changing preferences. It is also important to ensure that your product maintains its authenticity as it changes and adapts to market demand.

To assist in catering to the changing market preferences and the diversity of its customers it is also important to have a range of product offerings, these can be provided in house or through strategic partnerships.

Finding a niche is ideal. Work on ways to differentiate your operation from the other product offerings (know what else is out there) available. Interpretation is one way in which a product can be enhanced and personalized.

The table in Figure 3.2 provides further details on how and where to obtain some of the more specific information mentioned in this section.



Figure 3.2: Sources of Information to Assist in Developing and Operating Non-Consumptive Resource-Based Tourism Products

Organization Type of Information

Canadian Tourism Commission

www.canadatourism.com

• Best Practices Tour 2000 in Adventure Travel and Ecotourism

• Catalogue of Exemplary practices in Adventure Travel & Ecotourism

• On Route to Sustainability, Best Practices in Canadian Tourism

The International Ecotourism Society

• Ecotourism Guidelines for Nature Tour Operators

• The Ecolodge Sourcebook for Planners & Developers

www.ecotourism.org

• Ecotourism: A Guide for Planners & Managers

Watchable Wildlife Inc

www.watchablewildlife.org

• Providing Positive Wildlife Viewing Experiences

• Code of Ethics

• Developing wildlife viewing products

• Trail and facilities design

• Educating Viewers

Ecotourism Association of Australia

www.ecotourism.org.au

• NEAP – Nature and Ecotourism Accreditation Program

• EcoGuide Program



Figure 3.2: Sources of Information to Assist in Developing and Operating Non-Consumptive Resource-Based Tourism Products (cont'd)

Northern Ontario Native Tourism Association


www.nonta.net

American Birding Association

www.americanbirding.org

• Existing First Nations Tourism Product for Partnering opportunities

• Code of Ethics

• Birding trends

North American Nature Photography Association

• Ethical Field Practices

www.nanpa.org

Ontario Recreational Canoe Association (ORCA)

www.orca.on.ca

• Safety programs for industry and public

• Guide Certification

Association of Eastern Canadian Sea Kayak Outfitters (AECSKO)

• Code of ethics

• Guide certification

Canadian Heritage

• Supports Heritage tourism through programs and partnerships

Parks Canada

www.parkscanada.pch.gc.ca

• National Parks

• National Historic sites

• Heritage Rivers

Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada

www.attc.ca

• Existing First Nations Tourism Product for Partnering opportunities



Figure 3.2: Sources of Information to Assist in Developing and Operating Non-Consumptive Resource-Based Tourism Products (cont'd)


Ontario Nature trust Alliance

• Program to assist with acquisition costs (not purchase costs) of securing environmentally important land

NOTE: Actual publications in Italics

In addition to the above resources the Government of Ontario has published several documents that assist tourism and forestry in working towards an understanding relative to the use of natural resources. These include:

Management Guidelines for Forestry and Resource-Based Tourism. Published by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario.

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Tourism and Forestry Industry – Memorandum of Understanding. Published by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario.

Tourism and Forestry Industry – Guide to Resource Stewardship Agreements. Published by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ontario.

Check out the World Wide Web for examples of various agencies and their codes of ethics and wildlife-viewing tips such as the following, for example:

American Birding Association – Birding Code of Ethics

Alaskan Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association – Ecotourism Guidelines

Watchable Wildlife Inc – Wildlife Watcher’s Code of Ethics & Ethics brochure

North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) – Principles of Ethical Field Practices.

Safety Issues Must be Addressed

All appropriate safety requirements should be adhered to by operators in accordance with any applicable regulations for specific types of activities. For any activity that involves activities in remote areas beyond one day for higher



risk activities in remote areas, then tourist operators should consider having on hand a communication device such as a radio or satellite phone that can be used to contact help.

In the case of long distance hiking, canoeing, boating, snowmobiling or other longer distance wilderness activities, operators should have emergency response plans developed:

Such plans would define circumstances in which operators should, for example, hire a helicopter, float plane or vehicle to evacuate sick or injured travelers

They would also define procedures to follow in terms of search and rescue if a guest becomes lost, and the need to ask for next of kin contacts for people engaged in some higher risk wilderness activities.

It is beyond the scope of this document to define all of the safety, search and rescue and risk management issues that could be applicable to the various types of tourism activities that are presented later. It is important to liaise with the appropriate government agencies and associations, along with legal and insurance advisors to ensure you have adequately dealt with these issues.


4 – MARKETING/PROMOTION OF PRODUCTS AND PACKAGES

This discussion of marketing and promotion of resource-based tourism products and packages has the following areas of focus:

Why focus on Packaging?

Defining Tourism Packaging

Tips For Marketing Resource-Based Tourism Packages

WHY FOCUS ON PACKAGING?

"It’s the way travelers buy." Travel has become a commodity like many of those you buy in a supermarket. Almost everyone buys it, often on impulse. In the tourism industry consumers have developed an intuitive sense of "channel" related to product purchases – they go to sales/distribution channels where they will get product packaged into bundles that are based on experiences.

In the past consumers would assemble a holiday a la carte, often thinking that this would save money.

The reality today is that the vast majority of consumers know that packages have all the benefits – they have been pre-assembled to bundle the best of experiences, they are usually the best value, they are easy to understand and buy.

The product is in the channel and ready to buy with one booking.

Consumers of resource-based tourism are the same consumers who repeatedly buy winter products in packages. Sales will increase if consumers have a clear sense of the positioning of the region around resource-based tourism and a clear sense of the packages they can buy. This is true whether they live in Germany or Wisconsin. Packaging the easiest way to get started on product development.

Marketing/Promotion and Packaging Page 4-1


Product development in the tourism industry today is more about the creation of products at local and regional levels in packages than it is about mega-projects funded by governments.

The easiest way of developing new products in the current economic circumstances is by starting to package what we already have. This requires imagination and collaborative work, but limited financial investment – the challenge is getting the resource-based tourist operators to work collaboratively and with other tourism partners.

DEFINING TOURISM PACKAGING

The following is a basic definition of a tourism package:

Definition of a Tourism Package

A package combines a number elements in a region into a themed experience – accommodation, transportation, food, attractions and

education/interpretation.

Packages are distributed through web sites, the VIC system, call centres and the travel trade (travel agents and tour operators). Many packages have net rates and are marketed through various trade partners who will use them as a basis for their own broader packaging of Ontario and Canada.

Packages created around themes can use discovery travel routes, sites and attractions, interpretation, reading lists, CD's/ cassettes, guides in strategic locations, guide standards, themed accommodation amenities, themed food, etc. Some packages could be all inclusive, multi-modal packages (car, foot, boat, ATV, snowmobile, dog sled, 4-wheel drive) including outdoor meals, sites and sounds, etc. You should leverage learning about this type of innovative packaging development from Paddle Ontario and Arts in the Wild.

The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership (OTMP) has published a guide entitled, A guide to Building Successful Packages for Tourism Suppliers, which provides a step-by-step guide to packaging.



TIPS FOR MARKETING YOUR LODGE AND RESOURCE-BASED TOURISM PACKAGES

Traditionally, tourism packages and accommodations have been marketed through provincial travel literature, the phone book Yellow Pages, magazines, brochures distributed to places frequented by tourists, consumer and trade shows, and through travel literature sold by travel agents.

The travel industry with its agents often have the ability to fill accommodations or tour packages. This access to a supply of targeted consumers is provided in exchange for a commission. There is great diversity in the levels of commissions charged (5%-40% is the range possible) but typically 20 per cent of the product price is commission with 10% going to the travel agency in the storefront and 10% going to the tour wholesaler that put together the travel literature, distributed it to the various travel agencies, and also undertook broader consumer advertising to generate interest in the marketplace.

The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership (OTMP) has also published a guide to the travel trade entitled, Selling Through the Travel Trade: A Handbook for Tourism Suppliers. This is a useful reference for tourist operators who are unfamiliar with packaging.

The tour wholesaler is the key to successful distribution by travel agents. They assess product suitability, decide which products are included in their literature, distribute their travel literature, educate travel agents about the products, and coordinate the sale to the consumer with the reservation with the tourist operator/lodge owner.

Into the late 1990s travel wholesalers and their network of travel agents were the largest source of consumers for most large tour packagers including many of Canada's biggest hunting, fishing, and nature appreciation enterprises. Other operations relied on consumer shows (e.g., sports shows) and past customers to fill available packages and accommodations at lodges and camps.



The restructuring of the airlines with lowered commissions to travel agents and the evolution of the worldwide web has dramatically changed the way the travel industry works.

Many travel agencies are putting more emphasis on selling holiday packages in order to make up for the loss in airline ticket sales revenues. Clients go to these agencies for hands-on service and for the sense of consumer protection. Also a substantial number of travellers still do not have access to the Internet.

Importance of the Internet

The Internet has provided a powerful new method of directly reaching tens of thousands of consumers and more people are going "on-line" daily. While the old adage of "getting what you pay for" can apply to magazines, marketing associations, phone book listings, and the worldwide web, it is the web that provides a method to economically reach millions of potential customers. The web has enabled new travel enterprises marketed almost exclusively by well-designed and well-promoted websites to generate tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in bookings.

Over the ongoing evolution of the web there have been issues of consumer protection and trends such as the movement of the more traditional pre-web enterprises moving towards having well-designed, well-promoted websites. The bottom-line for 2002 is that a website is now part of every mid to large size tourism enterprise's marketing presence, as well as for many small tourist operators.

The development and continual maintenance of business websites has created a huge business sector in North America. Tourism entrepreneurs either become "webmasters" themselves or buy services so that their websites project a professional image of their enterprise. Many websites enable clients to purchase on-line, but even when bookings come from phone calls, faxes, or travel agents, many of the consumers still visit the operator's website prior to making a purchase decision. Many travel agents now show customers the websites of properties and packages in order to assist consumers with their purchasing decisions.

It is, therefore, critical that any pricing information shown on a business website matches the information given to travel agents.



Many tour and accommodations operators finance their websites by the "saved" commissions that come from direct bookings; but most larger operators agree that travel agents provide so many bookings that they are reluctant to make the jump to exclusive web-based marketing.

Web-Based Marketing Methods for You to Consider

There are now a significant number of very successful tourism product packagers that primarily rely on web-based promotions. Even when websites are only part of the marketing mix, they still account for tens of thousands of dollars in reservations and bookings. The promotion of a website is fundamentally different from the creation and maintenance of a web site. Some of the leading publicly-listed enterprises on the NASDAQ exchange provide promotional services for websites.

1. Search engine listings. This involves listing websites with Yahoo, Google, and other leading search engines. Consumers searching for a vacation product or package get a listing of potentially thousands of providers including the operators who have submitted their information. The marketing issue then becomes placement on the list of service providers since consumers tend to investigate and ultimately book with providers near the top of the list.

• The number one position is typically number one with respect to bookings.

• Many of these search engine listings are free but many operators are finding that "pay per click" services including Overture, the world's largest pay-per-click provider, send hundreds of potential consumers to their website for pennies per person.

• With pay-per-click a consumer that uses a specific search term – for example "Ontario canoe adventures" – will get both a regular search engine list with hundreds of options, AND, a special highlighted listing on the top of the opening page of a search results.

• Using a pay-per-click strategy requires careful attention to search terms, the bids on those search terms, and the ability of a website to either close a sale or encourage a consumer to seek further information.

2. Listings with major Internet travel organizations. The two largest are gorp.com and away.com. These two organizations get millions of visits



per month from potential travellers interested in vacation products including hiking, bird watching, cross-country skiing, paddling, camping, angling, and wildlife watching.

• GORP is the busiest Internet tourism product seller in the world and is in the process of moving from a paid listing system to listing products on a commission basis.

• There are hundreds of other sites where packagers and lodge owners can pay for listings or receive free listings.

The Canadian Tourism Commission annually puts together extensive multi-media campaigns designed to encourage Americans and other Canadians to visit Canadatourism.com where they can select from hundreds of Canadian travel products. The operators pay to be listed with the amount of exposure on-line and in the supporting print literature corresponding to the financial contribution.

The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership also has a sophisticated new website and extensive marketing partnership opportunities available. In the case of specialized products such as canoeing/kayaking, there are specialized organizations such as Paddling Ontario which has its own web site for marketing this type of product. (Similar sites exist for a range of outdoor adventure and ecotourism products and, where applicable, are noted in each of the product development opportunities presented later in this document).

Regional listings of accommodations – both on-line and in conventional travel literature – are sometimes all the promotion that some lodges and camps require. Obviously each entrepreneur has to evaluate the marketing methods and messages that work best for them.

3. Using other on-line tactics to reach organizations and sites such as newsgroups, webrings, Ezines, cybermalls, banner exchanges, and link exchanges. Some of these strategies will benefit from research into how others, especially competitors, are already marketing their products. The web provides a variety of tools that enable an operator to improve the distribution and effectiveness of the marketing messages carried within their website.

The 2001 book Internet Marketing for your Tourism Business by Susan Sweeney available through Connex Network Incorporated is a helpful



reference for effectively promoting tourism websites and targeting the appropriate consumers (available from Maximum Press, 605 Silverthorn Road, Gulf Breeze, FL, 32561 www.maxpress.com).

Considering the Relative Costs and Benefits of Alternative Marketing Methods

Marketing and promotion are by no means an exact science and requires considerable experimentation to find out what works best for your operations. The following comments may be helpful for you in considering the alternatives.

Newspaper coverage. All free coverage from articles is beneficial, especially when contact coordinates and website information is provided, but newspapers typically have short shelf life and high cost. Unless a lodge is promoting a special event or service locally, advertising in newspapers is not usually a wise use of marketing dollars.

Magazine advertising. These can often be targetted to affinity groups (e.g. anglers, hunters, birders, etc). Investigate circulation and reader demographics before you advertise. Some folks use magazines to make their holiday purchasing decisions. When properly designed and targetted, ads in magazines can be effective. Always include your website address. This medium can be expensive.

Website. When effectively designed and promoted, a product or accommodations website can be the major source of bookings (as noted earlier). Most web-based marketing strategies require substantial amounts of time. There are hundreds of directories looking for $100 for a one-year listing.

Consumer trade shows. The Travel and Leisure Show, American Adventure Travel shows, various outdoor shows and sports, and others provide access to thousands of consumers in the process of making travel decisions. The methods for effectively participating in these marketplaces are the subject of numerous publications but the bottom line is that when done well, consumer shows will continue to be a major source of guests. Some hunting and fishing lodge owners get the majority of their guests from selected shows and the repeat business that is a residual from these shows.



Industry trade shows. These tend to be more expensive than consumer shows and require extensive preparation. They provide access to the traditional network of travel wholesalers and agents; and have been critical to large tour operators and hotel chains for years. While Rendezvous Canada and the motorcoach shows are unsuitable for some operators, some of the larger suppliers of wildlife watching or general leisure packages might want to consider attending, as numerous large U.S. and overseas tour operators attend these show to buy product.

Industry associations and affinity groups. Joining birding, whale watching, hiking, canoeing or other appropriate networks and associations provides access to consumers and information about industry standards. Join, learn, and focus your promotional efforts. These are often very good value as hundreds or thousands of potential consumers learn your name for a low annual membership cost. Many of these organizations and their web sites have been referred to in this document.


5 – OVERALL PRODUCT OPPORTUNITIES

The objective of this section of the document is to provide operators with a wide range of ideas for diversifying the products, services and packages to offer, taking advantage of the growing popularity of outdoor adventure activities of all types, ecotourism and culture/heritage tourism. We have included a long list with a wide range of possibilities, as well as a short-list of opportunities which have been presented in more detail in Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9.

PRODUCT CATEGORIES

The results of the primary research conducted for this project and discussions with lodge owners has generally revealed most resource-based operators in the province have ideas for new products and activities within a fairly narrow range of activities. The following activities, in order of interest, were identified by operators responding to the study's telephone survey:

Wildlife viewing

Birdwatching

Photography

Canoeing, kayaking

Snowmobiling

Hiking, walking tours

Nature interpretation

ATVing

Scuba diving

Cultural and historic tours

Arts and crafts

Bicycling, mountain biking

Overall Product Opportunities Page 5-1


Flightseeing, fly-in charters

Golf

While these activities are well-suited to Ontario, the province has the potential to offer visitors an almost endless array of activities in all seasons. The Specialty Travel Index gives examples of the many possible types of activities that interest travellers. From archaeology, to ice climbing, shamanism, and zoology, Ontario has both the resources and the expertise to deliver many of these activities and more as packaged tourism products.

Based on the key interest expressed by lodge owners in new types of activities and experiences, and the geography and cultural heritage of Ontario, it is useful to consider tourism diversification opportunities for the province in the following general categories:

Nature appreciation. Tourism experiences in this category are dependent on the vast natural resources of Ontario, its flora and fauna, and ecological and geological richness.

Water, land and air adventures. The emphasis in this category is on tourism activities on water, land and in the air which depend on Ontario’s vast network of rivers and lakes, extensive system of roads, trails, portages, and the freedom of Northern Ontario’s airspace.

Cultural Experiences. Tourism opportunities in this category build on the culture and history of Ontario from archeological heritage to the present day and living treasures. Cultural experiences are interwoven with the natural heritage of the province.

Winter experiences. This category relates to a celebration of winter with an aim to increase tourist visitation in this period. It encompasses the three categories above, but with particular emphasis on winter activities and the cultural adaptations and unique experiences of an Ontario winter.

These four categories can be used as the framework for identifying a long list of opportunities for resource-based tourism as shown in the table of Figure 5.1, based on ideas resource-based tourist operators indicated they are interested in.


Ontario Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Opportunities Study – Product Development Opportunities for Resource-Based Operators Figure 5.1: Opportunities Lodge Owners are Very Interested In (per Telephone Survey)

Nature Appreciation

Land Adventures

Water Adventures Air Adventures Cultural

Experiences

Christmas Christmas

trees Dogsledding

Winter Experiences

Wildlife viewing

Air safaris

Ice boating Ice sculptures Ice diving

Birdwatching Photography Nature interpretation

Hiking

Ballooning Flight training Flightseeing

Ice fishing Ice golf Ice hotel

Walking ATVing Bicycling

Abseiling ATVs

Float planes Fly-in charters Fly-in hiking,

canoeing, kayaking, rafting

Gliding, soaring

Ice slides Igloos Heli-skiing New Year’s

Eve

Mountain biking

Golf

Canoeing

Backpacking Backroads Biking

Hang gliding Helicopter

tours Heli hiking Heli

rafting Northern lights Skiing, cross-

country, downhill

Kayaking Scuba diving

Flightseeing, Fly-in charters

Bungee jumping

Camping Canoeing

Kite flying

Photography Cultural and historic tours

Arts and crafts

Canyoning Caving Four-wheel

drive tours Gem collecting

Agricultural Anthropology Antiques

Photography Snowmobiling

Gold panning Golf Horse riding

Archaeology Art, artists Architecture

RANGE OF POSSIBLE RESOURCE-BASED TOURISM DIVERSIFICATION OPPORTUNITIES

In Figure 5.2, we have developed a more complete long-list of the extensive range of possible products and package opportunities that resource-based tourist operators could consider in the process of diversifying into new market segments. The possibilities are really only limited by your imagination. The following is essentially a long list of possibilities that operators may wish to consider.

Figure 5.2: Long List of Possible Diversification Opportunities By Category

Ice climbing

Beer & wine Churches Collecting

Nature Appreciation

Land Adventures

Cooking Crafts Disabled tours Educational

Water Adventures Air Adventures

Farmstays Festivals First Nations

Cultural Experiences

Winter Experiences

Astronomy Birdwatching

Bird migration Bird nesting Bears

Boats and motors

Biology Botany Butterflies

Canoeing Cruises on

rivers, canals, lakes

Fishing

Conservation areas

Ecology Environmental

education Fall foliage

Fly fishing Great Lakes

cruises Kayaking Houseboating

Forests Forest canopy Geology

Islands Jet boating Lighthouses

Marine biology

Paddle making Personal

watercraft

Gardens Geneology



Nature Appreciation

Land Adventures

Multi-sports Orienteering Outdoor skills Railway tours

As resource-based tourist operators seek to diversify into new opportunities, the long list above is a possible starting point to assess activities, experiences and packages to offer visitors. Of course, there are endless combinations of activities that can be included in specific packages developed. Different regions across Ontario each have their own character which forms the backdrop for any new products which may be developed, so operators should ensure the products they develop suit their own region.

Water Adventures Air Adventures

Road tours Rock climbing Survival

Cultural Experiences

Winter Experiences

Trails Trans-Canada

Trail Trekking

Mammals, big and small

Photography Pioneer skills Pottery

Moose Medicinal

plants Mushrooms National Parks

Shore excursions

Sailing Sea kayaking Scuba

Retreats Shamanism Shopping Spirituality

Nature reserves

Natural history Old growth

forests

Shipwrecks Shore lunch Snorkelling

Theatre Weddings Women’s tours

Photography Polar bears Provincial

Parks Research trips

Submarine Surfing Swimming Underwater

viewing

Yoga

Videography Waterfalls Wetlands,

bogs

Waterskiing Whitewater

canoeing, kayaking, rafting Windsurfing

Kayaking

Winter tracking

Many more opportunities can be listed in addition to those listed above. For example, craft activities may include basket weaving, quilting, and willow chair making, and craft tours may include visits to First Nations artisans, or to rural communities that preserve traditional crafts from blacksmithing to soap-making. Many activities may be combined from any of the six major categories to develop a unique tour that encompasses the natural and cultural heritage of the immediate area in which a lodge or camp is located.

Walking

Ghost towns Gourmet,

gastronomy Health, fitness

Paragliding Skating Ski jumps Snowboarding

Parasailing

Snow castles Snow

sculptures Snowmen Snowmobiling

Sleigh rides

Historic houses

History tours Hockey Holistic health Military history Mine tours Museums

Snowshoeing Snow shelters Tobogganing

Music, dance Mystery tours Myths, legends

Wilderness skills

Wilderness medicine

Wildflowers Wildlife

viewing Zoology



SHORT-LIST OF OPPORTUNITIES TO CONSIDER

Resource-based tourist operators may wish to consider any of the preceding possible activities to enhance their business. To assist in the process of diversifying, we have short-listed the following product and packaging opportunities which appear to be suited to the resource-based tourism infrastructure and resources available in Ontario. Suggestions on how to develop these products are outlined in the remaining four chapters of this document.

Figure 5.3: Short-List of Opportunities for Further Consideration

Category Opportunities

Nature Appreciation

1. Wildlife Viewing 2. Bird Watching 3. Old Growth Forest/Forest Canopy Tours 4. Wetlands Interpretation Tours 5. Marine Life Interpretation Packages 6. Astronomy/Star Gazing Packages 7. Rockhounding Products/Packages

Outdoor Adventure 1. Bicycling/Mountain Biking Tours 2. Walking/Hiking/Trekking Packages 3. Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction/Guided

Excursions 4. Orienteering/Survival and Outdoor Skills Programs 5. Tour Boat Cruises of Lakes and Rivers 6. Guided ATV Tours/Excursions 7. Rock and Ice Climbing Products/Packages

Cultural Heritage 1. General Cultural Heritage Packages 2. First Nations Cultural Heritage 3. Railway Heritage Tours 4. Forestry and Mining History 5. Arts and Crafts Workshops

Winter 1. Snowmobile Safari Tours 2. Lodge-to-Lodge Cross Country Ski Expeditions 3. Winter Getaway Packages


Ontario Resource-Based Tourism Diversification Opportunities Study – Product Development Opportunities for Resource-Based Operators PLANNING FOR TRAIL SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT

Hiking trails are an excellent and relatively inexpensive way for operators to provide added value for guests and to showcase features within a property. Their design and layout needs to be carefully thought out. The following are suggestions for several different types of trails including wilderness hiking trails, backcountry hiking trails, and interpretive walking trails. In most cases, trail systems extend well beyond individual properties and require permits where developed on Crown land or rights-of-way on private property. There are typically broader partnership initiatives involving a range of public and private sector stakeholders in each area. As trail systems can facilitate a wide variety of outdoor activities, these guidelines are presented for general reference.

Construction and use of trails, whether on private or public lands, is associated with some degree of risk, which leads to liability and insurance issues. Operators should consult with qualified lawyers and insurance professionals to address these issues early on in the development process and certainly prior to any marketing initiatives or actual operations of new trails, trail systems, or trails related packages.

Wilderness hiking trails. Wilderness hiking trails should provide a trail experience that is as remote as possible from the signs and influences of civilization. Wilderness trails should be located where only natural landscapes are visible.

• There should be no views of towns, resorts, roads, railways, transmission lines, mining or logging operations, etc. It will also be desirable if the sounds of civilization can be avoided.

• Areas adjacent to trails should be left in as natural a condition as possible; the only observable objects close at hand which do not reflect wilderness should be the trail itself, its markings and the occasional complementary structure, such as a simple bridge or an emergency shelter.

The trail should be as narrow as possible (only as wide as required to allow for the clear passage of hikers and their packs). The tread surface should consist of the existing soil and overlying organic material, with additional material being used only where necessary to fill wet spots in



the tread. Natural materials (rock, corduroy and gravel) found along the trail should be used. Signage should be minimal.

Backcountry hiking trails. Backcountry hiking trails are meant to provide enjoyable trail experiences in natural environmental settings. The basic values are the same as those for wilderness hiking trails but requirements for remoteness from signs of civilization are not as strict. Views of towns, villages, resource developments, etc., are not desirable, but they do not have to be completely avoided.

• The trail width should again be as narrow as possible and the tread surface should consist of existing soils and organic material, with extra material used only where necessary to improve wet trail sections.

• It may be suitable in some situations to utilize abandoned logging roads, fire access roads, etc., whereas in the case of wilderness trails this would be unacceptable.

• As with wilderness hiking trails there should be no intensive development on backcountry hiking trails, i.e. no designated picnic areas, no viewing platforms, towers, etc.



Figure 5.4: Trail Design Cross-Sections

Interpretive foot trails. Interpretive trails provide visitors with opportunities to enjoy and to gain an understanding of environments of natural or cultural interest. Generally, the most effective approach to interpretation is one which describes relationships between elements of the environment rather than one that merely identifies elements.

• Trails may be developed on a theme basis with each trail playing a particular role in an overall interpretive program. Themes may focus



on different aspects of the environment: one trail on wildlife, another on plant life, another on man’s effect on the environment, etc.

• Other trails may represent various ecosystems. This may be done on either a large or small scale: a trail may illustrate pond life or forest succession, or it may deal with the interpretation of complete biophysical units or patterns of units e.g. lowlands, uplands, alpine zones, etc.

• Interpretive trails are often most successful if they incorporate key features or focal points. These create an initial impression of the trail which provides visitors with a point of reference and stimulates curiosity and interest.

• Planning of self-interpreting trails should include careful selection of media to ensure that the interpretive potential of the trail area is fully utilized.

The following types of media are often used, singly or in combination, to relay interpretive messages to trail users:

• Leaflet and marker – printed guides supplied at trail entrances or other locations with station descriptions coded to markers along the route.

• Signs – the interpretative story appears on fixed signs at selected stations along the route.

• Exhibits – three dimensional displays, carefully designed to present complex messages clearly and concisely.

• Audio cassette – stations equipped with individual audio devices that are activated by the visitor, or the visitor can be provided with a walkman player.

Effective communication of information. It should be kept in mind that the main portion of information communicated to the visitor comes from the environment itself. The success of this communication is largely dependent on the skill with which the trail route is arranged, i.e. the viewing positions and the sequence of experiences that are provided. Such things should be considered before it is decided how much additional communication and what type of technical medium will be required. Textual material provided should meet the following requirements:



• Material should be presented in a way that will stimulate the interest of the visitor.

• Messages presented at separate stations should be individually comprehensive but at the same time should be consistent with the overall interpretive theme.

• Material at separate stations should not be duplicated but may reinforce ideas previously introduced.

• Material at separate stations should identify and relate to one or more features.

• Material should be accurate, care should be given to correct spelling and punctuation, and technical jargon and clichés should be avoided.

Physical development of trails. Selective clearing is carried out to open up views and to reinforce the interpretive theme. It should be done sparingly and should try to capitalize on dramatic vistas and panoramic view sheds.

Figure 5.5: Setting for Interpretive Trail

Source: Commonwealth Historic Resource Management Ltd.

The settings for interpretive nature trails should be as natural as possible. Contacts with the sights and sounds of ‘civilization‘ should be minimal. The routes should avoid crossing roads, railways, transmission line corridors, as well as areas of human habitation and resource development (except for purposes of interpretation of cultural features).



• Interpretive nature trails should not be combined with other trail uses, e.g. they should not be used to provide access to other types of trails and they should not be used by bicycle or equestrian traffic.

• The possibilities of developing some interpretive trails for both summer and winter use should be considered.

• Layout design should take into account that different aspects of the environment are suitable for interpretation in different seasons.

• Routing can be altered where necessary to meet requirements of different modes of travel (skiing vs. walking, etc.) or to avoid situations where damage might occur as a result of winter use, (e.g. compaction of snow may damage vegetation by increasing the depth of frost penetration).

• Since interpretive trails will have to accommodate a wide range of user abilities a high standard of design will be required in terms of ease, comfort and safety of use.

• Standards can be relaxed for tributary trails developed for more rugged types of users.

Form of trail layout. For self-interpreting trails the loop form of layout is most suitable. Spurs and satellite loops can provide additional variety. Spurs can be used to give access to features of special interest, particularly where these are sensitive and might be jeopardized if located on the main trail section.

• Interpretive trails should be curvilinear: long straight trail sections should be avoided. An alignment that twists and curves provides more surprise and increases the visitors’ right-of-way clearing.

• Vegetation should be cleared to a height of 2.5 m above the tread.

• Planners should be aware that great potential exists for creating interest through manipulation of space.

There are five basic types of spaces common to trail situations:

• Dark forest spaces where the trail is completely enclosed by vegetation or landforms



Figure 5.6: Trail Under Forest Canopy

• Spaces where there is a solid canopy of branches and leaves overhead but there are side views

• Spaces where the sky is in view but the sides are closed off by vegetation or landform

• Spaces where the sky is in view and one side is open to view

• Spaces that are completely open and exposed to sun and wind.

Tread surfacing. For interpretive nature trails it is particularly important that surfacing materials be environmentally compatible. On lightly used trails special surfacing will not be required if soil conditions are sufficiently resistant to erosion. Where use is heavier or soil conditions are not suitable, various surfacing materials can be used.

• Woodchips or wood shreds, where ecologically compatible, are well suited for interpretive nature trails. They are quiet to walk on, have a natural appearance and clearly delineate trail edges.

• Trails that will receive heavy use or that will be used by vehicles will require gravel or asphalt surfacing. If asphalt is used a topping of stone chips should be applied to give it a more natural appearance.

• Boardwalks are ideal in areas subject to flooding or where trail-side trampling must be prevented.

Structures. Interpretive trail structures should provide a high degree of utility and user safety. Bridges should be wide enough to allow for easy passing, especially where people may stop to enjoy scenery or to view



interpretive features. On boardwalks it may be desirable to provide additional deck area where features are to be viewed.

Figure 5.7: Boardwalks and Minor Bridges

Railings may not be needed on minor bridges or on boardwalks where the water is shallow, but they should be included wherever there is significant hazard.

Vegetation. Vegetation should be cleared only to the degree necessary to provide for safe and unimpaired movement along the trail. Shrubs and



small trees that will grow quickly into the right-of-way should be removed.

• On narrow trails branches that may droop and block the rights-of-way, when weighed down by rain or snow, should be cleared back.

• On wider trails this is of less concern because there is more room for users to make their way between branches.

• Low growing shrubs and ground cover plants should be left right up to the edges of the tread.

Interpretive opportunities. An important part of trail interest comes from gaining an understanding of one’s environment (including, where appropriate, the effects of human activity). This understanding can be provided formally or informally, but it is an important consideration in the planning of all trails.

On formal interpretive trails the sequence of interpretive features is carefully planned, and a considerable amount of information is provided through various means (tour leaders, brochures, lectures, films, signs, displays, tapes, etc.). On other trails, where interpretation is not the main purpose, less elaborate effort will be required but a few basic principles should still be followed:

• The trail should provide enough variety to give an overall appreciation of the area through which it passes.

• Where possible there should be large scale vistas which show the form of the landscape and provide opportunities for understanding the processes that shaped it.

• There should be short range views where the attention is focused more on the details of the landscape (features of natural, cultural or historic interest).

• A variety of landscape conditions, e.g. lowland areas, upland areas etc., should be revealed.

• Interpretive information can be presented in a low key manner. Trails may be named after a theme that they emphasize.

• Brief sections of interpretive information can be included in trail brochures or on information signs at trail access points.



Figure 5.8: Trail Plan and Site Features

Variety of Views – Plan and illustrations of a sequence of views as one traverses a trail.



Trail signs and markers. The functions of trail signs and markers should be to:

• Identify trail access points (at trailheads and at trail junctions), for example, by using a Roadside Trail Marker, as shown in Figure 5.9.

• Identify the type of trail, e.g. hiking (overnight, day-use), interpretive, bicycle, etc. (at trailheads, and at trail junctions)

• Indicate the destination of the trail, the length of the trail, the form of layout (linear, loop, etc.), and significant attractions, (e.g. a lake or waterfall)

• Indicate the level of expertise required on difficult trails where access is not supervised

• Identify any significant hazard situations and advise on suitable precautions on trails where access is not supervised, (e.g. alternative routes to be taken under adverse weather conditions)

• Guide users along the trail route. In many situations the worn path of the trail will be sufficient identification of the trail route.

For newly established trails temporary markers can be used until a path is worn. In locations where there may be confusion, such as at trail junctions and in places where the path does not show (rocky ground, infrequently used trails), directional signs or markers attached to posts should be used. Stone cairns can be used in rocky areas;

• Provide interpretive information on interpretive trails

• Identify regulations governing trail use, e.g. hiking only, no camping, no equestrian use, etc.

• The size and placement of signs is dependant on whether visitors are driving or walking.



Figure 5.9: Use of Roadside Trail Marker

Only as many signs and markers should be used and only as much information should be provided on signs as is necessary to ensure the convenience and safety of trail users.

On wilderness and backcountry trails where users are experienced, topographical maps and pamphlet information should be relied upon to a great extent. Signs and markers should be less necessary on these trails than for community and day-use type trails which are used by less experienced persons.

The overall layout of a signage package developed by Parks Canada is shown in Figure 5.10. This illustrates a sequence of signs leading from the road to specific campsites and activities within the property.



Figure 5.10: Trails Signage System Used by Parks Canada

Source: The information on trails and signing of interpretive trails is from the Parks Canada Trail Manual, and The Campground Manual.


6.1 - WILDLIFE VIEWING

WILDLIFE VIEWING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Wildlife viewing is a popular outdoor activity in the United States and in Canada, as well as other international markets. With the growing trend towards resource and habitat conservation and the population’s growing awareness of natural resource depletion, participation in wildlife viewing and learning about the natural environment is likely to increase substantially.

Currently, there are 108 million Americans participating in wildlife viewing activities (USDA, 2000).

Canadians also like to view wildlife with 4.4 million participating in this activity and 9 million participating in residential wildlife-related activities (Environment Canada, 1996).

Currently, 7% of visitors to Northern Ontario and 2.5% of visitors to Southern Ontario are participating in bird or wildlife viewing.

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Many of the demographics and comments made in the birding section will also apply to wildlife viewers, as many people participate in both these activities and often simultaneously.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Many existing resource-based operators in Ontario will be able to offer (some currently do) wildlife viewing as an additional year-round activity to complement their existing products. Numerous operators already have much of the infrastructure necessary (e.g. boats, 4x4s and outpost lodges). However, infrastructure is not an essential requirement for offering a wildlife viewing experience – all you really need is a resource.

Alternatively, operators in close proximity to key resources or wildlife locales will at certain times of the year be able to offer wildlife viewing as a key or primary product – these areas and seasons are discussed further on.

The product should focus on the natural resource base and the wildlife viewing opportunities in the immediate area.

Wildlife Viewing Page 6.1-1


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Wildlife viewing is usually integrated with other activities such as walking, hiking, paddling, boating and especially birding experiences.

Interpretation is the key to a wildlife viewing product, adding value to a customer's experience by explaining and educating aspects of animal behaviour and evolution. Interpretation could include not only habitat and fauna, but also culture and general ecology of an area.

A wildlife viewing package would typically include accommodations, some or all meals, transportation to key wildlife viewing areas and guided viewing activities.

Tours and packages linking different regions in Ontario could also be a strong product, especially if based around a theme (e.g. polar bears in the north and black bears in the south).

Winter wildlife viewing and tracking – winter wildlife tracking would involve guided treks (likely by snowshoe) to study animal tracks, signs and view wildlife (likely moose, deer and wolves).

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a wildlife viewing package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Black Bear Viewing Adventures

1 – 6 day packages Price range $300-600* per day Half-day trips Price range $120-170 per trip Concept

An all-inclusive package providing guided viewing of black bears in their natural habitat with a qualified guide.

Itinerary Day One Early breakfast and journey by boat/canoe/ATV/4x4 or foot to

the bear viewing locations View bear feeding sites and daybeds during the morning with

guide providing interpretation and answering questions related to the bears and their environment. Tracking and the making of plaster casts from animal prints Lunch back at the lodge or out in the field depending on the

distance travelled



Black Bear Viewing Adventures

Free time to take a nature walk around the lodge Early evening return to same or another bear viewing location Return to lodge for dinner After dinner interpretative talks on bears and other ecology

topics (e.g. geography of area and other local fauna and flora) Day Two Similar program as in day one but to a different site by a

different mode of transport Or the option to participate in a different activity or view

another type of mammal such as moose, caribou or beaver depending on the location.

Package Included Features Transportation from the nearest airport to and from the lodge

(e.g. 4x4 or float plane) Accommodation at the lodge, preferably private room with

bathroom and shower All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge Use of all lodge facilities while staying at the lodge (e.g.

canoes or bikes) Opportunity to participate in other lodge programs (e.g.

evening interpretation programs) Transportation to bear viewing sites Bear viewing equipment such as binoculars Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes are small (less than 10) to minimize the impact on

the bears. Some proceeds from the product go toward preservation of the

local environment or to local communities. The longer the duration of the package the more diversity of

activity is available for guests. * $600 per day would include floatplane access and luxury 4.5 to 5 star

accommodations with gourmet meals as well as staff such as biologists.



ONTARIO’S RESOURCES

Ontario has a rich diversity of habitats from the northern Hudson Bay lowlands to boreal forests, which contribute to its diversity of wildlife. Some of the key sites for wildlife viewing in Ontario are provincial parks (e.g. Woodland Caribou and Wabakimi) and wildlife sanctuaries, because of the established infrastructure and access. However, there are many other great locations throughout the province. The table below lists the locations of Ontario’s National Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Ontario’s National Wildlife Sanctuaries

• Big Creek – 773 hectares • Eleanor Island MBS – 0.6 hectares

• Long Point RS – 3,250 hectares

• Mississippi Lake MBS – 235 hectares

• Mohawk Island – 2 hectares • Prince Edward Point – 246 hectares

• Scotch Bonnet Island – 0.8 hectares

• St. Clair RS – 289 hectares

• Wellers Bay – 40 hectares • Wye Marsh – 47 hectares

Source: Canadian Wildlife Service



Ontario also has its own network of nature reserves that contain extensive wildlife viewing opportunities. While the above map focuses on the southern areas of the province, it is the northern regions that perhaps offer the best wildlife viewing opportunities, due to their immense size (i.e., lots of wilderness) and lack of population.

Other Key Wildlife Viewing Locations in Ontario

These include the following:

• Algonquin Provincial Park • Chapleau Game Preserve

• Woodland Caribou Provincial Park • Quetico Provincial Park

• Polar Bear Provincial Park • Wabakimi Provincial Park

• Lake Superior Shoreline • James Bay Coastline

• Hudson Bay Coastline • Pukaskwa National Park

Ontario Species of Special Interest

The Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) provides valuable information on many of Canada’s mammals. The table below contains a list of the mammals that present some of the best opportunities for wildlife viewing products. All of



these mammals are established in the province of Ontario; however, some are concentrated in certain regions only.

Key Mammals for Wildlife Viewing

Mammal Distribution & Habitat Caribou (Woodland)

Northern Ontario (north of Nipigon), mostly in small herds in (boreal) forests. Larger herds on Arctic tundra

Moose Throughout Ontario along the margins of half a million lakes, muskegs, and streams of the great boreal forest

Wolf Throughout Province, except south-western Ontario North American Elk

Some small pockets just to the east of Lake Superior

Polar Bear Hudson Bay shoreline & Akimiski Island Black Bear Throughout Ontario in heavily wooded areas and

dense bushland, best areas are mixed coniferous deciduous forests

Beluga Whales Hudson and James Bays Summer Moulting in Winisk–Severn estuary.

Source: Canadian Wildlife Service

Other mammals such as the wolverine, cougar, beaver, gray fox, and arctic fox could also be considered of value for wildlife viewing. Wildlife viewing is not confined to the summer months. In winter tracking mammals in the snow can be an exciting activity for clients. For example, although mammals like the lynx and cougar are rarely seen, their tracks can offer opportunities for interpretation and discussion.

The following maps illustrate where some of the key wildlife viewing species located in Ontario. Some species will present an opportunity for the majority of operators while other are confined to specific areas. Black bears, moose and wolves are widespread throughout Northern Ontario and of interest to wildlife viewers.



Location of the Woodland Caribou in Ontario

Location of the Polar Bear in Ontario



Location of the Gray Fox in Ontario

Location of the Eastern Cougar in Ontario



Location of the Wolverine in Ontario

In addition to natural resources, Ontario also has facilities that offer visitors the potential to view and learn about certain species. The Haliburton Wolf Research Centre is one such resource; it contains a 15-acre wolf compound, with a viewing room and educational displays (http://www.haliburtonforest.com/wolf.htm) and represents a good partnership opportunity for operators with wildlife viewing products.

Partnership Opportunities

There are numerous partnership opportunities that include not only private wildlife related associations but also government departments and educational institutions. The following is a partial list:

Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) – for species and habitat information on fauna in Canada. http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca

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Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources – for regional resource based information on Ontario.

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http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca

Royal Ontario Museum http://www.rom.on.ca - species at risk program ◆

Federation of Ontario Naturalists – information on nature reserves and lists of Ontario nature groups by region. http://www.ontarionature.org

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◆ Nature Conservancy Canada - Lists projects in Ontario (and Canada). http://www.natureconservancy.ca

Department of Zoology, University of Toronto. http://www.zoo.utoronto.ca

Canadian Nature Federation.

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http://www.cnf.ca

Audubon Society http://www.audubon.org/

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Operators should also consider partnering with other operators offering similar products in different regions (i.e. package as a tour) and those offering activities that would complement their wildlife viewing product, such as cultural interpretation, birding, hiking and kayaking/canoeing.

PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS

Facilities and Equipment

Wildlife viewing would require little in the way of investment initially as far as facilities and equipment are concerned. Many avid wildlife viewers would have their own binoculars ($100 - $300) and perhaps field guides ($25 - $50), although it would be appropriate to invest $800-$1,000 to have several of each on hand for guests who may wish to participate in these activities and have not brought or have forgotten their own.

Field Guides

Some of the more popular wildlife field guides are produced by:

1. The National Geographic Society

2. Peterson Field Guides

3. Audubon Society

Human Resources

Operators that have traditionally focused on hunting and fishing may already possess a substantial amount of knowledge on the wildlife within their region and province. However, they may lack the some of the necessary skills to effectively plan and conduct programs that will provide tourists with an



interactive and semi structured educational experience. The key area is interpretation.

Interpretation –adding value to the tourist product through effective and educational interpretation of not only the wildlife and their habitats, but also local culture and history.

Many of the wildlife associations have qualified professionals (e.g. biologists) that could help establish guidelines for interpretation and highlight some of the more useful elements to make a program informative and exciting.

Universities and other educational institutions with Zoology, Ornithology or Biology departments could also be potential partners. You could recruit students and/or faculty members in these programs as seasonal guides or simply to help establish an interpretative format/program.

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The Ecotourism Association of Australia (EAA) has been the only organization to effectively establish guidelines and accreditation criteria for ecoguides and ecotourism operations. Copies of their accreditation materials can be downloaded from their website at: http://www.ecotourism.org.au. Some resource-based operators are already knowledgeable about mammals and with a few good field guidebooks and some practice could provide guided wildlife viewing excursions themselves. Alternatively, they could recruit guides.

Standards/Guidelines

Watchable Wildlife Inc. has published a number of documents that provide guidance on wildlife viewing experiences. The following statement illustrates the type of positive experience that they are advocating:

The wildlife watcher slows down and quietly discovers a wild animal without altering the animal’s behaviour. As a result of this rewarding experience, the watcher gains a greater appreciation of the natural world. (Watchable Wildlife Inc.)

Also, from a management perspective the following statement describes how managers should seek to provide positive wildlife viewing experiences:

Wildlife watchers depart with a memorable, enjoyable and educational experience. The wildlife continues to feed, rest, nest and otherwise go about daily living without stress or interference with its ability to survive.



All wildlife viewing facilities minimize and concentrate impacts, the viewers come and go without altering the habitat. The local community and landowners see viewers as respectful and desirable visitors. Ultimately, managers hope to facilitate an experience that leads wildlife watchers to want to learn more, and to take informed action on behalf of wildlife and habitats. (Watchable Wildlife Inc.)

Other organizations such as The International Ecotourism Society (TIES), North American Nature Photography Association and Australian Ecotourism Association also provide valuable information to help operators establish sustainable parameters for wildlife viewing.

Also see Chapter 3 in this document for sustainable operational guidelines and standards.

MARKETING/PROMOTION AND PACKAGING

General marketing and promotion tips have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights wildlife viewing activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

◆ Operators need to increase the profile of wildlife viewing experiences in their promotional and marketing materials. They need to let the market know that they offer viewing experiences as an integral part of their operations.

◆ Make use of the Internet for providing cost effective and detailed information on your packages and programs. Could also look at the possibility of receiving bookings on-line.

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To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with wildlife and nature related sites.

Unique Selling Point

To make their product unique operators should focus on: their specific region/location, incorporating activities (birding, hiking, canoeing etc), interpretation, using knowledgeable local guides, particular species and their area’s history and culture.



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Operators should make it easy for visitors to plan their trip around the viewing experiences. Some provinces and regions (operators could also provide something like this) have done an excellent job of promoting their wildlife resources and also making it easy for visitors to plan their trip around wildlife viewing experiences. A wildlife viewing chart could be developed to illustrate the diversity of wildlife in the region and the best times to see them, which helps visitors plan their trip around wildlife viewing.

Package products with other operators to offer visitors/clients more diversity and the ability to combine activities in different regions (i.e. form a tour).

Theming of package products is also a great idea and increases their marketability. Theming also helps establish the position of the product in the marketplace by differentiating it from others.

Wildlife viewing will be the core experience and other associated activities will be options to broaden the package’s appeal.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in wildlife publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

Certainly the U.S. market offers the best prospect in terms of customers willing to pay $100-$200 or more per person per day for a quality wildlife viewing experience in a wilderness area.

The American market contains 108 million people that participate in wildlife viewing activities.

Target markets would include Ontario’s traditional key rubber tire markets, which include the Border States such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

Also, many of the mid and southern states hold potential, as these areas no longer contain enough habitat for some of the larger mammals that thrive in Ontario.



◆ Europe, although a more difficult market to tap into, should not be overlooked. It is a potentially large market with a keen interest in wildlife and wilderness experiences, given the densely populated nature of most European countries. Key countries include: UK, France, Germany and Italy. Bears and wolves are very popular species of interest to this market.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Establish a wildlife inventory through the agencies listed earlier – both government and non-government.

2. Determine how the wildlife viewing product can complement or be adapted into your existing product range. For example, changing the focus of a fishing trip via boat to focus mainly on wildlife viewing of waterfowl and shoreline mammals like moose.

3. Employ local guides where possible as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Quality guides and staff are key to business success.

4. Establish guidelines for staff and parameters of operation for the wildlife viewing products to ensure it is educational, sustainable, authentic and entertaining. Be prepared to adapt your program to cater to different audiences.

5. Promote your unique selling proposition, a particular natural feature, type of habitat, type of wildlife or unique local history.

6. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet to provide 24-hour access to company and product information, perhaps even on-line reservations. Reduce printing costs by having a downloadable (PDF) brochure on your website.

7. Partner with other operators to promote your region or type of product. Also consider other partnership opportunities with other service providers.

8. Package your product to help diversify your offerings, by providing various combinations of wildlife viewing and other visitor activities.



Wildlife Viewing Appendix

Canadian Wildlife Service – Ontario Region

Wildlife Viewing Appendix Page A6.1-1

6.2 – BIRD WATCHING

BIRDING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Birding is a large and growing market. Participation in the U.S. grew rapidly from 21.2 million in 1982-83 to 54 million in 1994-95, an increase of 155.2%. Estimates for the year 2000 showed a further 50% increase to 81 million, indicating that this form of activity continues to grow rapidly. Statistics from the American Birding Association (ABA), shown in Figures 6.2.1 and 6.2.2 indicate that birders are generally over 30 years of age, married, well-educated and with moderate to high incomes. This association has a particularly strong base of membership in Texas and the members spend considerable time each year and travel extensively to participate in birding activities.

Table 6.2.1: Demographic Characteristics of ABA Members.

Characteristics Percent Age Less than 31 years 31 - 45 years 46 - 55 years 56 - 65 years 66 - 75 years 76 years or older Marital Status Married Single Widow(er) Divorced or Separated Level of Education Didn’t graduate from High School High school graduate Some college A degree from a 2-year college College graduate Graduate or advanced degree

2.5 26.5 29.5 19.8 17.6 4.2

69.6 15.1 6.2 9.1

0.5 4.0

12.4 6.2

34.4 42.5

Bird Watching Page 6.2-1


Figure 6.2.1: Demographic Characteristics of ABA Members (cont'd.)

Characteristics Percent Annual Household Income Less than $20,000 $20,000 to $39,999 $40,000 to $59,999 $60,000 to $79,999 $80,000 to $99,999 $100,000 or more Place of Residence Texas Outside of Texas

2.8

19.8 23.6 16.6 10.1 27.1

51.0 49.0

Figure 6.2.2: Birding Behavior During the Past Year by ABA Members

Survey Item Percent How many trips have you taken that included birdwatching in the past year?

0 - 10 11 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 or more

36.4 18.6 18.8 6.4

19.9

How many days have you spent on birding trips in the past year?

0 - 20 21 - 40 41 - 60 61 - 80 81 or more

33.3 27.2 17.4 6.1

15.9

How many different birds have you identified in the past year?

1 - 100 101 - 200 201 - 300 301 - 400 401 or more

14.6 21.6 25.6 17.1 21.0



Figure 6.2.2: Birding Behavior During the Past Year by ABA Members (cont'd.)

Survey Item Percent How many miles have you traveled to go birdwatching in the past year?

0 - 2,500 2,501 - 5,000 5,001 - 7,500 7,501 - 10,000 10,001 or more

41.1 22.3 9.4

10.2 17.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Bird-watching can be offered as an additional activity year-round by many existing resource-based operators in Ontario, who already have much of the infrastructure necessary (e.g. boats, 4x4s and outpost lodges). However, all you really need are birds and a guide to make this activity a reality.

Alternatively, in certain key birding areas (such as those listed below) and in certain seasons, especially the spring and fall for migratory birds, birding could be a primary nature/ecotourism product for operators.

The actual product focuses on the resource base and the birding opportunities in the immediate area.

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The birding experience is often integrated with other activities such as walks, hikes, boat rides, and other wildlife viewing experiences.

Interpretation often extends beyond birding to include various aspects of the local environment, habitats, ecology and local cultures and history.

Typically a birding package would include accommodations, some or all meals, transportation by vehicle and/or boat to key birding locales and guided bird-watching activities.

Winter birding – depending on location there are a number of species that provide good viewing opportunities through the winter months including: owls, northern finches, woodpeckers and grouse. This product would involve guided treks (by snowshoe) to view birds.



◆ The following example provides an illustration of the components of a bird watching package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Bird Watching

1 – 6 day packages Price range $150-300* per day Half-day trips Price range $100-170 per trip Concept

An all-inclusive package providing guided bird watching and interpretation tours with a qualified guide. Often birding packages are based around birding migration patterns and times of the day when they are most active.

Itinerary

Day One Early breakfast and journey by boat/canoe/ATV/4x4 or foot to

bird watching locations Observe birds during the morning, with the guide providing

interpretation and answering questions related to the birds spotted and the surrounding environment The schedule is flexible depending on the birding activity in a

location Lunch is back at the lodge or out in the field, depending on the

distance travelled Guests have free time to take a nature walk around the lodge or if

in the field visit local historical sites The afternoon includes more bird watching at a different location,

with the opportunity to see different species Return to lodge for dinner After dinner interpretative talks on birds and the local

environment, as well as discussion on the day’s sightings and prospects for tomorrow.

Day Two Similar program as on Day One but at a different site by a

different mode of transport Guests have the option to participate in a different activity or

view mammals such as moose, bear, caribou or beaver



Bird Watching

Package Included Features Transportation from the nearest airport to and from the lodge

(e.g. 4x4 or float plane) Accommodation at the lodge, private room with bathroom and

shower, although many birding packages do have shared accommodation with a single supplement. All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge Use of all lodge facilities while staying at the lodge (e.g. canoes

or bikes) Opportunity to participate in other lodge programs (e.g. evening

interpretative programs) Transportation to birding sites Viewing equipment such as binoculars, a checklist with all the

local species and birding books identifying ranges and habitats etc. Any applicable taxes and user fees


the wildlife/birds Some proceeds go towards preservation of the local environment

and to local communities The longer the duration of the package the more birding sites and

species needed, as well as other supplementary activities * Higher price points are achieved with a higher standard of

accommodations, meals and service.


Ontario has a rich birding resource that includes some 473 species that have been officially recorded in the province. Ontario’s premier birding attraction is Point Pelee National Park on Lake Erie, rated as the fifth best birding spot in North America. Point Pelee is one of only four Canadian sites in the top 50 birding sites worldwide.



• Rondeau Provincial Park • Durham Region

• Niagara Falls • Hamilton area

While some of the best birding in the province occurs in Southern Ontario, the extensive accessible wilderness in Northern Ontario (e.g. Lake of the Woods) also offers many unique birding experiences and species. You will need to research your local area and develop your own bird list (your guests can actively help with this). An excellent starting point are the birding guides by geographic region listed on the Royal Ontario Museum’s website (see the useful resources list). On the following few pages we have listed some of the most significant birding areas across the province and included maps of several significant species.

Other Top birding Spots in Ontario

• Presqu’ile Provincial Park • Long Point

• Toronto and Local areas • Peterborough area

• Owen Sound • Windsor

• Kingston area • Sarnia

• Ottawa area • Algonquin Provincial Park

• James Bay

Ontario Birds of Special Interest

These include the White-rumped Sandpiper, American Woodcock, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Canada Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Mourning Warbler.

Ontario’s Important Birding Areas (IBA)

In addition to the sites mentioned above there is also an Important Bird Areas (IBA) program under Audubon in which sites that are exceptionally important for birds for some period during the year. These truly outstanding sites are of significance nationally or internationally.



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Conservation plans are currently being developed for 19 IBAs in Ontario for 2001. These plans are community-based and developed through consultation with local stakeholders, interest groups and First Nations. These are directed by local steering committees who play a key role in the implementation of each IBA.

The five sites listed below are considered highly complex IBAs, which means they have a mix of ownership and/or the bird and habitat. They are:

Lake St. Clair wetlands (St. Clair River delta and eastern coastal zone, near Wallaceburg)

Port Franks–Pinery woodlands (about 10 km south of Grand Bend in Lambton County)

Carden Plain (about 30 km east of Orillia, in Victoria County)

Presqu’ile Provincial Park (just south of Brighton)

Niagara River (between Lakes Ontario and Erie).

There are also an additional 13 other less complex sites, which generally have only one or few landowners and less complicated biological or social issues. These sites are:

Prince Edward Point and shoreline (between Prince Edward Point and Point Petre in Prince Edward County)

Port Colborne tern colony (mouth of Welland Canal, Port Colborne)

Rondeau Bay and peninsula (Rondeau Provincial Park, 10 km southeast of Blenheim)

Holiday Beach and Big Creek wetlands (10 km southwest of Amherstburg, Essex County)

Cabot Head (northeast tip of Bruce Peninsula)

Luther Marsh (10 km northeast of Arthur)

Tiny Marsh (northwest of Elmvale)

Matchedash Bay (just northwest of Coldwater)



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Other industries such as forestry could also offer potential partnership programs based on forest ecology and animal habitats.

Other useful resources include:

Wye Marsh (5 km southeast of Midland)

Spring Bay, Manitoulin Island (southeastern Manitoulin Island)

Sable Island and Windy Point (Rainy River, Lake of the Woods)

Three Sisters Islands (off Bigsby Island, Lake of the Woods)

Leslie Street Spit/Tommy Thompson Park (Toronto)

The entire James Bay coastal zone is also being considered as one IBA.


There are currently numerous birding festivals and events in Ontario that operators could potentially partner with to enhance their product and gain further exposure to the birding market. Some examples include the following:

Presqu’ile Waterfowl Festival Presqu’ile Provincial Park March 25-26 and April 1-2, 2000 Contact: (613) 475-4324 or visit www.friendsofpresquile.on.ca

St. Clair Waterbird Festival Mitchell’s Bay, Lake St. Clair April 1, 2000 Contact: Janet Jones, Tourism Coordinator, Chatham-Kent, (519) 354-6125

Pelee Festival of Birds Point Pelee National Park April 29-May 31, 2000 Contact: Friends of Point Pelee at (519) 326-6173

In addition to events and festivals operators should take the opportunity to partner with educational and other types of institutions such as universities and museums. The Zoology department at the University of Toronto manage the Toronto and Southern Ontario BIRDboard.



Birding • Birding Hot Spots • www.camacdonald.com/birding • Top Birding location in

Ontario

http://www.audubon.org/

• http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca/pelee/

• Bird Studies Canada • http://www.bsc-eoc.org/bscmain.html • Ontario Birding

Homepage • www.web-nat.com/bic/ont/index.html

• Ontario Bird links on the Web

• www.ntic.qc.ca/~nellus/link_can.html#caon

• Butterfly watching in Ontario

• www.web-nat.com/Butterfly/

• Ontario Field Ornithologists

• www.interlog.com/~ofo/home.html

• Birds Ontario • http://www.birdsontario.org/ • Royal Ontario

Museum, Birding Guides

• http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/fieldguides.html

• Ontario Provincial Parks

• http://www.web-nat.com/bic/ont/provpks.html

U.S • American Birding

Association • http://www.americanbirding.org

• Bird Source (Audubon & Cornell)

• http://birdsource.cornell.edu/

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology, U.S

• http://birds.cornell.edu/

• Victor Emanuel Nature Tours

• http://www.ventbird.com

• Minnesota Ornithologists' Union

• http://biosci.cbs.umn.edu/~mou/mou.html

• Audubon Society •



Birding Trails

Theming of Ontario’s birding resources to create birding trails is a concept that has worked well in other areas. Texas, one of the world’s premier birding destinations was the first in 1996 to create a formal trail, “The Texas Coastal Birding Trail” (see photo), which now covers more than 500 miles and has over 300 sites. The trail has also helped local communities identify the value of nature and the environment.

Saskatchewan, through the Wetland Conservation Corporation is the first province in Canada to begin establishing a similar concept. These trails have been identified as catalysts for regional education, conservation and ecotourism opportunities.

Knowledge-Based Resources

Operators should also work closely with Environment Canada (Canadian Wildlife Service) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources both of which have substantial resources relating to birds and wildlife in Ontario. Environment Canada has a list of all Migratory Bird Sanctuaries in Canada including 10 in Ontario.

In Figure 6.2.3 we have shown a series of maps of where several unique species are located in Ontario.



Figure 6.2.3: Location of Unique Bird Species in Ontario

Location of the American White Pelican in Ontario

Location of the Bald Eagle in Ontario



Location of the Eskimo Curlew in Ontario

Location of the Great Grey Owl in Ontario



Location of the Kirtland's Warbler in Ontario

Location of the Loggerhead Shrike in Ontario



Location of the Peregrine Falcon in Ontario

Location of the Piping Plover in Ontario

Up and coming events that could of interest to those wishing to offer birding experiences include the following workshops for birders:

Institute for Field Ornithology (American Birding Association) ◆

Fall Warblers – Aug 26 – Sept 1, 2002, Leamington, Ontario.

Promoting Ontario’s Birding Resources

Ontario needs to make its birding product and resources more readily available to those visitors that are interested in birding opportunities. For example the Northwest Angle & Islands Chamber of Commerce in the US



portion of Lake of the Woods strongly promotes its birding resources. The area is estimated to contain more than 15% of the American White pelicans in this hemisphere, as well as 275 other species. While the majority of the Lake is in Canada, the Canadian focus to date has mainly been on family recreation and fishing.


Facilities & Equipment

Birding requires very little investment as far as facilities and equipment are concerned, as most birders would have their own binoculars ($100 - $300), field guides ($25 - $50) and range maps, although it would be appropriate to invest $800-$1,000 to have several of each on hand for guests who may wish to participate in these activities and have not brought their own.

Field Guides

Three of the best guides currently available are:

1. Field Guide to the Birds of North America, by the National Geographic Society,

2. Birds of North America, by the Golden Guide series

3. The Peterson Guides.

Range Maps

Range maps tell a birder if that bird is found in the area. This is extremely helpful if you are trying to eliminate similar appearing species. Range maps also tell you when species are in the area. Some birds are year round residents, some are found in areas only in the summer or winter, some pass though during migration, and some accidentally wander in for short periods of time.



Human Resources

Some resource-based operators are already knowledgeable about birds and with a few good field guidebooks and with some practice could provide guided birding excursions themselves. Alternatively, you could recruit guides.

◆ Operators could likely partner with birding associations who may have enthusiasts that would like to offer their services as part or full-time guides.

◆ Ontario Field Ornithologists are one such association that could provide valuable information and contacts for birding guides.

◆ Universities and other education institutions with zoological, ornithological or biological departments could also be potential partners where you could recruit students and/or faculty in these programs as seasonal or part-time guides.


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The American Birding Association has a set of guidelines or ethics for birding

The North American Nature Photography Association also has a set of ethical field practices.

The Australia Ecoguide evaluation criteria also provide a useful guide as to the requirements of ecotourism type operators and their guides, as well as what is involved in components such as interpretation.

The Australian Ecotourism Association also provides a set of ecotourism guidelines for operation.

Also see Chapter 3 of this Product Development Guide for sustainable operational guidelines and standards.

MARKETING AND PROMOTION

General marketing and promotion suggestions have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a



good web site which highlights birding activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to birders through birding publications (e.g. Birding by ABA) and bird related websites.

Birders Journal, Canada http://www.birdersjournal.com Birder’s World, U.S www.birdersworld.com Birding, American Birding Association, U.S


Bird Watchers Digest, U.S http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com WildBird Magazine, U.S CA (714) 855-8822 Virtual Birder - Internet magazine http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/ Bird Observer, U.S (MASS, NE) http://massbird.org/birdobserver/ Wildlife Journal, U.S www.wildlifejournal.com

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effect method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with birding related sites.

3. Focus on the regional rubber tire market including Canada and the U.S. Border States, especially in the short term.

4. Over the longer term work towards targeting states further south (especially birding hotspots like Texas and Arizona) and the European market.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in birding publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

Certainly the U.S. market offers the best prospect in terms of customers willing to pay $100-$200 or more per person per day for a quality birding experience in a wilderness area.

The American market (81 million) contains a huge number of birding enthusiasts

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In addition, states such as Texas, which has one of North American’s strongest birding industries, would also hold potential as a long haul market.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area's birding resources, identifying the number of species, locating key sites and identifying behavioural patterns. There are a number of government and non-government organizations mentioned earlier that could provide assistance in this task.

2. Contact various Ontario-based and other North American birding (e.g. ABA) organizations to assess potential partnering opportunities.

3. Establish operational guidelines based on those used by other recognized birding, ecotourism or wildlife viewing organizations.

4. Contact local clubs and institutions involved in birding, zoology, and ornithology to assess potential guide resources.

5. Plan an activity or tour around your area’s birding resource, which may involve very little change to your existing product, especially if activities such as hiking are already offered.

6. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators, as well as organizations that may have some of the resources you need to establish an effective birding program.

7. In addition to taking on this type of guiding yourself, if you already have expertise or are interested in learning, you should employ local guides where possible, as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Quality guides and staff are key to business success.

8. Market your product as described earlier.


Bird Watching Page A6.2-1

Bird Watching Appendix

Ontario Birding - Homepage

Federation of Ontario Naturalists – Important Bird Areas

6.3 - OLD GROWTH FOREST / FOREST CANOPY TOURS

FOREST/OLD GROWTH TOURS MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

The forest/old growth tours and canopy tours with an interpretation product would be classified as ecotourism and appeal to a broad range of markets.

There are no specific figures for participation rates in forest tours. However, under the general heading of nature-based tourism or more specifically ecotourism, which implies more use of interpretation in the product, there is an indication of potential demand.

There are 189 million people in the U.S. who participate in biking, walking and hiking, the core modes of transport for forest and canopy tours.

The U.S. contains 163 million people interested in viewing and photographing.

149 million Americans participate in learning and viewing activities in the outdoors.

The potential in the Canadian market is also significant with nearly half (43%) of the population participating in outdoor activities in natural areas.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

The forestry tour in the majority of cases is not a stand alone or primary product for operators, but more a complementary activity to enhance their existing product range. The exception to this will be in areas where operators have access to an exceptional resource such as old growth forest (e.g., Temagami area old-growth).

The core product component should be a guided walking tour of a forested area, with a focus on ecology interpretation. Visitors should be immersed in a learning experience that encompasses not only forest ecology but also other elements of natural, cultural and historical interest within the area.

Old Growth Forest / Forest Canopy Tours Page 6.3-1


Depending on the length of the tour, the distances to points of interest and the type of customers, this type of tour could utilize a number of different modes of transport, thus creating a different experience with each:

Walking would likely be the primary mode of transport, but tours could also incorporate: mountain biking, boating and in the winter snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

Motorized modes of transport could also be used (e.g., ATV, 4x4 and snowmobile). However, as with other forms of ecotourism, forest tours are better suited to the non-motorized forms of transport.

The key component with this type of product would be the guiding and interpretation; this is also how an operator would create a unique and educational product, which appeals to the nature and ecotourism markets.

There are a number of possible components to forestry based tourism, which include the following:

The product would focus on the forestry resource in the immediate area.

An individual operator can distinguish their product by adding value through interpretation (explaining more about the surrounding environment) and by adding other activities such as wildlife viewing and birding.

These types of tour typically focus on a day product. However, depending on the resource and the other components incorporated into the package an operator could offer multi-day forest based experiences.

Canopy walkways (e.g., Haliburton) offer the potential for a truly unique and educational experience where visitors are able to see, touch and learn about the forest from up in the trees. This type of experience adds another dimension to the product and enhances its appeal.

Typically a forestry tour package would include a lunch, a guided tour and perhaps some other additional activities such as wildlife viewing, birding and biking. This product could also be expanded to include accommodations and all meals, especially if operators already have these facilities and services.

Self-guided product is also an option and would require some work to establish a route, signage and a guidebook/leaflet to enable visitors to



guide themselves through the forest environment. However, guided products give the operator more opportunity to make the product unique through interpretation, as well as create a higher yield product.

Route planning will be an important component of developing and continually enhancing this product. A number of different routes will enable operators to adjust and customize tours to a particular group. Consideration should be given to incorporating points of interest into the itinerary whether they are ecological, cultural or historical, as these form the basis for interpretation.

The forestry industry also offers partnership opportunity and gives operators the ability to expand their forest tours and other products by combining with industry tours that include:

• Pulp and paper

• Sawmills

• Working forests (sustainable logging)

These types of tours are offered by companies like Domtar, who also maintain a network of interpretative trails in and around their forestry sites.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of an old growth forest tour, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Old Growth Forest Tours

Day Price range $80 - 120 Half-day trips Price range $50 - 80 Concept

A day or half-day trek with a qualified guide through old growth or other type of forest that lends itself to interpretation. Guests learn about forest ecology and the flora and fauna that live in this habitat.

Itinerary Journey to the forest edge by land, water or air. Half-day trips are

conducted in both mornings and afternoons for 2 to 4 hours. Guide-narrated walks through the forest stopping at points of

interest to learn about forest ecology and other relevant heritage



Old Growth Forest Tours

features within the area. This program also includes elements of bird watching and

wildlife viewing depending on the site. Package Included Features Transportation to the forest All meals, snacks and beverages while in the forest (e.g. lunch for

the full-day package) Any applicable taxes and user fees


the environment and wildlife. Some proceeds go towards preservation of the forest and to local

communities.


There are four main forest regions in Ontario that all to varying degree offer potential for forestry related tours and within these regions there are differing types of tree species. This provides the opportunity to create unique (e.g., Carolinian forest unique to Ontario) and interesting products based on different geographic areas within these broad forest regions. The four regions are:

1. Boreal

2. Boreal Barrens

3. Great Lakes St. Lawrence

4. Carolinian



Source: Ontario Forest Association

1. Boreal Forest – is the most northerly and largest forest region in Ontario and Canada. It spans from Newfoundland and the Labrador coast to the Rocky Mountains and northwestward to Alaska. In Ontario it covers 43 million hectares. Characteristic tree species found in this region are White and Black Spruce, Balsam Fur, Poplars and White Birch.

2. Boreal Barrens – is a sub-division of the Boreal forest that stretches north to the southern shores of Hudson Bay. Common tree species found in this region are White and Black Spruce, Balsam Fir, Trembling Aspen, Balsam Poplar and White Birch.

3. Carolinian – is one of the smallest forest regions in Canada, occupying only 2 million hectares and is unique to Ontario. It lies at the south-eastern shore of Lake Huron and stretches along the northern shores of Lake Erie and Ontario. Characteristic tree species found in this region are Sassafras, Tulip Tree, Blue Ash, Oaks, Hickories, Black Walnut and Sycamore.

4. Great Lakes St. Lawrence – this region extends inland from the edges of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence river across central Ontario to Lake Huron and west of Lake Superior. It is the second largest forest region in Ontario, occupying 20 million hectares. This region is characterized by various tree species such as Eastern White Pine, Red pine, Eastern Hemlock, and White Cedar. It is also mixed with deciduous broad leafed species such as Yellow Birch, Sugar and Red Maples, Basswood, Red Oak, as well as smaller amounts of White and Black Spruce, Jack Pine, Aspen, and White Birch. (Source: Ontario Forest Association)



Each of these regions offers operators the opportunities to provide a different type of experience based on the forest resource.

Some of the other key areas/resources in Ontario include:

Temagami Island old-growth interpretive trail http://www.ancientforest.org/temagami.html

Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve Ltd – this forest has a canopy boardwalk 20 metres above the forest floor and over half a kilometer in length (the longest of its kind in the world). Haliburton was also Canada's first certified forest.

The town of Espanola has a large forestry industry and is the base for companies such as Domtar that offer extensive tourism-forestry products such as sawmill tours, interpretive trails and pulp and paper programs.

Ontario Forestry Research Centre and the Great Lakes Forestry Research Centre, Sault Ste. Marie.


Operators could partner with a number of industry and educational institutions to help establish their product. These organizations could be used as information sources to help assess product potential and resource requirements, and others could provide promotional or advertising mediums or partnership opportunities through website links.

Ontario Forest Industry Association

Lakehead University, Faculty of Forestry, Thunder Bay http://www.lakeheadu.ca/~forwww/forestry.html

University of Toronto, Faculty of Forestry http://www.forestry.utoronto.ca/

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca

Algoma Forest Coalition - Algoma Forest Tour is a week-long series of one day tours through the Algoma Forest, north of Sault Ste. Marie each summer.

Domtar – runs numerous forestry related tours from its two centers, one in Apple Hill and the other in Espanola.



Ontario Forest Association – provides two important forestry education programs for schools.



Generally, a guided forestry tour will require little in the way of facilities and infrastructure to establish. All an operator really needs is a resource and some knowledge that will enable them to provide an educational type of tour.

Field guides to help identify the various tree and plant species.

Some form of transportation vehicle maybe required depending on the distances and the location of the forest.

Human Resources

Guides

Guides should be knowledgeable about ecology and be able to interpret other elements such as wildlife and forestry practices for visitors.

Interpretation is a vital components, so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.

Guides may also require other skills such as cooking, depending on the type of lunch product offered.


See Chapter 3 for sustainable operational guidelines and standards.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the forestry tours available. Specific marketing initiatives could include:



1. Market your packages/products through publications that focus on wildlife and ecology such as National Geographic, Canadian Geographic and local/regional newspapers. Environmental and wilderness type societies and associations may also present options for partnering and advertising.

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effect method for reaching a large audience. Make your site more effective by establishing links and partnerships with other tourism based forestry products and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

3. Marketing to local, national and international forestry associations and organizations (e.g., Friends of the Forest), with a focus on bordering provinces and U.S. Border States.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in appropriate publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

With 149 million Americans participating in learning and viewing activities in the outdoors, the potential for forestry related tours is significant.

The ecotourism market as well as the general tourist will be interested in forestry type tours that help them understand more about the resource (interpretation) and how it is being used today (sustainable forestry).

The target markets would include Ontario’s traditional key rubber tire visitors, which include the Border States such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

The European markets show a very strong demand for nature and educational tours and programs.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area's forestry resources, including not only the actual trees but also the facilities available.



2. Contact the various forestry organizations to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product (see above partnerships section).

3. Plan out the trip itinerary around the area’s forestry resource or other related facilities, as well as the local natural, historic and cultural features. Partnering opportunities do not always have to relate to facilities and services in your region. Operators can partner with groups providers and associations further afield.

4. Look for opportunities to partner with existing providers such as Domtar, Haliburton Forest, as well as other lodges and outfitters that could form part of a circuit route with a forestry theme.




Old Growth Forest Appendix

Ministry of Natural Resources – Ontario Forests

Old Growth Forest / Forest Canopy Tours Page A6.3-1

6.4 - WETLANDS INTERPRETATION TOURS

WETLAND INTERPRETATION TOURS MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

There are no specific market characteristics on wetland tours, though this type of product would be classified as a viewing and learning activity in which 150 million Americans participate on an annual basis. Wetland tours are also very closely linked to birding activities, as many waterfowl and migratory birds use wetland environments.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

This product would focus on education with visitors learning about wetlands and their important role in the water filtration process (e.g. wetlands filter out sediment and pollution from the surrounding environment) and supporting large ecosystem of flora and fauna.

The key component of the tour would be the interpretation. Visitors would learn about:

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• The history of the local wetland visited

• Where wetlands are located

• Why wetlands are important: water quality, fish habitat, erosion and soil control, Biodiversity and flood control.

• The need to protect them from further human encroachment

The figure below illustrates some of the basic wetland characteristics and would be a useful starting point for interpretation.

Wetlands Interpretation Tours Page 6.4-1


Figure 6.4.1: The Wetland System

Source: Canada's Aquatic Environments, University of Guelph

The tour would likely be a half or full day excursion, though this would depend on the size of the wetland, its development as a viewing and interpretation site, the birding opportunities and the travel time to the wetland location. Adding other complimentary activities into the day would also increase the time frame and its appeal.

The tour would also incorporate other elements such as walking/hiking and possibly canoeing depending on the wetland site.

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Birding would also be an integral part of a wetlands tour, as wetlands are a key migratory and waterfowl habitat.

Incorporating other aspects of the local area (natural, cultural and historical features) into the wetland tour would also enhance the products appeal.

Typically a wetland tour package could include accommodations, all meals, a guided wetland tour and other complimentary activities such as birding, wildlife viewing and possibly adventure activities such as canoeing, biking and hiking.



◆ The following example provides an illustration of the components of a wetlands tour package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Wetlands Interpretation Tours


A day or half-day guided tour of a wetland habitat with extensive interpretation and the opportunity for wildlife and bird watching. This program also educates participants about the importance of wetlands and their role in maintaining the biodiversity within the region.

Itinerary Journey to the wetland by land, water or possibly air. Half-day

trips are conducted in both the morning and afternoon for 2 to 4 hours. This tour is conducted from the water in some form of flat-bottomed boat. Guide narrated tour of the wetland, stopping at points of interest

to learn about wetland ecology and their vital role in maintaining water quality, fish habitat and regional biodiversity. This product would also likely include waterfowl watching

(many wetlands are important migratory stopovers for birds) and possibly wildlife viewing.

Package Included Features Transportation to the wetland All meals, snacks and beverages while touring the wetland (e.g.

lunch for the full-day package) A wetland package/leaflet for participants to take home that

gives them an overview of the day’s activities Binoculars for waterfowl viewing Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes are small (less than 10) determined by the size of the

vessel used. Some proceeds from the package go toward wetland

conservation.




Ontario, because of it vast lake and river systems also has a large number of wetlands, some of which are of international significance. Ramsar is an international treaty that was initiated to help protect the world’s wetland areas.

There are currently 35 sites listed under the Ramsar treaty in Canada. Ontario contains 6 Ramsar wetland sites (the Maritimes contain the highest number with 8 sites). The following table contains highlights the sites and some of their key features:

Figure 6.4.2: Ontario Ramsar Site and Key Features

Ramsar Site Location Key features

Mer Bleue Conservation Area 10km from Ottawa • Boreal habitat usually found much further north

• 22 mammal species

Long Point 130km southwest of Toronto

• UNESCO (MAB) Biosphere Reserve

• Major resting and feeding areas for migratory water birds

St. Clair East shore of Lake St. Clair

• Important resting and feeding areas for migratory water birds

• 150,000 in the fall

Polar Bear Provincial Park south coast of Hudson Bay • Canada's second largest Ramsar site

• supports hundreds of thousands of swans, geese and ducks

Southern James Bay head of James Bay & eastern shore of Hannah Bay

• One of the two most important staging areas in northern North America for migratory, Arctic-breeding water birds

Point Pelee 30km south of Windsor • Internationally important as a major resting area for the migratory butterfly

Source: Ramsar http://www.ramsar.org




Wetland tours offer a number of opportunities to partner with other operators, associations and individuals:

Accommodations

Attractions (Natural, cultural and historic)

Restaurants/Cafés

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Other activity providers (e.g. birding, nature-based and adventure)

Educational institutions that have an ecology component

The following organisations can provide useful information on wetlands.

• Environment Canada • http://www.ec.gc.ca/ • The Wetlands Network • http://www.netcontrol.net/themat

a-b/bz32/ • Ramsar • http://www.ramsar.org • Canadian Wildlife Service

(CWS) • http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca

• Ducks Unlimited • http://www.ducks.org/ • Society of Wetland

Scientists • http://www.sws.org/

• University of Guelph • http://www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/wetlands/chintro.htm



Wetland tours do not require operators to purchase any specialized equipment or facilities. However, the degree of development (e.g. trails, signage and access) at a particular wetland site can play an important role in the delivery of the product.

It will enhance the experience if a small investment is made to obtain a few of pairs of binoculars that people could use to watch wildlife and birds at the site.

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In many cases a raised boardwalk may be required to prevent damage to the wetland and yet still allow viewing opportunities.

A vehicle may also be required to transport visitors to and from the site.

Human Resources

Guides

Guides should ideally have an interest in ecology and develop a knowledge of wetlands through some of the resources listed in the partnerships section.

Ideally guides should be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the wetland tours and other activities available. Specific marketing initiatives could include:

1. Market your packages/products to ecotourists and birders through some of the specific publications mentioned in the wildlife viewing and birding product sections.

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effect method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective, establish links and partnerships with wetland, ecology and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier and other in the wildlife-viewing and birding sections).

3. Marketing to local, national and international conservation, wildlife and birding associations and clubs, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.




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Target markets

America contains nearly 150 million people that participate in viewing and learning activities; this represents a huge potential market for wetland tours that provide an educational and learning experience.

Birding and wildlife viewing markets also represent a key target group for wetland tours because of the fauna content.


DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would entail assessing the wetland tour potential in the immediate area, not only those sites listed under Ramsar, but also other wetland areas.

2. Some research on wetlands would be required and this can be achieved through some of the organizations mentioned in the partnership section.

3. Use Environment Canada as a starting point for developing a contact list of other local or regional clubs and associations to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product. These organizations/clubs could be conservation, nature, birding or wildlife related.

4. Plan out a trip to the wetland location that would focus on interpretation (prepare a script) and viewing the landscape and birds/mammals. The tour should be flexible so it can be adapted to a number of different audiences from children to seniors.




Wetlands Appendix

Environment Canada – Sustaining Wetlands in the Great Lakes Basin

Wetlands Interpretation Tours Appendix Page A6.4-1

6.5 - MARINE LIFE INTERPRETATION PACKAGES

MARINE LIFE INTERPRETATION TOURS MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Millions of Americans and Canadians interact with the marine environment on a daily basis. Participation figures indicate that it is an important component in outdoor recreational activities:

134 million Americans enjoy swimming in North America’s lakes, rivers and oceans

Almost 90 million U.S. residents participate in boating, floating, and sailing activities.

Also, viewing/learning (149 million) and viewing/photographing (163 million) activities are very popular and represent potential markets for marine life interpretation tours.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

This product would focus on education and observation with visitors learning about and experiencing the marine environment.

The key component would be the interpretation. Visitors would learn about:

• Ontario’s many marine environments (e.g. the Arctic coastline and the Great Lakes)

• View and learn about fish and mammal species

• Learn about aquatic plant life

• The need to protect the marine environment

The product would likely be a half or full day excursion, depending on the size of the area covered, other viewing opportunities (e.g. non-marine wildlife) and the travel time to the location. Adding other complementary activities would also increase the time frame and its appeal.

Marine Life Interpretation Packages Page 6.5-1


The marine life interpretation could include either/both land and water based tours of a particular area/environment.

A land based product could incorporate walking/hiking and biking, while a water-based tour could utilize canoes, kayaks, sail boats or motorized boats.

Incorporating other aspects of the local area (natural, cultural and historical features) into the marine life product would also enhance the product’s appeal.

Typically a marine life package could include accommodations, meals, a guided marine tour, and other complementary activities such as birding, wildlife viewing and possibly adventure activities such as canoeing, biking and hiking.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a marine life interpretation package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Marine Life Interpretation


A day or half-day narrated tour of a lakeland or coastal habitat with interpretation of the aquatic environment and the opportunity for watching marine life, and birds. This tour is best conducted in motorized boats or sea kayaks, with the boat itself being an integral part of the experience.

Itinerary Journey to the body of water where the tour takes place by

either vehicle, boat or possibly air. Half-day trips are conducted in both mornings and afternoons for 1 to 3 hours. A narrated tour of the shoreline, stopping at points of interest

to learn about marine ecology. This program also includes bird watching and wildlife viewing

(e.g. James Bay – Beluga Whales and seals). Package Included Features Transportation to the tour boat



Marine Life Interpretation

All meals, snacks and beverages while on board the vessel (e.g. lunch for the full-day package) A wetland package/leaflet for participants to take home that

gives them an overview of the day’s activities Binoculars are available for bird and mammal watching Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes are determined primarily by the size of the vessel

used.


Ontario’s two most significant marine environments are the Great Lakes and Hudson/James Bay coastline. In additional to these locations Ontario has numerous other lakes and river systems that offer an excellent resource for marine life interpretation.

All of Ontario’s five National Parks are dominated by a marine environment and include:

National Park Key features Bruce Peninsula Rocky shoreline Georgian Bay Islands 30,000 islands Point Pelee Southernmost coastal area in

Canada Pukaskwa Spectacular Lake Superior

shoreline St. Lawrence Islands Numerous islands in the St.

Lawrence River Source: Parks Canada

Many of the Ontario’s provincial parks also have significant marine interpretation potential.



Species

The Great Lakes contain more than 60 species of fish, including walleye, pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass, lake and rainbow trout, muskellunge, salmon, whitefish, perch and lake sturgeon.

The arctic coastline of Hudson and James Bays are home to an array of marine mammals including Beluga whales and seals. The Winisk–Severn estuary is a key beluga summer moulting area.


Marine life interpretation also offers the opportunity to partner with other operators, associations and individuals:

Accommodations

Attractions (Natural, cultural and historic)

Restaurants/cafés

Water-based activity operators (e.g. kayak, raft, canoe and motorized boats)

Other activity providers (e.g. birding, nature-based and adventure)

Educational institutions that have a marine/oceanography component

The following organizations can provide useful information on marine life in Ontario:

• Environment Canada • http://www.ec.gc.ca/ • Ministry of Natural Resources

(boating regulations) • http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca

• Great Lakes Heritage Coast • http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/glhc • Canadian Wildlife Service

(CWS) • http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca

• Canadian Coast Guard • http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca





Land based marine tours would not require operators to purchase any specialized equipment or facilities.

Water based tours would require boats (kayak, canoe, motorized boat); see the paddling product section for details on costs. Operators could also partner with existing operators who already have some of this equipment.

The type of boat/vessel needed will depend a lot on the location of the marine tour and the type of water – for example:

• Isolated lakes and rivers would likely use canoes or small motorized boats (16ft Lund)

• Great Lakes tours could use sea/touring kayaks or larger motorized vessels.

• Hudson and James Bays could also use sea/touring kayaks or larger motorized vessels.

Some small investment to obtain a few of pairs of binoculars so people could watch wildlife and birds at the site would enhance the experience.

A vehicle may also be required to transport visitors to and from the site.


The Canadian Coast Guard has regulations relating to operating vessels – many operators involved in marine mammal viewing are Coast Guard approved.

Also see Chapter 3 for sustainable operational guidelines and standards.

Human Resources

Guides

Guides should have good knowledge of the Ontario marine environment.





General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the marine life tours and other activities available. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products through some of the specific publications mentioned in the wildlife viewing and birding product sections. If the product has elements of kayaking or canoeing then operators could also use publications specific to those activities (see the relevant section in this document).

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with marine, ecology and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier and other in the wildlife-viewing and birding sections).

3. Marketing to local, national and international marine, conservation, wildlife and birding associations and clubs, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.


Target markets

In the U.S. there are nearly 150 million people that participate in viewing and learning activities; this represents a huge potential market for marine life interpretation if it is able to provide an educational experience.

Birding and wildlife viewing markets also represent a key target group for marine life tours because various types of waterfowl and mammals live in the marine environment.




DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve assessing the marine life tour potential in the immediate area.

2. Some background research on marine life in the local area (prepare an inventory) would be required and this can be achieved through some of the organizations mentioned in the partnership section and through various guidebooks (e.g. Audubon Society guidebooks) available at most libraries and bookstores (see birding and wildlife viewing sections).

3. Use Environment Canada as a starting point for developing a contact list of other local or regional clubs and associations to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product. These organizations/clubs could be conservation, nature or wildlife related.

4. Plan the itinerary and assess the pros and cons of land-based versus water-based tours, perhaps a combination of both. Work on the interpretation (prepare a script) component. The tour should be flexible so it can be adapted to a number of different audiences from children to seniors.




Marine Life Interpretation Appendix

Ministry of Natural Resources – Great Lakes Heritage Coast

Marine Life Interpretation Packages Appendix Page A6.5-1

6.6 - ASTRONOMY/STAR GAZING PACKAGES

STAR GAZING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

There is no readily available market profile data on star gazing tourists, although this type of product would be classified as a viewing and learning activity in which more than 150 million Americans and Canadians participate on an annual basis.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

This product would focus on providing visitors with an educational/learning experience in which they find out more about the stars and the night sky.

This type of package would need to be combined with one of the other activities/opportunities suggested in this guide, as the visitors will need activities for the daytime.

Star gazing and astronomy are a excellent complement to other nature based activities such as birding, wildlife viewing as well as adventure activities such as canoeing, biking and hiking.

The tours and viewing locations would change according to the stars and constellations, which can be viewed at a particular time.

Incorporating other aspects of the local area (natural, cultural and historical features) into the star-gazing program would also enhance the products appeal.

Northern lights viewing – this form of night sky watching could also be incorporated into the product in locations further north. Northern lights viewing is potentially a very strong product and would enhance the star gazing packages appeal.

Operators may choose to emphasize the star gazing component of the package if they have a good location (e.g. very low ground light), a good knowledge of astronomy, and reliable weather conditions during the season these packages are offered. Otherwise star gazing could be another activity that simply adds more diversity to their existing range of activities.

Astronomy/Star Gazing Packages Page 6.6-1


Typically a star gazing getaway package could include accommodations, meals, star gazing commentary or interpretation and other complementary activities.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of an astronomy/star gazing package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Astronomy/Star Gazing Packages

2 nights Price range $300-500* Concept

An all-inclusive lodge-based package focusing on the night sky and learning more about the stars and the solar system. This program is supplemented with a daytime activity schedule.

Itinerary Day One Arrive at the lodge in the early evening. Evening meal followed by a guided walk/drive to an appropriate

night sky viewing spot, where a guide provides an interpretation program to help guests learn more about the night sky. (During cloudy or inclement weather we will offer indoor program alternatives such as interpretive presentations, slide shows, videos, etc.)

Day Two Breakfast Guests are free to use lodge facilities (e.g. bikes, canoes, boats)

for the day and entertain themselves. There are also guided tours or wildlife viewing via canoe, bike or

on foot, as well as a craft workshop (e.g. painting, pottery, etc.). Lunch at the lodge. A similar program as in the morning where guests can choose a

different activity. Dinner, followed by another evening of night sky viewing

(weather permitting) and stories of mythology related to the sky. Day Three Breakfast Guests have time for a short paddle or bike ride before leaving in



Astronomy/Star Gazing Packages

the late morning. Package Included Features Transportation to the lodge All meals, snacks and beverages while at lodge Guided activities during the day or a craft workshop Binoculars and/or telescope provided for viewing the night stars

Other Product Characteristics Although star gazing is the focus of this package, the mix or

choice of other activities offered during the daytime is also key in making this a successful package.

* Higher price points are achieved with a higher standard of accommodations, meals and service.


Star gazing and astronomy packages can be offered virtually anywhere in Ontario; however, some locations will be better than others. Lodges and operators that are located in rural or wilderness areas have a distinct advantage because of the lower ground light in these areas, as opposed to more urban locations.

The darker the night sky, the more it brings out/contrasts the constellations, thus making them easier to see and identify.


Star gazing packages offer multitude opportunities to partner with other operators, associations and individuals or provide other activities in-house:

Accommodations

Attractions (natural, cultural and historic)

Restaurants/cafés



Other activity providers (e.g. nature-based and adventure)

Local astronomy clubs and associations to act as guides

Educational institutions that have an astronomy component

Observatories and planetariums.

The following organizations can provide useful information on astronomy.

• Sky & Telescope – list of 31 Ontario clubs

• http://www.skypub.com/resources/directory/canada.html#on

• Astronomy.Com & Astronomy magazine

• http://www.astronomy.com/home.asp

• Beginners Guide to Astronomy, ON

• http://ca.geocities.com/richardsnowca/

• The Roberta Bondar Earth and Space Centre, New York

• [email protected].

• Doran Planetarium, Sudbury • http://www.laurentian.ca/www/physics/planetarium/planetarium.html.

• W. J. McCallion Planetarium • [email protected]. • Helen Sawyer Hogg

Observatory, Ottawa • 613-990-2804

• Ontario Science Centre • http://www.osc.on.ca/.



To offer this type of activity as a complementary or side product, there is little or no investment required in equipment. If your location has very low ground light visitors will be able to view stars easily without the aid of binoculars or telescopes.

However, it will enhance the experience if a small investment is made to obtain several pairs of high-powered binoculars and perhaps one or two telescopes, which people can take turns at using.



Human Resources

Guides

Guides should ideally have an interest in astronomy and some knowledge of the more common stars, planets, constellations and their locations in the night sky. University students actually studying astronomy would be ideal, along with faculty members.

Ideally guides should be local, also with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the star gazing activities, along with the other daytime activities available. Specific marketing initiatives could include:

1. Market your packages/products to a general audience through local and regional newspapers. The star gazing product is more likely to be a complimentary product that gives guests something to do at night and, as such, would piggyback on the advertising and promotion of other resource-based activities.

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with astronomy and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

3. Marketing to local, national and international associations and clubs, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States – for example, amateur astronomy clubs like Baltimore Astronomical Society, Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomers, South Jersey Astronomy Club.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in appropriate



publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

3. Plan out a one to two hour trip to an ideal viewing location nearby that would focus on looking at and talking about particular stars and constellations. This would be tailored to the time of year and the constellations available for viewing.



America contains nearly 150 million people that participate in viewing and learning activities; this represents a huge potential market for activities that provide an educational and learning experience such as astronomy/star gazing.


The international marketplace also contains countries that offer potential for winter star gazing type packages. For example, the Japanese market is very interested in northern lights viewing packages.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research on astronomy to get a feeling for the type of information that maybe useful as part of an evening star gazing product.

2. Use Sky & Telescope (www.skypub.com) to contact local or regional astronomy clubs and associations to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product (see above partnerships section).


Astronomy/Star Gazing Appendix

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Observing Resources

Astronomy/Star Gazing Packages Appendix Page A6.6-1

6.7 – ROCK HOUNDING

ROCK HOUNDING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

There is no readily available market profile data on rock hounding tourists. However, almost 46 million Americans participate in visits to prehistoric or archaeological sites. Additionally, there are 107 million people who visit historic sites that could also potentially be interested in rock hounding activities.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Rock hounding would likely be offered as a additional activity to complement an operator’s existing product range; however, in areas where operators are located near a significant resource (e.g. Bancroft), there would be potential to have rock hounding as a primary product.

The product should focus on rock deposits in the local area – this could include not only gems and minerals, but also fossils (e.g. trilobite).

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◆ An important component of the product would be learning about how different types of rocks are formed. The basic rock types include: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. The following link provides excellent resource information on rock types, how they are formed, and their importance.

(see: http://www.canadianrockhound.com/junior/minerals.html)

The rock hounding would focus on the spring/summer/fall period

Rock hounders could also potentially be interested in other components, especially interpretation of natural, heritage and cultural features, as well as other activities like wildlife viewing, hiking, birding, biking, and paddling. The product could easily be adapted to encompass any of these components.

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◆ Typically a rock hounding package would be lodge-based and include accommodations, some or all meals, guided rock hounding, and some other additional activities.

Rock Hounding Page 6.7-1


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There may also be an opportunity to offer multi-day trips if the rock deposits are located in a remote area. This type of product would likely incorporate hiking, camping and possibly paddling into the experience.

These trips could all be adapted to suit a particular audience or group by varying the emphasis on rock hounding with other complementary activities.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a rock hounding package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Rock Hounding

2 nights Price range $200-400 Concept

An all-inclusive lodge-based package focusing on guided rock hounding, where people can ask questions about their findings and learn more about the area’s geology.

Itinerary

Day One Arrive at the lodge in the early afternoon and unpack. Guests are greeted by their guide and taken to a rock hounding

location nearby for an afternoon’s rock exploration Snacks and beverages are available while out in the field Guides explain what to look for, how best to find it and how to

preserve it Guests return to the lodge for dinner Dinner is followed by a geology presentation highlighting the

local rock formations and how they contribute to Canada’s topography.

Day Two Breakfast Guests are transported to a rock hounding site for the day, with

opportunities for wildlife viewing on the way, as well as a chance to learn more about the local area’s history and people Guests spend the morning hunting for rocks (snacks are

available) Lunch is served picnic-style at the rock hounding site The afternoon continues with more rock hounding, followed by a



Rock Hounding

narrated drive back to the lodge, stopping at points of interest and on the lookout for wildlife Dinner

Day Three Breakfast Guests leave late morning and are transported back to the original

pick-up point. Package Included Features Transportation to the lodge All meals, snacks and beverages while at lodge and rock

hounding. Transportation to the rock hounding sites Rock hounding hammers provided Any applicable taxes and user fees


Bancroft, Ontario has long been known as the "Mineral Capital of Canada" because over 300 different types of minerals are known to occur in the area. The Bancroft & District Chamber of Commerce operates geologist-led mineral collecting field trips in July and August.

The Madoc-Bancroft geological corridor represents a highly diverse assemblage of rock types. An estimated 94% of all minerals known to exist on earth can be found in this region.

Some other key areas in Ontario include:

Spectralite Mountain: situated near Marathon, Ontario, is a known source of spectralite, a feldspar mineral that exhibits labradorescence.

Atikokan: Steep Rock Mine: This is an open pit iron ore mine with good collecting in carbonate zones for calcite of many habits, hematite, goethitite, manganite, quartz, aragonite, siderite.



Canyon: Accessible only by the Algoma Central Railroad. Bright feldspar found in mountain streams.

Dowling: Along Hwy 144. Outcrops of the Chelmsford formation along the outer edge of the Sudbury nickel interruptive contain greywacke with large pebbles and stones embedded in the slabs of rock.

Kirkland Lake: Several mine dumps to the north of town, access is difficult.

Killarney: On the only highway to Killarney Provincial Park, there are numerous road cuts with an assortment of minerals: gneiss, orthoquartzite, quartz, paragneiss, and garnets.

Mactier: Beautiful pink and grey paragniess roadcuts along Route 69.

Manitoulin Island: At the southern end of the island, limestone roadcuts along Route 6 contain fossilized sea fans and corals.

Massey: Colorful mix of naturally-tumbled schists and quartzite along the Aux Sables River.

Parry Sound: Rhyolite and paragneiss in quarried cliffside near the public boat launch.

Sudbury: Nickel ore and rhyolite in the roadcuts northwest of town, shatter cones around Lake Ramsey.

Attractions: Path of Discovery tour bus to see the INCO nickel and copper smelting works and Science North, a great interactive science center.

Timmins: small amounts of gold ore and lots of pyrite near Porcupine.

Attraction: Timmins Gold Mine visit.

Wahnapitae: East of Sudbury along Route17, at the leading edge of the Grenville formation. The area contains many minerals, most notably kyanite schist with almadine garnets.

Source: Rock Collecting Sites in Ontario http://www.nb.net/~downs/sites/ontario.htm




Rock hounding can be easily combined with other activities and, as a result, offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators depending on their location and existing product including:

Other attractions (especially those of a geological or mining nature)

Restaurants/cafés

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Other activity providers (e.g. historical tours, birding, canoeing, biking, wildlife viewing, etc.)

Other useful contacts, resources or promotional media include:

University of Toronto Geology http://www.geology.utoronto.ca/

The Geological Association of Canada http://www.esd.mun.ca/~gac/

Geological Survey of Canada

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http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/gsc/index_e.html

Canadian Rockhound Geological Magazine http://www.canadianrockhound.com/

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◆ Rock Collecting in Bancroft, ON http://www.commerce.bancroft.on.ca/collect.htm

Rock Collecting sites Ontario http://www.nb.net/~downs/sites/ontario.htm◆

◆ Bancroft Gem and Mineral Club http://www.homestead.com/Bancroftminclubcom/club2.html

Bob's Rock Shop is the net's first online magazine for mineral collectors, rockhounds and lapidary hobbyists

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http://www.rockhounds.com/

◆ Smithsonian Gem & Mineral Collection http://www.min.uni-bremen.de/sgmcol/

Rock & Gem Magazine http://www.rockngem.com

The 9th Annual Peterborough Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show, March 2-3, 2002 (Mark Stanley, show chairman. E-mail: [email protected])

The Ontario government also has a mineralogical highway map that is useful for rock hounding.

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No particular equipment or facilities are required for rock hounding trips. All operators really need is an area with good deposits and perhaps a variety of rocks.

Camping equipment such as tents, stoves, sleeping bags, sleeping mats, chairs, etc. may also be required if the tours are accessing wilderness areas with little or no infrastructure.

Human Resources

Guides would need to have a general knowledge of geology and the geological resources in the region. Guides could possibly be sourced from local clubs, institutions, industry, and geology/geological engineering programs at universities (students and faculty members).

Interpretation will be a vital component of a rock hounding experience so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.


See the Appendix for the code of conduct for Canadian Collectors Respecting the Earth Sciences



General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the rock hounding activities. Specific marketing initiatives could include:

1. Market your packages/products to rock hounders through local and regional newspapers. The partnerships section above also provides a number of more specialized sources.



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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve research into the area’s resources (natural, cultural and historic), and identifying the rock sites nearby.

2. Use the sources and websites provided above to assess potential opportunities and the resources available to help you establish a rock hounding product (see above partnerships section).

3. Plan the activity or tour around your area’s rock sites as well as its key natural, historic and cultural features.

4. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators as well as institutions and attractions that offer complementary products and services.

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with geological and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

3. Marketing to local, national and international rock hounding or geological clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.

4. Rock hounding tours could also be marketed and promoted through nature-based societies and associations, as well as educational institutions because of their educational or interpretive component.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in rock hounding publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

The American market contains 46 million Americans who participate in visits to prehistoric or archaeological sites.

Target markets would include Ontario’s traditional key rubber tire markets, which include the border states such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.


Rock Hounding Appendix

Code of Conduct for Canadian Collectors Respecting the Earth Sciences

Canadian Rockhound – Geological Magazine

Rock Hounding Appendix Page A6.7-1


Code of Conduct for Canadian Collectors Respecting the Earth Sciences

This code of conduct was written and adopted by the Gem & Mineral Federation of Canada with the intention of promoting the responsible collection, conservation and study of natural objects.

1. Know and comply with all public law and local ordinances governing the excavating, collecting, removing and exporting of specimens.

2. Enter and collect on private lands only with the consent of the owner and on public lands only with any necessary permits. Respect any occupiers privacy and carry proper identification. Leave all gates as you find them and do not interfere with livestock or equipment.

3. Do not expose others or yourself to unnecessary injury. Use proper safety equipment and apparel. Do not undermine rock surfaces or collect alone in isolated areas.

4. Avoid any unnecessary disturbance to the environment. Plants and animals may be inadvertantly displaced or destroyed through thoughtless action. Restore the collecting site to its original status by filling in any excavations and leaving it cleaner than you found it.

5. Preserve sites for future generations by keeping collecting to a mininum unless the site is scheduled for destruction. Specimens should not be ruined by indiscriminate hammering or the use of inadequate equipment.

6. Promptly catalogue, identify and preserve specimens collected, for your own knowledge and that of other collectors.

7. Ensure that proper provision has been made for the ultimate disposition of your collections and notes to appropriate institutions or persons to preserve this Heritage for future generations.

8. Report unique geological, palaeontological and mineralogical occurences, particularly vertebrate finds, to your nearest museum, university, or the Geological Survey of Canada.

9. Immediately disclose to the appropriate authority, offences of public law relating to the Earth Sciences or the flagrant abuses of this Code committed by any collector.

10. Foster public interest in geological sites and their wise use and conservation. This includes public leadership and education as to the intrinsic values of our rich Canadian Mineralogical and Palaeontological Heritage.

For more information, please feel free to contact the Gem & Mineral Federation of Canada.



Permission is given to freely reprint this code of conduct from the Canadian Rockhound for non-commercial and educational purposes, provided the Gem & Mineral Federation of Canada is acknowledged, and that the website URL address of the Gem & Mineral Federation of Canada is given. This code of conduct may not be edited or rewritten to change its meaning or substance without permission.


7.1 – BICYCLING/MOUNTAIN BIKING TOURS

CYCLING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Cycling has one of the highest participation levels for outdoor activities in North America. Participation in the U.S. has grown steadily over the last decade to approximately 83 million Americans over the age of 16.

Canadians also enjoy biking with 2 million cycling in natural areas in 1996.

The more specialized or niche product of mountain biking also has a large market with approximately 45 million (21%) Americans participating in this activity during 2000.

Statistics from the Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA), shown in the following table indicate that cyclists are generally younger with the majority being under 35 years old and that the Midwest (one of Ontario’s primary markets) has the highest portion of cyclists in the country.

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Figure 6.3.1: American Cyclist Demographics

Cyclist details Percent Gender

Female Male

51 49

Age group

18 – 34 35 – 54 Over 55

47 45 8

Geographic Distribution

South

29 27 22 22

Midwest West Northeast

Bicycling/Mountain Biking Tours Page 7.1-1


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THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Cycling/biking can be offered by existing resource-based operators in Ontario as an additional activity to complement their product. Biking products would primarily be focused during May to October.

Alternatively, in certain areas (such as those listed below in Resources subsection) and as part of a particular type of package, it could be possible to offer biking as a primary product.

The actual product focuses on the existing trails and back roads in the immediate area. Try to incorporate roads that traditionally have low traffic volumes, as this will increase the enjoyment and the safety of the trip.

Because cycling/biking is a fairly generic product and can be offered almost anyway, individual operators will need to distinguish their product by adding value to the biking experience in some way.

Thus, biking is often integrated with other activities such as walking, hiking, paddling, wildlife viewing and especially interpretation of natural, heritage and cultural features (e.g., biking a heritage route).

Typically a biking package may include accommodations, some or all meals, guided biking and other additional activities such as hiking, fishing, paddling and wildlife viewing.

There are many types of biking package products that could potentially be and are already offered in Ontario. These include:

Back roads biking tours

• Day trips around a smaller region/area

• Multi-day trips from town to town

Mountain Biking tours/adventures

• Day and multi-day tours on more varied terrain

• Day biking in parks on multi-user trails and parks road networks

• Skill testing single track (for the more adventurous)



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Route Planning

This is an important aspect of creating a great cycling product, which may include the need to address land use, ownership and access issues. The planning of the route should endeavour to incorporate areas that contain interesting and unique/rare natural or cultural features that provide a talking point for interpretation.

Operators should also try to develop a range of tours or trips that could be adapted easily to a number of different market segments:

This could be easily achieved by varying the length and difficultly of the ride

Increasing or decreasing the emphasis on biking as opposed to other components such as interpretation.

If cycling were to be the core activity – for example town-to-town or hut-to-hut tours – then distances of 40 to 60 kilometers a day would be appropriate, but also depend on customers. Other operators may wish to use cycling simply as a component or activity option in a package, which would require far less emphasis on the actual biking.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a cycling tour package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Bicycling/Mountain Biking Tours

6 days 5 nights Price range $175 – 350* per day Concept

An all-inclusive, fully guided cycling tour around the local region, stopping at different lodges/B&B’s each night (first and last nights are at the same lodge). This activity involves interpretation where guides talk about the local history, culture and heritage of communities and region.

Itinerary

Day One Arrive at the lodge in the early evening and get acquainted.

Day Two - Six Guests are guided through a network of minor roads with a



Bicycling/Mountain Biking Tours

support vehicle on hand, lunch and snacks are provide on route from the support van, while breakfasts and dinners are at local lodges/B&B’s. Guides provide interpretation that highlights natural, cultural and

heritage features of the areas the tour passes through. Depending on the group’s capabilities, there are optional side

trips to discover points of interest or test off-road skills. Other activities such as hikes, boat rides, kayak or canoe trips of

short duration (1-2 hours) are also incorporated in the schedule. Package Included Features All lodge/B&B accommodation All meals, snacks while on tour Support van and luggage handling A hybrid or mountain bike Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Cycling distances per day are ideally between 45-60km, although

during a longer trip alternate days go up to 85 km/day. * Higher price points are achieved with a higher standard of

accommodations and meals.


Ontario has an extensive backroad network (with the exception of the Far North), which would be ideal for cycling/biking tours and smaller day trips. Tours tend to focus more on secondary roads where there is less car traffic and more opportunities to take in the surrounding landscapes and environment.

Ontario also has a large network of more varied terrain that includes forestry and parks roads that hold potential for mountain biking adventures and tours. Again these tours or trips would focus on roads that are perhaps not used as extensively (currently not commercially logged) and are perhaps linked to sites with some amenities.



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There would also be some more limited opportunities for biking in Ontario’s provincial and National parks. But, generally (there are exceptions) within parks boundaries, especially National Parks, biking is restricted to the paved access roads that vehicles frequently use.

There are three Ontario Provincial Parks that the government promotes for mountain biking. These include:

Algonquin

Awenda

Silent Lake

As well as several others for family cycling (e.g. Rondeau, Neys, Earl Rowe, Pinery, Rock Point and Turkey Point)

Haliburton Forest is a privately owned 50,000 acre mountain biking mecca with over 300 kilometres of trails.

Trans-Canada Trail

Opportunities also exist for those operators in close proximity to the Trans-Canada Trail to offer tours or day rides on portions of the trail system. The map indicates the route of the trail across Ontario.


Biking can be easily combined with other activities and as a result offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators depending on their location and existing product. These include:

Accommodations

Attractions

Restaurants/cafés

Other activity providers (e.g. canoeing, hiking, wildlife viewing etc)

Other useful contacts, resources or promotional mediums include:



◆ Ontario Cycling Association http://www.ontariocycling.org/

◆ Canadian Cycling Association http://www.canadian-cycling.com

Adventure Cycling Association (US) ◆ http://www.adv-cycling.org/ provides information on routes and maps, tours and events

◆ National Cycle Tours Directors Association http://www.nbtda.com/ list and calendar for cycle tours of 3 days or more throughout North America and Europe

◆ Forestry Division of Ministry of Natural Resources http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/forests/

Ontario Parks http://www.ontarioparks.com◆

Parks Canada http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

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http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca

Other National Cycling associations

Canadian, provincial and U.S. state cycling associations

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◆ Trans-Canada Trail http://www.tctrail.ca/

Discovery Trails Organization ◆ http://www.discoveryroutes.org



Bicycles vary considerably in price depending on the type of biking intended. In general a road-based tour will likely require a less expensive bike around starting at around $200 to $400. An off-road tour use requires a mountain bike (or perhaps hybrid bike) of reasonable quality to withstand the rougher more varied terrain, which generally start at around $400.

Operators should first consider Canadian companies such as Rocky Mountain, Devinci, Brodie and Norco, before looking at other foreign manufacturers.

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There may also be an opportunity for operators based near major urban centres to hire or lease bicycles instead of purchasing them. Some tour operators ask clients to provide their own bikes.

Operators wishing to offer multi day or one-way day tours will likely also require a support vehicle (e.g. a van or pickup) to assist cyclists and carry the majority of their gear to the next destination.


Human Resources

Most of the tours and bike related activities would require minimal instructional content. All guests participating in biking packages should already be able to ride.

Guides would need to be competent on a bike and also have some first-aid skills. However, the key component of the product would be the interpretation. People can ride almost anywhere; the reason they will be riding in Ontario is to experience some of the natural, historic and cultural elements of the province.

If tours or multi-day adventures are the core component, then operators will need the think about other support staff such as:

Support vehicle driver/camp setup and a cook (though in many cases the guide often assumes this responsibility).


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights biking activities. Specific marketing initiatives could include:

1. Market your packages/products to cyclists through biking publications and related websites, as well as the general adventure and travel publications mentioned earlier.



Pedal, Canada Ph:(416) 977-2100 Email: [email protected]

Bicycling, U.S www.bicycling.com

www.mountainbike.com

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effect method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective, establish links and partnerships with cycling and other related sites.


4. Market to local, national and international cycling clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US border states.

5. Cycling tours, depending on their theme or components, could also be marketed and promoted through nature-based societies and associations, as well as educational institutions if there is an educational or interpretive component.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in bicycling publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

The American market contains 83 million cyclists.


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In addition, areas such as the Western U.S. also have a high percentage of bikers.

The Europeans are also avid cyclists – especially countries like France, Spain and Holland, which hold potential for long haul packages with a cycling component.

Mountain Bike, U.S



DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area's resources (natural, cultural and historic), existing trail and backroad network to identify potential routes and highlights.

2. Identify potential land use and access issues that may need to be addressed and meet with the relevant parties concerned.

3. Contact various Ontario based cycling organizations to assess potential opportunities and the resources available to help you establish a cycling product (see preceding partnerships section).

4. Establish operational and safety guidelines based on those used by other established adventure and ecotourism organizations.

5. Plan the activity or tour around your area’s trail networks as well as its key natural, historic and cultural features.

6. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators, as well as organizations that may have some of the resources you need to establish cycling or mountain biking tours.

7. Employ local guides, where possible, as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Quality guides and staff are key to business success.



Bicycling/Mountain Biking Tours Appendix

Canadian Cyclist Touring

Adventure Cycling Association ◆

Bicycling/Mountain Biking Tours Page A7.1-1

7.2 – WALKING/HIKING/TREKKING PACKAGES

HIKING/WALKING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Walking has the highest participation level of any outdoor activity in North America. Participation in the U.S. has grown steadily over the last decade to approximately 180 million Americans over the age of 16, which equates to almost 85% of the population.

The more specific activity of hiking is also popular with over 70 million Americans participating in 2000. Backpacking is another category that is closely linked to hiking and trekking, in which 28 million Americans participated.

Canada contains 4.4 million people, who participate in hiking and backpacking activities, which is close to 19% of the total population.

Statistics from the Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA), shown in the following table indicate that hikers are generally baby-boomers with the majority being 35 to 54 years old and that the Midwest (one of Ontario's primary market) along with the west has the highest portion of hikers in the U.S.

Figure 7.2.1: American Hiking Demographics

Hiking details Percent

Gender Female Male

49 51

Age group 18 – 34 35 –54 Over 55

41 47 13

Geographic Distribution

South

27 27 20 25

Note: Hiking classified as hiking/walking on gradually changing terrain.

Midwest West Northeast

Walking/Hiking/Trekking Packages Page 7.2-1


THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Hiking/walking can be, and currently is, offered by existing resource-based operators in Ontario as an additional activity to complement their products. The hiking product would primarily be focused on spring/summer/fall, while in the winter it effectively becomes snowshoeing.

In certain areas (such as those listed below in the Resources sub-section) it may be possible to offer hiking adventures as a primary product.

The actual product will focus on the existing trails network in the immediate area, which often relates to parks and forestry areas, as they tend to have the most developed infrastructure and maintained trail systems and forestry access roads.

Because hiking, like some of the other soft adventure activities, is a fairly generic product and can be offered almost any way, an individual operator will need to differentiate their product by adding value to the hiking/walking experience in some way.

Thus, hiking is almost always integrated with other components such as interpretation of natural, heritage and cultural features, as well as other activities like wildlife-viewing, birding, biking, and paddling.

Typically a hiking package would include accommodations, some or all meals, guided hiking/walking and some other additional activities.

There are a number of options for offering hiking products. These include:

Lodge-based day trips in the immediate area

Multi-day trips from lodge-to-lodge

Multi-day trips with camping component

These trips could all be adapted to suit a particular audience or group by varying the difficultly of the terrain, the length of the hikes/walks, and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on the hiking with other complementary activities.

Self-guided walks, which vary from hourly to multiple days could also be offered by operators. For this type of product operators could offer trailhead drop-offs and pick-ups as well as interpretative aids like brochures, signage and guidebooks.



Route Planning

This is an important aspect of creating the hiking product and may require consultation initially with stakeholders on land use and access issues. The routes should endeavour to incorporate features and areas that contain interesting sites that provide a talking point for interpretation and discussion.

If hiking were the core activity, distances of approximately 10 to 20 kilometers a day, depending on the terrain and the hiking customers, would be appropriate. Other operators may wish to use hiking as a component or activity option in a package, which would require far less emphasis on the walking.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a walking/hiking package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Walking/Hiking/Trekking Packages

2 - 5 nights Price range $120-260* per day Concept

An all-inclusive package offering guests daily guided hikes with an interpretive guide providing insight into the area’s flora and fauna.

Itinerary Daily guided hikes vary in duration from 2 to 8 hours with the

longer hikes including a picnic lunch prepared by the guide. Guests on the shorter hikes have lunch back at the lodge. The longer hikes would cover distances of up to 18km in a day. Guides provide interpretation of the surrounding landscape,

culture and heritage, as well as helping guests identify various mammals and birds viewed along the way. Guests are free to go on the guided hikes, utilize the other

facilities that the lodge has to offer (e.g. bikes and canoes) or simply relax and read a book. At the end of each day’s activities guests to retreat to the comfort

of the lodge for dinner and overnight accommodation. Package Included Features Transport to and from the lodge from the nearest airport



Walking/Hiking/Trekking Packages

All accommodation at the lodge All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge Daily guided hikes Full use of other lodge facilities, canoes, bikes Binoculars are also provided Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes for hikes are small (less than 10) to minimize the

impact on the environment. For longer stays operators offer a greater array of hikes/trails. Some proceeds from the package go towards preservation of the

local flora and fauna, or to local communities. * Higher price points are achieved with a higher standard of



The focus of hiking activities is likely to be established trails networks throughout the province, of which many are contained within the National and Provincial Parks network and forestry areas.

Ontario contains over 378 parks and protected areas. Some are appropriate for day trips, while others offer longer wilderness hiking experiences.

Some of the key parks/areas/trails in Ontario are listed in the table below. However, numerous others exist and operators should investigate their own immediate area to assess its hiking potential.



• Algonquin Provincial Park • Lake Superior Provincial Park

• Trans Canada Trail • Pukaskwa National Park

• Sleeping Giant Provincial Park • Ontario Legacy Trails

• Killarney Provincial Park • Haliburton Forest

• Ganaraska Trail, 400km from Port Hope to Glen Huron

• Bruce Trail, 700km from Queenston to Tobermory

This map provides an example of the trail network in the Grey and Bruce County area in southern Ontario.



Trans-Canada Trail

Opportunities also exist for those operators in close proximity to the Trans-Canada Trail to offer tours or day hikes on portions of the trail system.


Hiking can be easily combined with other activities and as a result offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators, depending on their location and existing product, including:

Accommodations

Attractions

Restaurants/cafés

Other similar providers to help form a themed tour (e.g., hiking a heritage trail)

Other activity providers (e.g., birding, canoeing, biking, wildlife viewing etc)


Hike Ontario http://www.hikeontario.com

Ontario Trails Council http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/

American Hiking Society http://www.americanhiking.org

Alpine Club of Canada http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/trails

Other Provincial and State hiking groups and associations

e.g., Thunder Bay Hiking Association http://www.tbha.baynet.net/

Parks Ontario http://www.ontarioparks.com

Parks Canada http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca



Forestry Division of Ministry of Natural Resources http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/forests/

Trans-Canada Trail http://www.tctrail.ca/

Discovery Trails Organization http://www.discoveryroutes.org

Voyageur Trail Association http://www3.sympatico.ca/voyageur.trail/ to run 1,100 km from Manitoulin Island to Thunder bay

American Trails.org http://www.americantrails.org/ also lists Canadian trails



Hiking is probably the least expensive and most accessible product that operators can offer. Visitors would provide their own equipment (e.g., boots, packs, jackets), and it is a good idea for operators to provide a gear list to guests prior to their arrival.

However, operators may consider offering clients items such as walking sticks (either natural or manufactured) and, if there are wildlife viewing opportunities, a pair of binoculars. Some operators in extreme locations may also consider providing clients with outerwear.

In most cases operators are able to utilize existing trail networks, parks and forestry roads to provide clients with a hiking experience. However, if trail system development is needed, this can be costly, especially if bridge and boardwalk structures are required.

Operators wishing to offer multi day or one-way day tours will likely also need a support vehicle (e.g., a van or pickup) to assist hikers and carry the majority of their gear to the next destination.

Trail sites throughout Ontario and North America http://www.trailpaq.ca

Trails.com Inc http://www.trails.com U.S. based site that has a list of trails for North America




Human Resources

Guides would need to be competent hikers, and if substantial backcountry travel were a component, they would also need excellent bush/survival skills and some form of Wilderness First Aid certification.

Interpretation will still be a vital component of a hiking experience so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features. People are coming to hike in Ontario because they want to experience its natural, cultural and heritage features.

If tours or multi-day adventures are the core component, then operators will need to think about other support staff, such as:

Support vehicle driver/camp set-up and cook(s), although the guide often assumes responsibility for cooking meals.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the hiking activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to hikers and adventurers through general adventure, travel publications and local and regional newspapers.

Explore Magazine - Canada www.explore-mag.com

Canadian Geographic www.canadiangeographic.ca

Outside, U.S

National Geographic Adventure, U.S

www.outsidemag.com

www.nationalgeographic.com

Backpacker, U.S www.backpacker.com

Outpost - Canada



2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with hiking/walking/backpacking and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

4. Marketing to local, national and international hiking clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.

5. Hiking tours could also be marketed and promoted through nature-based societies and associations, as well as educational institutions if there is an educational or interpretive component.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in hiking-oriented and outdoor publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

The American market contains 71 million hikers.

Target markets could include Ontario’s traditional key rubber tire markets, which include the border states such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

In addition, areas such as the West of the U.S. also have a high percentage of hikers.

The international marketplace also contains numerous countries with potentially large numbers of avid walkers and hikers – for example, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Austria, Australia and New Zealand.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into your area's resources (natural, cultural and historic), and existing trail network to identify potential routes and highlights.

2. Identify potential land use and access issues that may need to be addresses and meet with the relevant stakeholders concerned.



3. Contact Hike Ontario and other local/provincial associations to assess potential opportunities and the resources available to help you establish a hiking product (see above partnerships section).


5. Plan the activity or tour around your area’s trail network as well as its key natural, historic and cultural features.

6. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators, as well as organizations that may have some of the resources you need to establish a hiking trip.




Walking/Hiking/Trekking Packages Appendix

Hike Ontario

Ontario’s Living Legacy

Walking/Hiking/Trekking Packages Appendix Page A7.2-1

7.3 – CANOEING AND KAYAKING INSTRUCTION / GUIDED EXCURSIONS

PADDLING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

American participation in water-based activities that focus on boating, floating, paddling and sailing is significant with 87 million participants over the age of 16 years, which equates to approximately 41% of the population. Some of the more specific paddling activities in the U.S. also have strong participation numbers and include:

Canoeing – 22.3 million participants

Floating and rafting – 22.5 million participants

Whitewater rafting/kayaking – 14.8 million participants

Kayaking – 7.0 million participants

Rowing – 9.6 million participants

In Canada there are around 2.3 million people who participate in canoeing, kayaking and sailing activities, which is just under 10% of the population.

Statistics from the Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA), shown in the following table indicate that American canoeists are young with 45% under 34 years of age, while a number of baby boomers also canoe. Also the Midwest (one of Ontario's primary markets) has the highest portion of canoeists in the U.S.

Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction / Guided Excursions Page 7.3-1


Figure 7.3.1: American Canoeists Demographics

Canoeists details Percent

Gender

49 Female

Male

51

Age group 18 – 34

45 45 35 –54

Over 55

10

Geographic Distribution Midwest West Northeast South

34 20 20

Canoeing – this type of product in traditional open vessels is ideally suited to the flat waters of Ontario’s many lakes and rivers.

Sea kayaking – a relatively new product in the paddling market, sea kayaking is ideally suited to the more open waters of the Great lakes and Hudson/ James Bay, although they can also be used on other lakes.

Whitewater Kayaking and Canoeing – this product is confined to the turbulent waters of Ontario’s rivers and is associated with a higher level of both skill and risk.

Paddling products should focus on the lakes and rivers in the immediate area.

An individual operator will need to distinguish their product by adding value to the paddling experience in some way.

25

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Paddling products are already offered by a number of existing resource-based operators in Ontario, either as an additional activity to complement their product or as a core activity. The paddling product is comprised of a number of different experiences determined by the type of water involved, such as:



Thus, guided paddling is usually integrated with other components such as interpretation of natural heritage, cultural features, bird and wildlife viewing.

Typically a paddling package would include accommodations, some or all meals, guided paddling and some other additional activities such as hiking and fishing.

There are a number of options for paddling products, and these include:

Lodge-based day trips on lakes and rivers nearby

Multi-day trips from cabin-to-cabin or lodge-to-lodge

Multi-day trips with a camping component

Whitewater canoe or kayak experiences

Fly-in paddling in more remote wilderness destinations

Train based paddling which link waterways with Ontario’s extensive rail system (e.g., Algoma Central Railway)

These trips could all be adapted to suit a particular audience or group by varying the difficultly of the water (in the case of whitewater), the distance covered, and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on the canoeing with other complementary activities.

Paddling time on multi-day trips is generally around three to four hours per day, which can be split between the morning and afternoon.

Self-guided paddling, which could vary from hourly to multiple days can also be offered by operators. Operators would offer drop-offs and pick-ups as well as maps, interpretative aids like brochures, portage signage and general guidebooks.

Route planning is an important aspect of creating the paddling product. The route should endeavour to incorporate the area's key features that will provide a talking point for interpretation and discussion during the journey. The Canadian Canoe Routes (http://www.canadiancanoeroutes.com) website is a good starting point that provides descriptions of many of Ontario’s canoe routes.



The following example provides an illustration of the components of a canoeing/kayaking package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Canoeing/Kayaking Excursions


An all-inclusive package that offers guests daily guided paddling adventures with an interpretative component to provide an insight into the area’s history and ecology.

Itinerary

The first morning offers guests who have never been in a kayak or canoe before the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the equipment in a lesson with a trained instructor. Daily paddling excursions vary in duration from a couple of

hours to a full-day, with the longer paddles including a picnic lunch prepared by the guide. Guests on the shorter duration paddles have lunch back at the lodge. The longer paddles cover distances of up to 20km in a day. During the paddles guides provide interpretation of the

surrounding coastline, culture and heritage, as well as helping guests identify various waterfowl and possibly mammals (e.g. moose) spotted along the way. Paddling routes stop at points of interest along the way, such as

islands, archaeological sites, swimming spots and fishing spots. Guests choose each day whether they would like to go on the

guided paddles or utilize the other facilities that the lodge offers (e.g. bikes, boats, trails) or to simply relax and read a book. At the end of each day’s activities, guests retreat to the comfort

of the lodge for dinner and bed. Package Included Features Transport to and from the lodge from the nearest airport All accommodation at the lodge All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge Daily guided paddles Full use of other lodge facilities, hiking trails and bikes Binoculars are also be provided



Canoeing/Kayaking Excursions

Any applicable taxes and user fees Other Product Characteristics Group sizes for paddles are small (less than 10) for safety reasons

and to minimize the impact on any animals encountered. For longer stays operators offer a greater array of paddling

routes. Some proceeds go towards preservation of the local flora and

fauna and to local communities. * Higher price points are achieved with a higher standard of



Ontario has an exceptional resource for water-based tourism activities, with thousands of lakes and numerous rivers (20% of the world’s fresh water), as well as the Great Lakes Coast and Hudson and James Bays shorelines.

A number of the Provincial Parks also offer excellent paddling opportunities, with some of the key ones being:

Algonquin (over 2,400 km of paddling routes)

Woodland Caribou (over 1,600 km of paddling routes)

Killarney

There are also a number of National Parks focused around the Great Lakes area that offer superb paddling (e.g., mainly sea kayaking) resources:

Pukaskwa

Fathom Five (Flowerpot and other limestone islands)

Quetico

Lake Superior

Wabakimi



Bruce Peninsula

St. Lawrence Islands and Georgian Bay Islands

Other highlights include:

The Missinaibi River, which is one of North America’s longest, unimpeded wilderness waterways. This historic river, once a fur-trading route, can be paddled to James Bay, passing many ancient pictographs along the way.

Other great lineal waterways include the Albany, Winisk, Severn, Attawapiskat, Mississagi and French Rivers.


Paddling can be easily combined with other activities and as a result offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators depending on their location and existing product:

Accommodations

Attractions

Restaurants/cafés

Other similar providers to help form a themed tour (e.g., historic waterways)

Other activity providers (e.g., birding, hiking, biking, wildlife viewing etc)

Other useful contacts, resources or promotional avenues include:

• Paddling Ontario • http://www.PaddlingOntario.com • Canadian Canoe Routes • http://www.canadiancanoeroutes.com/ • Ontario Recreational

Canoeing Association • http://www.orca.on.ca

• The Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association

• http://www.crca.ca

• Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Association

• http://www.geocities.com/glska/

• The Trade Association of Paddlesports

• http://www.gopaddle.org

• The Canoe Museum, • http://www.canoemuseum.net)



Peterborough • American Canoe

Association • http://www.acanet.org

• Boat Werks – Kayak Shop – tips etc

• http://www.boatwerks.net

• Ontario Parks • http://www.ontarioparks.com • Parks Canada • http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca

http://www.viarail.ca



Operators should try to offer a Canadian-made fleet of canoes/kayaks if possible. Examples of Canadian product include:

• Canoes – Bluewater, Langford, Nova Craft, Scott and Swift

• Sea/touring kayaks – Boreal Designs, Current Designs, and Seaward

• Recreational kayaks – Necky and Walden

Type of Canoe or Kayak

The type of canoes or kayaks required depends on a number of factors including the type of water, the experience and other weather conditions. However, the following provides a general guide:

• Canoes - open canoes portage more easily than a sea/touring kayak, can hold more cargo, and give more options in the number of paddlers and/or passengers. (Prices for composite touring canoes from $800)

• Sea/touring kayaks – work well on oceans and larger lakes and can carry enough cargo for days. Also, their enclosed decks and low profiles make them less susceptible to wind than canoes. (Prices for plastic touring kayaks from $1,050, fiberglass from $2,800)

• Recreational kayaks – often made from polyethylene, these inexpensive and stable boats are well-suited for day-trips on sheltered lakes and gentle rivers (Prices from $500)

• Paddles – Kayak touring plastic from $60

• VIA Rail packages •



Kayak touring composite from $130

Canoe composite from $35

Canoe wooden from $35

Touring sprayskirts from $50

Some other mandatory items: Personal floatation device, pump or bailer, throw line, horn or whistle and spare paddle (Canadian Coast Guard).

It is unlikely that paddle tours would require a support vehicle, as the boats are able to carry all the necessary supplies. However, there could be a need for a pickup and drop-off vehicle.


Human Resources

Guides

Ideally guides should be certified by one of the following organizations: Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association (ORCA), OWWA, BCU, Association of Eastern Canadian Sea Kayak Outfitters (AECSKO), or American Canoe Association (ACA), a requisite for Paddle Ontario members.

They should also have Wilderness First Aid certification (a requisite for Paddle Ontario members).

Interpretation is a vital component so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features. People are coming to paddle in Ontario because they want to experience the natural, historical and cultural elements the province has to offer.

Other skills such as cooking may also be required, depending on the product.


Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association (http://www.orca.on.ca) is a good starting point for reviewing standards and certification material.



Paddling Ontario has a set of standards that are detailed in the appendix.



General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the paddling activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to paddlers through specific paddling publications as well as general adventure and travel materials.

Adventure Kayak Magazine, Canada www.adventurekayakingmag.com Paddler – Canoeing/ Kayaking/ Rafting, U.S (American Canoe Association)

www.paddlermagazine.com

Sea Kayaker Magazine, U.S www.seakayakermag.com Canoe & Kayak, U.S - Canoe Journal - Beginner's Guide to Canoeing & Kayaking - Paddlesports Business

www.canoekayak.com

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost-effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective, establish links and partnerships with paddling and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

4. Marketing to local, national and international paddling clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.

5. Paddling tours could also be marketed and promoted through nature-based societies and associations, as well as educational institutions, if there is an educational or interpretive component.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in paddling publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.



Target markets

The American market contains some 22 million canoers, 7 million kayakers, and 23 million rafting/floating participants, although these categories are not mutually exclusive.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area's resources (natural, cultural and historic) that lie along potential paddling routes.

2. Identify any potential access issues that may need to be addressed and meet with the parties concerned.

3. Contact the Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association, various other Ontario paddling groups, and other local/provincial associations to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your paddling product (see above partnerships section).

4. Establish operational and safety guidelines based on those used by the “Paddle Ontario” alliance and other established adventure and ecotourism organizations.

5. Plan out your trip itinerary around your area’s lakes and waterways as well as key natural, historic and cultural features.

6. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators as well as marketing organizations (e.g., Paddle Ontario) that may have some of the resources you need to establish your paddling product.


In addition, areas such as the south of the U.S. also have a high percentage of canoers.

The international marketplace also contains countries that offer potential for paddling products – for example, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Australia.


Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction / Guided Excursions Appendix

Paddling Ontario

Ontario Recreational Canoeing Association

Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Association

Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction / Guided Excursions Appendix Page A7.3-1

7.4 – ORIENTEERING/SURVIVAL AND OUTDOOR SKILLS PROGRAMS

OUTDOOR SKILLS MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Participation in outdoor activities in North America is a large and growing market. Participation in the U.S. has grown steadily over the last decade to approximately 207 million Americans over the age of 16 years, which equates to almost 97.5% of the population.

Walking is the single most popular activity with 180 million people participating one or more times per year.

Activities such as backpacking (28 million), primitive camping (30 million) and visiting a wilderness or primitive area (78 million) are also useful indicators of potential demand for outdoor skills and survival products.

Canadians are also interested in the outdoors with 10.3 million people participating in outdoor activities in natural areas in 1996, and a total of 17.6 million participating in indirect nature activities.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Survival and outdoor skills products would focus on a wilderness type experience where participants learn in an immersion type setting about the environment, ecology and how to operate/survive in the wilderness. The product could have a contemporary and traditional component, which could be in one package or as separate products.

The product could incorporate a number of other resource-based activities such as hiking, wildlife viewing, birding and possibly other activities like canoeing.

Some of the core product components would include:

Navigating in the bush without a compass (traditional)

Navigating with a compass/GPS (contemporary)

Shelter building

Orienteering/Survival and Outdoor Skills Programs Page 7.4-1


Food identification, gathering, preparation and cooking without the use of conventional camping tools (including matches).

Animal identification and tracking

Wilderness first aid

Signaling for help

The actual product (especially the traditional component) would perhaps focus less on the existing trails network in the immediate area, to give participants a more realistic wilderness experience and avoid meeting other groups. Backcountry hiking in some of the provincial parks could still provide this type of experience.

Typically a survival/outdoor skills package would include accommodations (built shelter, tent and perhaps a lodge for first and last night), some or all meals, guided activities related to outdoor survival and perhaps some other additional activities (e.g. canoeing).

The Survival/outdoor skills product could be offered as either a

• Lodge-based day trip in the immediate area, or a

• Multi-day trip - “living off the land”

These trips could all be adapted to suit a particular audience or group by varying the difficultly of the terrain, the length of the hikes/walks and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on survival techniques.

Route Planning and Preparation

This is a critical aspect in creating an outdoor survival product. The route/planned itinerary should endeavour to incorporate features and areas that contain interesting sites that provide a talking point for interpretation and discussion, as well as resources that enable the guide to teach and demonstrate wilderness survival skills (e.g. food source, materials for shelter construction).

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a outdoor survival skills package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.



Orienteering/Survival & Outdoor Skills Program


An all-inclusive package offering guests daily activities associated with surviving in the wild and various bush craft techniques. This program also incorporates other activities such as wildlife viewing and canoeing or kayaking.

Itinerary Day One The first day is spent in and around the lodge learning a number

of the bush survival techniques that could help participants cope in the wild, such as starting a fire without matches, navigating without a compass and signalling for help.

Day Two Day two involves a day hike from the lodge to track, identify

and watch animals, learning about their behaviour and survival habits. Returning to the lodge at the end of the day.

Day Three Using more modern technology, guests learn the skills of

navigating with a compass and GPS, as well as map reading, hazard perception, essential first-aid techniques and risk management.

Day Four Guests venture into the wilderness for the day and prepare

themselves for a night in the bush. This involves food gathering and shelter building under the watchful eye of the guides.

Day Five Return to the lodge

Package Included Features Transport to and from the lodge from the nearest airport All accommodation at the lodge All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge All activities supervised by trained guides/instructors Full use of other lodge facilities hiking trails, canoes and bikes Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics



Orienteering/Survival & Outdoor Skills Program

Group sizes are small (less than 10) to keep a high instructor-to-participant ratio.



The focus of outdoor survival activities is the wilderness and a developed trail network is not necessarily required, although many of Ontario’s provincial parks offer excellent backcountry experiences that would be appropriate for this type of product.

Some of the provincial parks in Ontario that offer back country experiences are listed in the table below; however, numerous other places outside the parks network exist and operators should investigate their own immediate area to assess its potential.

• Algonquin Provincial Park • Lake Superior Provincial Park

• Quetico Provincial Park • Frontenac Provincial Park

• Sleeping Giant Provincial Park • Halfway Lake Provincial Park

• Killarney Provincial Park • Missinaibi Provincial Park


The outdoor survival and skills product can be combined with other activities, though generally this would be as a supplement before and/or after the core activity. Some examples include:

Accommodations

Attractions

Restaurants/cafés

Other activity providers (e.g. canoeing and biking etc)



Educational institutions with outdoor focus (e.g. possibly of offering courses on behalf of institutions)


Hike Ontario http://www.hikeontario.com

Ontario Trails Council http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/

American Hiking Society http://www.americanhiking.org

Alpine Club of Canada http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/trails

Parks Ontario http://www.ontarioparks.com

Orienteering Canada www.orienteering.on.ca

Forestry Division of Ministry of Natural Resources http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/forests/

Trail sites throughout Ontario and North America http://www.trailpaq.ca

Trails.com Inc http://www.trails.com U.S. based site that has a list of trails for North America

American Trails.org http://www.americantrails.org/ also lists Canadian trails



There is little facilities or equipment required to establish a product of this nature. All operators need is a suitably qualified guide and a reasonably remote resource where the experience can take place.

A lodge could be used as an integral component of the product if day trips were the focus, or for the first and last nights of a multi-day adventure.

To offer the contemporary survival product some investment in equipment would likely be a requirement – for example:

• Tents (from $250 for reasonably good 3-season, 2 person)

• Compasses (from $30)



• GPS (from $190)

• Other camping equipment (e.g. cooking equipment, water filters, torches, first-aid kits).

Operators wishing to offer multi day or one-way day tours may also need a support vehicle (e.g. a van or pickup) to carry participants to the start point and possibly pickup from the end point.

Participants would be expected to bring their own packs, sleeping materials, boots and appropriate clothing. However, operators would be wise to provide a list before hand so there are no surprises for anyone.

Human Resources

The guide is the core component in a product of this nature. They would need to be experienced in backcountry travel and wilderness survival techniques, as well as have some form of Wilderness First Aid certification.

There are also Outdoor Schools in Ontario (e.g., Eaton Outdoor Centre, Lindsay) that offer courses for guides, operators and outdoor educators. Interpretation will be a vital component of the experience, so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.

If multi-day product is offered, then operators will need to think about other support staff such as:

Support vehicle driver/camp setup and cook(s), although the guide in many cases assumes responsibility for cooking meals.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the outdoor activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to outdoor enthusiasts through general adventure travel publications and local and regional newspapers.



Explore Magazine - Canada www.explore-mag.com Canadian Geographic www.canadiangeographic.ca Outside, U.S www.outsidemag.com National Geographic Adventure, U.S www.nationalgeographic.com Backpacker, U.S www.backpacker.com

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effect method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with outdoor and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

3. Marketing to local, national and international hiking clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.

4. Outdoor survival and skills products could also be marketed and promoted through nature-based societies and associations as well as educational institutions if there were an educational or interpretive component.


Target markets

Over 200 million American’s participate in outdoor activities on an annual basis.


In addition, areas such as the Western U.S. have a high percentage of hikers who may be one target market for survival type packages.

The international marketplace also contains numerous countries with potentially large numbers of avid hikers and wildlife viewers who would have an interest in wilderness survival – for example: Germany, France, United Kingdom, and Australia.



DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area’s resources (natural, cultural and historic), and in terms of materials for use during the excursions.

2. Contact local/provincial outdoor associations and educational institutions to assess potential opportunities and the resources available to help you establish the product (see above partnerships section).


4. Plan the outdoor activities around your area’s trails and key resources needed to implement the educational component of the product.

5. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators offering complementary products as well as educational institutions that may have courses of relevance.


7. Market your product as described earlier


7.5 - TOUR BOAT CRUISES OF LAKES AND RIVERS

TOUR BOAT MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

American participation in water-based activities that focus on boating, floating, paddling and sailing is significant with 87 million participants over the age of 16, which equates to approximately 41% of the population.

More specifically motor-boating activities also have strong participation numbers.

Just over 58 million people in the U.S participated in motor-boating activities in 2000.

In Canada there are around 2.2 million people, who participate in power boating activities, which is just under 10% of the population.

The viewing and interpretation component is also an important aspect of tour boat cruises and this market segment contains a large number of people with nearly 150 million Americans participating in viewing and learning activities. Viewing and photography experiences are also very popular with 163 million participants.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

The tour boat cruising product would focus on providing a narrated/guided tour of a particular waterway, which would most likely be a lake but could also be a river.

The cruise would focus on a particular lake/river in the immediate area and could possibly be conducted on several different lakes/rivers. This would depend on the size of the boat used and how easily it could be transported from one venue to another.

An individual operator would need to distinguish their product by adding value to the cruise experience in some way.

Thus, a narrated or guided cruise that interprets the natural, heritage, cultural features of the area would give operators the opportunity to customize the tour and make it unique.

Tour Boat Cruises of Lakes and Rivers Page 7.5-1


Other components such as wildlife viewing and birding could also be incorporated into the tour to further enhance its appeal.

Typically a boat tour package could include some form of meal or snack depending on the length, a commentary highlighting the points of interest.

Tour cruises would range from hourly outings to full day excursions that included a lunch and snacks.

Route planning is an important aspect of creating the tour boat product. The route should endeavour to incorporate the areas key features that will provide a talking point for interpretation and discussion during the journey. Following a heritage route would provide an ideal cruise product.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a tour boat package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Tour Boat Cruises of Lakes

Day or half-day excursions Price $35 - $120 Concept

This package offers a day or half-day narrated voyage of the lake that gives participants an opportunity to learn about the area’s natural, cultural and heritage features. Cruises are hosted by a trained guide who is able to provide insight into the local features and customs of the region, highlighting flora and fauna encountered as well as geographic features.

Package Included Features • For full-day trips a boat lunch is provided, while guests on shorter

half-day trips are offered tea, coffee and snacks. • Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics • Group sizes depend on the size of the boat used.

* Should the cruise have a good likelihood of encountering mammals (e.g. shoreline mammals such as moose) or significant birding areas then a slightly higher price can be attained.




Ontario has an exceptional resource for water-based tourism activities, with thousands of lakes and numerous rivers (20% of the world’s fresh water), as well as the Great Lakes Coast and Hudson and James Bays shorelines.

Some of the key areas in Ontario for boat cruising products include:

The Great Lakes (North Shore, North Channel, Georgian Bay)

Lake of the Woods

Lake Temagami

Lake Nipissing

1000 Islands and St Lawrence River

Hudson and James Bays

Historic canals (e.g. Rideau Canal, Trent-Severn Waterway and Temiskawa Waterway)

Lake Nipigon

Lac Seul

Many of the more remote operators in parts of Northern Ontario also have an opportunity to provide smaller scale boat tours and cruises that focus on a particular areas natural, cultural and heritage features.


Boat tours can be easily combined with other activities and as a result offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators depending on their location and existing product:

Accommodations

Other tourism attractions

Restaurants/cafés

Other similar providers to help form a themed tour (e.g. cruise Ontario’s historic waterways)



Other activity providers (e.g. paddling, birding, hiking, biking, wildlife viewing etc)

Other useful contacts, resources or promotional avenues include:

• Ministry of Natural Resources • http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca• Ontario Marina Operators

Association • http://www.marinasontario.com

• North of Superior Marina Marketing Association

• http://www.superiorboating.com

• Friends of the Trent-Severn Waterway

• http://www.ftsw.com

• Temiskawa Waterway • http://www.temiskawa.com • Canadian Coast Guard • http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca • Pat’s Boating in Canada • http://www.ncf.ca/boating/ • Boat Safe (minimum equipment

requirements) • http://www.boatsafe.com/nautic

alknowhow/canequip.htm



Operators should try to offer a cruising product on a scale that reflects not only their potential market, but also the boating facilities and equipment they currently have at their disposal.

Smaller operators can look at using smaller boats (e.g. 16ft Lund boats), for groups of up to 4 people.

Pontoon style crafts are also ideal for smaller scale cruises and can often accommodate up to 12 people.

Operators would also likely need other items such as: personal floatation device(s), pump or bailer, throw line, horn or whistle and spare paddle

A base from which to run the operation and receive bookings for tours is essential and could also service as an information kiosk. This may be an operator’s lodge or a small shed/cabin on the lake or river.



Human Resources

Guides

Guides should ideally be local with a keen interest and knowledge in the areas natural, cultural and historic features as this is the core component of the boat tour product. People can take a boat cruise anywhere in the world; if they are choosing to do this in Ontario they want to find out more about the region as a result.

A small-scale operation with a Lund boat, for example, would likely be managed by one person who would perform all of the duties.

As the size of the operation increases additional staff maybe required to: manage the bookings, prepare/distribute lunches and take additional cruises.


Canadian Coast Guard safety regulations would need to be adhered to

Also see the general section in this report for sustainable operational guidelines and standards.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the boat cruise and places visited. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products through specific outdoor and boating publications, as well as general travel materials, and in local tourist information centers and other tourist establishments that do not have their own boat tours.

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with boat tours operators and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).



3. Depending on the focus of the commentary during the boat cruises they could also be marketed and promoted through nature-based societies and associations as well as educational institutions if there were an educational component.


Target markets

The American market contains around 150 million people participating in viewing and learning activities that could potentially be interested in tour boat cruises with an interpretative component.


The international marketplace would also be interested in a boat tour product that provides an insight into Ontario’s natural, cultural and historic features in a unique and informative manner.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area’s resources (natural, cultural and historic) that lie on potential boat tour routes.

2. Identify any potential access and operational (boating regulations for tours) issues that may need to be addressed and meet with the parties concerned.

3. Assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your tour boat product (see above partnerships section).

4. Establish operational and safety guidelines

5. Plan out your trip routes based on the key natural, historic and cultural features and the allotted times for the cruise.



6. Look for opportunities to partner with existing boat tour operators in other regions as well as those with complementary tourism products nearby.




7.6 – ROCK AND ICE CLIMBING

CLIMBING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Rock and ice climbing are niche/specialized activities that are more physically demanding than some of the soft adventure activities. However, according to ORCA, the Trade Association of the Outdoor Industry in America, there has been moderate to high growth in climbing numbers.

The median age for rock climbing is 26 years, which is the lowest for the outdoor activities tracked by ORCA, with the median for those activities is 36 years.

The Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA) estimates that approximately 7.4 million people participated in rock climbing/mountain climbing in the U.S. over a five-year period. This figure would likely encompass both ice and rock climbers.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

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The rock climbing product would focus on the summer months, while in the winter the focus would shift to ice climbing. There would likely be substantial crossover between these two activities.

The product would likely be offered as an additional activity to complement an operator’[s existing product range.

The actual product would focus on the rock/ice resource in the immediate area, which could be on public (parks) or private lands. For ice climbing, frozen waterfalls often represent the best resource.

Self-Guided Product

Due to the highly specialized nature of climbing and the experience and equipment required, the majority of operators would only be involved in offering ancillary services to climbers that could include:

• Shuttle services to climbing sites

• Guiding to sites in difficult locations

Rock and Ice Climbing Page 7.6-1


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• Instruction, if able to access qualified personnel

• Accommodations

• Food and beverage

Fully Guided Product

Operators with prior experience in climbing could offer full guiding services or, through a partnership arrangement, could provide these services through a local guide/climber/operator. This product would include lessons, guided ascents and the supply of equipment.

Other Product features

Climbers could also potentially be interested in other components, such as interpretation of natural, heritage and cultural features, as well as other activities like wildlife viewing, hiking, birding, biking, and paddling.

Typically a hiking package would be lodge-based and include accommodations, some or all meals, self-guided climbing, shuttles to sites and some other additional activities.

There may also be an opportunity to offer multi-day trips if the climbing site is located in a remote area. This type of product would also incorporate hiking, camping and possibly paddling into the experience.

These trips could all be adapted to suit a particular climbing group by varying the difficultly of the climbing routes, incorporating lessons, and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on the climbing with other complementary activities.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a rock climbing or ice climbing package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Rock & Ice Climbing

Day or half-day excursions Price $120-$220 per night Concept

This all-inclusive package offers climbers accommodation and meals, a shuttle service to nearby climbing sites, as well as



Rock & Ice Climbing

guiding services to climbing sites located in more obscure areas. Itinerary

Essentially each day ‘s program focuses on the climbing experience and hospitality back at the lodge.

Package Included Features Transport to and from the lodge from the nearest airport All accommodation at the lodge All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge (packed/picnic-

style lunches for all-day climbing expeditions) Shuttle service to nearby climbing sites Guiding service to climbing sites located in more obscure areas Full use of other lodge facilities, hiking trails, canoes, bikes and

climbing library Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics A full guiding service is offered in conjunction with a local

climbing/mountaineering specialist


Locating climbing sites/routes in the immediate area is the key to this product. The type of rock/ice required will depend greatly on the type of group. Experienced climbers will be very specific about the type and difficulty of the routes they climb, while novices are more easily catered to and basic lessons could be staged at man made climbing walls.

Ontario sites are all well documented on the Thunder Bay and Toronto Alpine Club of Canada websites. Some of the highlights include:

Rock Climbing

Bon Echo Provincial Park – Mazinaw Rock (300ft granite rock), boat service required to base of cliff, highest in southern Ontario. Over 100

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multi-pitch routes. The site also includes hundreds of red ochre pictographs along the base of the cliffs.

Niagara Escarpment – which runs from Niagara Falls in the south to Tobermory, is the primary focus of southern Ontario rock climbing. Lion’s Head on the Bruce Peninsula is arguably the best location on the Escarpment.

Minaki – the largest, and best developed climbing area in the Kenora region.

Thunder Bay area including Nipigon – numerous possibilities including: Centennial Bluffs, Silver Harbour, Squaw Bay, Claghorn, Pass Lake, Orient Bay and Mt. Helen.

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Ice Climbing

Thunder Bay – within reach of the city are numerous easy sport crags, multi-pitch rock and ice climbs, as well as thousands of unclimbed lines.

Nipigon – gateway to the Orient Bay Ice Climbing area. Orient Bay is the premier ice climbing site of the north with over 150 ice climbs of every difficulty level, all easily accessed.

Other northern sites ice sites include: Kama Bay and Ice Station Superior, which has the longest climbs up to 175m.

Southern Ontario – areas include: Schooner Lake, Brule Lake and Kennisis River Crag.

The following figure illustrates the detail available in these on line resources.



Figure: 7.6.1 Ice Routes at Brule Lake, ON

Source: Alpine Club of Canada – Toronto section


Climbing can be easily combined with other activities and as a result offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators depending on their location and existing product including:

Other Attractions

Restaurants/Cafés

Climbing guides/companies

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Other activity providers (e.g. birding, canoeing, biking, wildlife viewing etc)


Alpine Club of Canada http://www.alpineclubofcanada.ca/

Numerous climbing resources: list of guide books, learning to climb material, covers both rock and ice climbing.

Alpine Club of Canada – Toronto section www.climbers.org◆



◆ Alpine Club of Canada – Thunder Bay section http://www.norlink.net/~alpinecc/

Rock Climbing Guide for NW Ontario

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http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~efee/guidebk.htm

Parks Ontario http://www.ontarioparks.com ◆

◆ Parks Canada http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca



For self-guided climbing there would be little or no additional infrastructure requirements for operators, as they would primarily be providing accommodations and a shuttle service to climbing sites. There may be some investment in guides and maps required and

To offer lessons operators could either partner with an existing operator in the area, who would have all the necessary equipment or they would need the skills and gear themselves to offer these. There is a substantial amount of highly specialized equipment required, although this would again depend on the level of the participant(s) and highly skilled climbers are likely to opt for self-guided activities or have most of their own equipment.

- Ropes, harness and helmets.

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- Other gear could include: climbing shoes, numerous carabiners/quickdraws, belays, slings and protection devices.

- There are numerous other pieces of more specialized equipment such as: passive protection/pitons/camming devices, descenders, and ascenders. Although many of the experienced climbers would be reluctant to use rent equipment and usually have their own gear.

- Ice climbing would require other equipment such as: crampons, ice screws and ice axes.




Human Resources

Guides would need to be competent rock/ice climbers, with substantial experience in the local area and, if substantial backcountry travel were a component, they would also need excellent bush skills and some form of Wilderness First Aid certification.

Interpretation could still be a component of a climbing experience so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features. If tours or multi-day adventures are the core component, then operators will need the think about other support staff such as:

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Support vehicle driver/camp setup and cook(s), although the guide often assumes responsibility for cooking meals.


See the general section in this report for sustainable operational guidelines and standards.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the climbing activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to climbers in general through general adventure, travel publications and local and regional newspapers.

Explore Magazine - Canada www.explore-mag.com Canadian Geographic www.canadiangeographic.ca Outside, U.S www.outsidemag.com

As well as specific online climbing publications:

• Climbing Magazine http://www.climbing.com

• Rock & Ice www.rockandice.com

• Road and Road Guide www.rocknroad.com

• Adventurous Travelers Books www.adventuroustraveler.com



• Rock and River www.rockandriver.com

• The Mountaineer www.mountaineer.com

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with climbing and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

3. Marketing to local, national and international climbing and alpine clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in climbing oriented publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

The American market is significant with 7.4 million rock and mountain climbers.


The international marketplace also contains numerous countries with potentially large numbers of avid climbers looking for new destinations, for example: France, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Australia.

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DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area’s resources to determine significant rock and ice climbing locations within the local area.

2. Contact the Alpine Club of Canada (either Toronto or Thunder Bay) to assess potential opportunities, partnerships and the resources available to help you establish a climbing product (see above partnerships section).




4. Plan the activity around your area’s climbing site as well as some of its key natural, historic and cultural features. Develop a good knowledge base to be able to advise climbers on the best location given the conditions.

5. Look for opportunities to partner with existing climbing operators to offer fully guided services and lessons as well as organizations that may provide some of the resources you need.




Rock and Ice Climbing Appendix

Alpine Rock Club Ontario

Alpine Club of Canada – Thunder Bay Section

Rock and Ice Climbing Appendix Page A7.6-1

7.7 - DEVELOPING ATV TOURING PRODUCTS/PACKAGES

ATV MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Nearly 141 million Americans (66% of the population) over the age of 16 participate in activities involving driving for pleasure and sightseeing as a form of outdoor recreation. More specifically this breaks down into the following segments:

Almost a 124 million (58%) Americans drive for pleasure through natural scenery and

Just over 41 million (19%) participate in off-road 4-wheel driving, ATVing or motorcycling in the outdoors.

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In Canada there are close to a million (802,000) people participating in off-road vehicle use in natural areas (Environment Canada, 1996).

Snowmobiling is also closely related to ATVing and is basically its winter equivalent.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

ATV tours and excursions are already offered by a number of existing resource-based operators in Ontario, either as an additional activity, a mode of transport or as a core activity.

ATV tours would focus on the available trail network in the immediate area. Only trail systems that are well signed and mapped should be promoted for ATV use.

An individual operator can distinguish their product by adding value to the generic activity of ATVing and creating a tour.

Thus, ATV tours can be integrated with other components such as interpretation of natural, heritage, cultural features, bird and wildlife viewing. However, wildlife viewing activities are better suited to non-motorized forms of transport such as walking, biking and paddling.

ATV Product Opportunities Page 7.7-1


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Typically an ATV package would include accommodations, some or all meals, guided ATV tours and perhaps some other additional activities such as hiking, or paddling.

There are a number of options for providing guided ATV Tours these include:

Lodge-based day trips on trails nearby

Multi-day trips from cabin-to-cabin

Multi-day trips with a camping component

There is also the option to provide self-guided product, where operators provide visitors with an ATV and help them plan a local route.

These trips could all be adapted to suit a particular audience or group by varying the distance covered and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on ATVing with other complementary activities like hiking and wildlife viewing.

For lodge-based ATV Tours, operators will have to design numerous itineraries and routes that will keep ATV riders interested for a number of days in one area. The routes should endeavour to incorporate the area’s key features that will provide talking points for interpretation during the journey.

Offering a more complete experience that includes other activities like wildlife viewing, birding, canoeing and hiking will help increase the packages appeal.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of an ATV tour package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

ATV Tours


An all-inclusive package offering daily guided ATV tours with an interpretative component to provide insight into the area’s flora, fauna and heritage.

Itinerary The first day starts with a familiarization session to review

safety precautions and teach guests about the bikes they will be riding.



ATV Tours

Daily guided ATV tours vary in duration from 2 to 6 hours, with the longer rides including a picnic lunch prepared by the guide. Guests on the shorter duration rides have lunch back at the lodge. Guides provide interpretation of the surrounding landscape,

culture and heritage, as well as helping guests to identify various mammals and birds spotted along the way. Guests are free to either go on the guided ATV tours or

utilize the other facilities that the lodge offers (e.g. mountain bikes and canoes) or to simply relax. At the end of each day’s activities, guests retreat to the

comfort of the lodge for dinner and sleep. Package Included Features Transport to and from the lodge from the nearest airport All accommodation at the lodge All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge Daily guided ATV tours Full use of other lodge facilities, canoes, mountain bikes and

hiking trails Binoculars are provided for wildlife viewing Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes for ATV tours are small (8 or less) to minimize

the impact on the environment and wildlife. For longer stays operators offer a greater array of ATV tour

routes. Some proceeds go towards preservation of the local fauna

and flora. * Higher price points are achieved with a higher standard of




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The Ontario Federation of All Terrain Vehicle Clubs (OFATV) website is an excellent resource for locating clubs in a particular area and then finding out from the members where the existing ATV trails are located. Numerous other areas would also have local trail networks suitable for ATV riding and tours. However, there are many factors that have to be considered such as the needs of multi-user groups, Crown land use, MWR Requirements, Forest Management Planning, Mining, cost and responsibility of ongoing trail maintenance, safety issues, risk management issues and the environment.


Although similar to snowmobiling in a number of ways the ATV product does not have the same resources and infrastructure as an organization like the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC).

However, the opportunity exists for ATV tours to partner and as a result offer a multitude of facilities, services and activities depending on their location. Partnerships include:

Accommodations

Attractions

Restaurants/Cafés

Other similar providers to assess the possibly of forming a circuit tour (e.g. lodge-to-lodge).

Other activity providers (e.g. hiking, canoeing, kayaking and wildlife viewing)

Similar to snowmobiling an opportunity existing to partner with rail providers to offer train based excursions.

The best starting point for resources and promotional partners would be OFATV; their site has numerous of links and useful information on ATVing. Other examples include:

• Ontario Federation of All Terrain Vehicles

www.ofatv.org



• ATV Source U.S (lists U.S clubs) www.atvsource.com

• ATV Adventures Television Cayuga, Ontario, N0A 1E0

Phone (905)772-1800

• Ontario Federation of Trail Riders www.oftr.org

• ATV Time www.atvtime.com

• VIA Rail packages http://www.viarail.ca

• Tracks & Trails Snowmobile Excursions

Algoma Central Railway, Sault Ste Marie (705) 946-7300



ATV’s are fairly expensive and generally start at around the $3,500 for a 125cc 4x4 bike and go up to around $8,000 for a 600cc bike.

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ATV tour operators tend to favour smaller-engined bikes that are either 125cc or 250cc and preferably automatics. This makes it easier for a novice to handle.

Unlike snowmobiles the vast majority of ATV’s use 4-stroke engines and therefore do not produce some of the same noise and emission problems associated with 2-stroke products.

Some form of support vehicle (a large 4x4 pickup) could be required to assist riders on trail, though likely only necessary for multi day tours.

Camping equipment may also be required if the tours are accessing wilderness areas with little or no infrastructure.

Human Resources

Guides

Guides should be competent ATV riders, have some knowledge of the machinery, and depending on the distances covered have some form of Wilderness First Aid certification.



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Interpretation is a vital component to increasing a ATV tours appeal, so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.

Guides may also require other skills such as cooking depending on the type of product offered.


Included in the appendix are the OFATV Trail Etiquette & Environmental Guidelines.

It has been identified that there is a need for a community-based tourism model for ATV use on multi-trail systems. It has also been concluded that a Best Practices Manual should be produced that will address trail design and development, safety aspects, environmental concerns, signage, trail etiquette, packaging, etc. The OFATV is considering undertaking these two initiatives.

Motorized forms of adventure are potentially high risk, which leads to significant liability and insurance issues. Operators should consult with qualified lawyers and insurance professionals to address these issues early on in the development process and certainly prior to any marketing initiatives or actual operations of new products and packages.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the ATV tours and their components. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to potential ATV tour participants through a range of publications.

• Adventure travel publications

• Some snowmobiling publications maybe useful as there is some overlap between the two products.



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• Specific media include:

ATV Connection Magazine www.ATVConnection.com

All Terrain Vehicle Magazine ◆ www.atv-mag.com

◆ Steel Riders - ATV Adventure magazine

http://www.steelriders.com

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with ATV and other related sites (see above and partnerships section).

3. Marketing to local, national and international ATV clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in ATV oriented publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

The American market contains just over 41 million (19%) people who participate in off-road 4-wheel driving, ATVing or motorcycling in the outdoors.

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The international marketplace also contains countries that offer potential for ATV packages. For example, Germany, Holland and Austria were countries at Rendez-vous Canada that displayed the high interest in land based adventure tours.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area’s resources (natural, cultural and historic) that lie along existing or potential trail networks.



2. Contact ATV Ontario and other various ATV groups to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product (see above partnerships section).

3. Assess and plan a route utilizing the area’s existing trail network. This should take into account multi-user groups, as well as relevant landowners. A plan for the ongoing cost and responsibility for trail maintenance should also be established.

4. Prepare a risk management plan that will help address liability issues and likely be a requirement of insurance coverage.

5. Take the necessary steps to ensure that the route will have a minimal impact on the surrounding flora and fauna. It is a good idea to have done this type of research before approaching potential stakeholders.

6. Liaise with land owners and other potential stakeholders that maybe effected by the proposed route. Demonstrate commitment to principles of sustainable tourism, especially important for motorized forms of tourism.

7. Look for opportunities to partner with existing ATV operators, as well as other lodges and outfitters that could form part of a circuit route.




ATV Appendix

Ontario Federation of All Terrain Vehicle Clubs

OFATV Trail Etiquette & Environmental Guidelines

ATV Product Opportunities Page A7.7-1

8.1 – OVERALL CULTURAL HERITAGE PACKAGING GUIDELINES

CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Two significant travel trends will dominate the tourism market in the next decade.

Mass marketing is giving way to one-to-one marketing with travel being tailored to the interests of the individual consumer.

A growing number of visitors are becoming special interest travelers who rank the arts, heritage and/or other cultural activities as one of the top five reasons for traveling.

The combination of these two trends is being fueled by technology, through the proliferation of online services and tools, making it easier for the traveler to choose destinations and customize their itineraries based on their interests.

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Research for the Resource Based Tourism Diversification Study revealed that “Partners in Tourism: Culture and Commerce” commissioned the Travel Industry Association of America to add a series of question to its January 2001 National Travel Survey. The purpose of the survey was to determine the length of time that travelers extend their trips because of cultural/heritage activities or events. This included travelers who added time either when they were planning the trip or while on the trip. This study underscores the importance of arts and culture as an effective product for tourism to market their communities both domestically and internationally.

Two-thirds (65 percent) of American adult travelers say they included a cultural, arts, heritage or historic activity or event while on a trip of 50 miles or more, one-way, in the past year.

This equates to 92.7 million cultural travelers. This is slightly higher than in 1998, when 61 percent of travelers claimed to have included a cultural, arts, heritage or historic activity or event on a past-year trip.

Overall Cultural Heritage Packaging Guidelines Page 8.1-1


◆ Ontario received almost 6.5 million cultural visitors in 1999, with 37% coming from the U.S.

Cultural Overnight Visitors in Ontario, 1999

788 12.2

Origin of Visitors Cultural Visitors Share (%)

CANADA

OVERSEAS 919 14.2

3,161 49.0

UK 184 2.9

Ontario 2,633

Japan 64

40.8 Quebec 229 3.5

1.0 France 106

Manitoba 79

1.6 Germany

1.2 Atlantic Canada

79 1.2 All Other

86 1.3

486 7.5

Western Canada 134 2.1

Source: Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation

Visiting a historic site such as a building, battlefield or historic community, remains as the most popular cultural activity with four in ten (43 percent) adult travelers participating in this activity while on a trip in the past year. Participation in this activity has remained fairly constant since 1998, when 41 percent of travelers claimed they visited historic sites.

Museums are also popular with travelers, as 30 percent claim they have visited a museum while on a past-year trip.

USA 2,376 36.8 Michigan 542 8.4 New York 460

241 3.7 Pennsylvania 142 2.2 Illinois 111 1.7

41

Other cultural activities Americans enjoy while on trips away from home include live theater (23 percent), art galleries (21 percent), heritage or ethnic festivals (20 percent) and concerts (19 percent). When compared

7.1 Ohio

Minnesota 0.6 Wisconsin 52 0.8 Other USA

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to 1998, most of these cultural, arts, heritage or historic activities or events show little or no change in participation rates.

The only activity that shows a substantial increase is attendance at a live theatre performance, which increased from 19 percent in 1998 to 23 percent in 2000.

More Americans attended arts events than sporting events in the last decade, while museums and cultural events are more popular than gambling and nightlife for vacationing Americans. The popularity of cultural/heritage tourism has state tourism officials and local convention and visitors bureaus hustling to meet the ever-increasing demand. A program of 13 cultural-theme itineraries, California: Culture’s Edge, achieved one of the most significant returns of any of the American Express destination marketing programs to date. (Source: Travel Industry Association of America; Partners in Tourism)

Travelers who include cultural events on their trips differ from other U.S. travelers in a number of ways. They are more likely to:

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Have annual household incomes over $50,000: 46 percent vs. 40 percent

Have completed college: 33 percent vs. 28 percent).

They also share similarities to other travelers:

56 percent are married

40 percent are Baby Boomers

36 percent have children under 18

In addition to creating new jobs, new business and higher property values, well-managed tourism improves the quality of life and builds community pride.

According to a 1997 Report on Cultural and Historic Tourism, visitors to historic sites stay longer and spend more money than other kinds of tourists.

Visitors to historic and cultural attractions spend, on average, $615 per trip compared to $425 for all U.S. travelers, and they spend and average of 4.7 nights away from home as compared to 3.3 nights for all other travelers. (Source: Travel Industry Association of America).



◆ Cultural visitors to Ontario also spent considerably more than the average overnight tourist.

1,065 Japan 997

Cultural Overnight Visitors in Ontario, 1999

Origin of Visitors Average $ per Person All Visitors

Average $ per Person

Cultural Visitors TOTAL

UK 1,263 1,302 France 728 680 Germany 1,046

1,249

Source: Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Recreation – Ontario

People added time, either when they were planning the trip, or while on the trip, because of an interest in experiencing a cultural/heritage activity. The survey showed that cultural/heritage travelers have increased the tendency to add time to their trips in the year 2000, as compared to 1998 (26 per cent vs. 9 per cent)

Perhaps the biggest benefits of heritage tourism, though, are diversification of local economies and preservation of a community's unique character. (For more information on the benefits of tourism, contact the Travel Industry Association of America at http://www.tia.org )

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Cultural heritage tours and activities also have the potential to be offered as an additional activity year-round by many existing resource-based operators in Ontario, who already have much of the infrastructure necessary (e.g., boats, 4x4s, and outpost lodges) along with a thorough knowledge of the

239 433 CANADA 139 241

Ontario 120 207 Quebec 239 262

USA 419 416 Michigan 244 296 New York 266 315 Ohio 354 359 Pennsylvania 359 346

OVERSEAS 1,106 1,136



surrounding region, and good contacts with local cultural heritage organizations who are part of the partnership mix for developing this product.

The actual product focuses on the cultural heritage resource base and the opportunities in that immediate area to experience these

Experiencing the culture and heritage of the community or area is often (and should be) integrated with other activities such as walks, hikes, boat rides, and other nature-based experiences.

Archaeological sites (Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal “historical archaeological” sites

Buildings and structures

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Interpretation often extends beyond local cultures and history, and can include various aspects of the local environment, habitats, ecology and wildlife.

Typically a cultural heritage tour package would include accommodations, some or all meals, transportation by vehicle and/or boat to key sites of interest and include an interpreter/guide who could bring the site’s stories “to life” and provide an enriching experience for the visitor.

Heritage tourism is a form of eco-tourism which focuses on how “human interventions” interacted with the natural environment. As well as encompassing cultural activities, and events, heritage tourism works with four types of physical heritage resources:

Cultural landscapes (e.g., trails, portages, farmsteads, mining, logging areas)

Sites of sacred or secular value (First Nations sites, cemeteries)

The potential increasingly exists for Ontario and particularly northern regions of the province, to capitalize on heritage tourism if it is not marketed solely as a single segment, but if there is an integration of nature-based, “ecotourism” with cultural heritage tourism (travel directed toward experiencing local traditions, arts, and heritage while respecting the host community and its surrounding environment). Cultural heritage tourism is an important link that should be part of all ecotourism products and tour packages. (S. Steele-



Prohaska, Ecotourism and Cultural Heritage Tourism: Forging Stronger Links)

This author further states that: “People travel to see how other people live, to experience their respective communities and to understand the natural environments that define their existence.

Individual operators involved in diversifying Ontario’s resource-based tourism industry need to collaborate to develop a tourism experience in which everyone benefits. Individuals and organizations working to protect and manage forests, farmlands, and wetlands must be equally concerned about protecting archaeological sites, historic buildings, and local communities – First Nations, and non-Aboriginal.

Through ecotourism and cultural heritage tourism, natural and cultural resources could be preserved and carefully promoted in a manner that will sustain the resources for the long term.

The addition of socio-cultural content to the ecotourism experience gives visitors greater depth of understanding.

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Tourism research confirms that as tourists become increasingly better educated and more affluent, they expect their ecotourism experience to be both educational and enjoyable. More and more tourists are saying that an important factor in their travel decision is the desire for an authentic experience through interaction with the local culture in its natural context.

The development of guidelines for educating visitors about environmentally fragile areas and cultural issues is paramount in any tour package.

Tourist operators and destination marketing organizations need to be involved in the creation of acceptable guidelines for marketing their nature and heritage based tourism products.

There also needs to be an education of employees as well as tourists about these issues is an important way of decreasing negative environmental and social impacts. It will be necessary to combine business skills with integrated planning practices in order to satisfy customers and meet competition and adhere to the following guidelines in developing cultural heritage tourism packages.



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Planning that protects visual integrity as well as natural and cultural resources;

Identification and enforcement of limits of acceptable change;

Development of direct benefits to local residents from increased visitation to their community.


Ontario’s cultural heritage is richly diverse. There is evidence of human habitation on the land extending at least as far back as the last Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago. Arguably, all of northern Ontario is a “cultural, or heritage landscape”. Human interventions on the land have been well documented by archaeologists, historians, museologists, and hundreds of volunteer cultural heritage organizations.

The First Nations communities have been active in oral history projects, and in retracing and telling the fascinating stories of their ancestry.

This rich body of knowledge is available to tourism operators and to destination marketing organizations as a basis for developing and packaging authentic, high quality cultural heritage tourism experiences in their various locales.

Themes representing Ontario’s cultural heritage resources for the benefit of this study are summarized so that the themes effectively cover the entire range of human history in the province. These themes can be used as a guide for operators to use in planning and packaging heritage tourism opportunities. All of these themes are present in Northern Ontario, and with some research, or partnering with a local heritage organization, these can be presented in an interesting and dynamic package for visitors interested in cultural heritage activities. The themes are:

Maritime/waterways themed packages (relating to fur trade era, and Great Lakes Coast transportation heritage)

Railway heritage tours

Forestry and mining history



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Archaeological heritage

First Nations cultural heritage

Arts and crafts workshops

Cultural festivals and events

Partnership Opportunities/Knowledge Resources

There is a cultural heritage organization in virtually every Ontario community, and often several, for this field covers the range of genealogy (emerging as a significant tourism segment in itself), archaeology, history, museums, and cultural pursuits such as art, theatre, music, literature, and cultural groups representing folklore, along with First Nations cultural organizations. Operators interested in cultural heritage packaging have an opportunity to build relationships with these organizations, to the mutual benefit of each group.

Cultural heritage organization and resources that may be useful include the following:

• Ontario Heritage Foundation

• The Conservation Council of Ontario

• Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation-Heritage

• Architectural Conservancy of Ontario

• Canadian Conservation Institute

• Canadian Heritage

• CHIN-Canadian Heritage Information Network

• Canadian Centre for Architecture

• Canadian Environmental Network

• Canadian Museums Association

• Canadian Railroad Historical Association

• National Historic Sites/Parks Canada

• Canadian Canal Society



• CRB Foundation, The Heritage Project

• Ontario Museums Association

As noted above, operators should work closely with local volunteer heritage and cultural organizations, including museums and historical societies. The Ontario Heritage Foundation, the Ontario Museums Association, and the Ontario Archaeological Society are all developing marketing initiatives in heritage tourism, and are open and supportive in assisting with sharing knowledge, training, and heritage resources information.

These organizations will have a full awareness of up and coming special cultural events and festivals that could of interest to operators wishing to offer a package to coincide with these activities.

• Historica

• ICOMOS Canada



As with some outdoor and nature-based activities, cultural heritage tour planning requires very little investment as far as facilities and equipment are concerned. Along with offering hospitality, operators would benefit from learning the history and cultural background of their surrounding area, so some basic research is advised. Provision of maps, and information packages would be helpful. Packaging a heritage tour with a skilled guide or interpreter is highly recommended. Therefore, a roster of local or “imported” professional guides should be developed, and these people should be marketed as part of the cultural heritage tour as having expertise and knowledge of the subject matter.

Information Sources

There is a vast array of maps, articles, Internet resources, and books that relate to the cultural history of Ontario.



For retracing fur trade history, the Canadian Recreational Canoeing Association (www.crca.ca) has a valuable online book store, and maps which identify canoe routes and portage trails.

The book Exploring the Fur Trade Routes of North America (by Barbara Huck) provides “Driving Directions to 100 Sites”, as well as identifying water-based travel opportunities.

The Adventure Map series, published by Chrismar Mapping Services, ( ) provide excellent tour maps of “wilderness adventure areas”. These are waterproof, and provide an excellent base map for travel into wilderness areas. The maps include text which offers local history information.

www.chrismar.com

The Ulysses Guide for Ontario is province-wide in scope, but does provide an informed perspective on geographical and historical attractions and experiences.

The most comprehensive source is the Web. Any tour operator who is planning a tour package can assemble the basic information from searching local history sources (or any theme pertaining to the region on the Web, as all students in Ontario schools can verify).

Human Resources

Some resource-based operators are already knowledgeable about culture and heritage. With basic research and some practice an operator could provide an interesting and colorful tour themselves. As in birding, guides could be employed who have expertise in any facet of the cultural heritage field, and their costs built into the package.

Operators could likely partner with cultural heritage associations who may have enthusiasts that would like to offer their services as part or full-time guides.

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Ontario Archaeological Society, Ontario Historical Society, Ontario Museums Association, are associations that could provide valuable information and contacts for “heritage tourism” guides

Universities and other education institutions with archaeology, history, museological and First Nations studies departments could also be



potential partners where you could recruit students and/or faculty in these programs as seasonal or part-time guides.


Given the public’s growing concern for both cultural and natural environments, some challenges which have developed as a result of cultural heritage and ecotourism include:

Determining the carrying capacity of the resource

Understanding the underlying purpose for conservation of natural and cultural resources

Identifying whose resources are being interpreted and by whom

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◆ Questioning the need to encourage repeat visitation.

MARKETING/PROMOTION AND PACKAGING CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM

There is a definite opportunity for Ontario resource-based tourist operators to aggressively market cultural heritage tour packages. Examples of individual tourist operators doing this in a comprehensive way are currently scarce in Ontario. Group tour planners have been marketing heritage tourism attractions for years, but for single operators this is a relatively new tourism marketing activity.

General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a feature on the tourist operator’s web site which the highlights cultural heritage activities and packages.

Specific marketing initiatives could include:

1. Market your packages/products to culture, history, and ecotour enthusiasts through related web sites. There is a cross-over of interests among these groups (often they are one and the same)

2. To make your website effective, establish links and partnerships with cultural heritage and ecotour related sites.



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4. Over the longer term, work towards targeting states further south and the European market, particularly for themed activities related to archaeology, First Nations and the Fur Trade.

An investment of at least $5,000 for marketing (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and advertising in specialized heritage publications) would encompass some of the marketing tools essential to promoting cultural/heritage tourism packages. Some operators may specialize as a “birding” or ecotour establishment. However, it is more likely that an operator could promote a mix of ecotourism and cultural heritage activities – northern Ontario possesses a richness of both natural and cultural heritage for operators to capitalize upon.

Target markets

Certainly the U.S. market offers the best prospect in terms of customers willing to pay $100-$200 or more per person per day for a quality experience in a wilderness area which encompasses both nature-based and cultural heritage tourism experiences.

The American market contains 93 million people who in 2000 participated in cultural heritage tourism activities


A large target market exists in Southern Ontario, from Ottawa through to Windsor, in that Northern Ontario has held a long appeal for people who are attracted to the lore and nature of the north. These tourists are often interested in both eco and cultural heritage experiences, and would be a primary market for an effective tour package offered by a tourist operator who could deliver a dynamic, enriching experience.



DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area's archaeology, history, “legends” and folklore, identifying the key sites and experiences associated with these themes. There are a number of government and non-government organizations mentioned earlier that could provide assistance in this task.

2. Contacting various Ontario-based and other North American historical and cultural heritage organizations to assess potential partnering opportunities.

3. Establish operational guidelines based on those used by other recognized cultural heritage organizations (there are accepted principles for heritage tourism that can be adapted for local use).

4. Contact local clubs and organizations active in cultural/heritage activities to assess potential guide resources.

5. Plan an activity or tour around your area’s cultural heritage resources, which may involve very little change to your existing product, especially if touring-oriented activities such as hiking are already offered.

6. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators, as well as organizations that may have some of the resources you need to establish an effective cultural/heritage program.




Culture/Heritage Appendix

Ontario Heritage Foundation ◆

Overall Cultural Heritage Packaging Guidelines Appendix Page A8.1-1

8.2 - FIRST NATIONS CULTURAL HERITAGE PRODUCTS/PACKAGES

MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Interest in experiencing Aboriginal tourism has been increasing in the past decade with support from First Nations communities, organizations such as the Canadian Tourism Commission, Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada, provincial government initiatives, and through the formation of organizations such as the Northern Ontario Native Tourism Association.

Aboriginal tourism generated about $270 million in 1999 and is expected to reach the $1.9 billion mark in 10 years if all potential is realized.

In 1999, Aboriginal tourism employed about 14,000 people in Canada.

PRODUCT CONCEPT

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Aboriginal tourism products can be offered on a year round basis as the diversity of experiences match well with seasonal changes.

Tourism operators can be both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, but to ensure that cultural integrity is maintained, it would be appropriate for non-Aboriginal operators intending to market any form of Aboriginal tourism, to contact and involve Aboriginal partners, gain an appreciation of the culture, and work out a partnership relationship.

The stories related to Anishnabe people in Northern Ontario transcend any land ownership. The cultural presence is rich and diverse and needs to be respected by tourists. The product can include:

Spending time on the land where the Anishnabai have lived for over 6,000 years.

Experiencing the grandeur of the land and waterways of Northern Ontario while living in a traditional camp and gaining insight into the teachings and spirituality of Anishnabai culture and traditions

First Nations Cultural Heritage Products/Packages Appendix Page A8.2-1


(e.g., Temagami Anishnabai Tipi Camp owned and operated by a Temagami Anishnabai family).

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Participating in First Nations cultural events.

Ontario's Resources

All Ontario First Nations and Aboriginal economic development and tourism organizations are actively pursuing some degree of First Nations tourism.

Organizations such as Northern Ontario Native Tourism Association are helping to be a catalyst to the development and marketing of the Aboriginal tourism product. Regional groups are emerging such as The G'Nadjiwon Ki Aboriginal Tourism Association, whose mandate is to “be a leader in promoting Aboriginal tourism", and will "help Aboriginal people in the region to benefit from a unique and viable Aboriginal tourism industry which will be an economic cornerstone for Aboriginal communities and which presents, protects, and respects Aboriginal culture and preserves our Mother Earth."

Provincial and federal initiatives are supporting the development of this sector (e.g., organizations such as Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada ( )). http://www.attc.ca/tourism.htm


Tourist Operators and First Nations communities ◆

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First Nations communities forming partnerships to market cooperatively

Product Requirements

Facilities and equipment

Equipment is dependent on the type of experience. For example, for a traditional camp, tipi structures and associated equipment are required.

Tourist operators adjacent to First Nations communities can provide accommodation. Potential partnerships could be worked out in this regard through dialogue with possible Aboriginal partners.

First Nations Cultural Heritage Products/Packages Page 8.2-2


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Field Guides, Maps

Excellent maps, guides exist for all traditional canoe routes, and portages

Human Resources

Community elders, leaders are invaluable resources for developing tourism in a manner that matches the cultural perspectives of the community

Trained Aboriginal tourism personnel are emerging through educational programs such as Georgian College’s Aboriginal Tourism Management program, with expertise in marketing, economic development and market research in industry sectors such as accommodation, food and beverage services, the travel trade, tour development, conventions, conferences, attractions and special events.

Marketing and Promotion

There is a definite opportunity for resource-based tourist operators in partnership with First Nations communities to market Aboriginal cultural heritage tour packages.

The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a feature on the tourist operator’s web site which highlights First Nations cultural heritage activities. The NONTA Moccasin Trail tours website ( ) has good examples of Aboriginal products and packages. http://www.nonta.net/moctours/intro.html

Specific marketing initiatives could include:

Marketing packages/products to targeted groups interested in First Nations/Aboriginal heritage. There is a cross-over of interests between ecotourists and those with a specific interest in Aboriginal heritage.

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◆ Establish links and partnerships with appropriate cultural heritage and ecotour related sites.

An investment of at least $5,000 for marketing (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and advertising) would encompass



some of the marketing tools essential to promoting First Nations cultural/heritage tourism packages.

Target markets


U.S. market offers prospects in terms of customers willing to pay $100-$200 or more per person per day for a quality experience in a wilderness area which encompasses both eco and cultural heritage tourism experiences, such as Aboriginal cultural tourism.


The European market, particularly Germany, France, and Italy, have a strong interest in Aboriginal cultural heritage.

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U.S. – Great Lakes states, with a targeted group being soft adventure travellers, and ecotourists, who show a demonstrated interest in Aboriginal culture as part of their adventure experience

Southern Ontario – 35 –55 market, interested in soft adventure and ecotourism, and enrichment and “wellness” experiences.

Target markets could include Ontario’s traditional key rubber tire markets, which include the border states such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

(considerations are slightly different for non Aboriginal versus Aboriginal resource-based tourist operators)

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area's First Nations archaeology, history, and “legends” and folklore, identifying the key sites and experiences associated with this theme. There are a number of government and non-government organizations mentioned earlier that could provide assistance in this task. First Nations communities will rely on elders, and tourism/economic development and cultural organizations to assist in this process.



2. Establish operational guidelines based on those used by other recognized Aboriginal tourism and cultural heritage organizations. There are accepted principles and ethics for both developing tourism and for working in partnership with First Nations communities. NONTA could help with identifying these.

3. Plan an activity or tour around the area’s First Nations cultural heritage resources, which may involve little change to some existing products, but would add significant value.

4. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators, as well as organizations that may have some of the resources you need to establish an effective First Nations aspect of a cultural/heritage program.

5. Employ local First Nations guides and staff as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Quality guides and staff are key to business success.



First Nations Appendix

Northern Ontario Native Tourism Association

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First Nations Cultural Heritage Products/Packages Appendix Page A8.2-1

8.3 – DEVELOPING RAILWAY CULTURAL HERITAGE PRODUCTS AND PACKAGES


Activities which relate to this unique theme include the following:

Driving tours along railway routes, to railway communities

Group tours to railway museums and railway excursions

Hiking, cycling along abandoned rail lines

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The railway heritage theme attracts rail enthusiasts who are well organized and very active in preservation and promotion of railway heritage sites.

The U.S. based National Railway Historical Society has 175 Chapters in United States and Canada, and railway heritage interests include:

• Riding railways

• Operating trains

• Taking photographs

• Restoring vintage equipment

• Preserving and revitalizing railroad structures

• Writing books or articles on current events

• Talking about rail history

• Watching trains, socializing, train-spotting, rail-fanning.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Ontario has a rich railway heritage which is linked to such stories as “The National Dream”. The railway opened up the province significantly in the 19th

Developing Railway Cultural Heritage Products And Packages Page 8.3-1


Century and early 20th Century to mining, and forest industrial development, settlement, and tourism.

There are opportunities for tourist operators to capitalize on this niche activity for those in proximity to heritage railway sites and rail excursions. Operators can accommodate and host visitors who are seeking personal enrichment and study of Ontario’s railway heritage. Operators would benefit by teaming up with railway heritage organizations that are extremely dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of Ontario’s railroad heritage. Operators could also provide railway heritage interpreters, or guides, to present workshops and seminars, or to conduct guided tours to railway heritage sites.

Railway cultural heritage packages can include:

Activities – guided tours, workshops, and self-guided tours, which provide experiences and interpretation that recall key aspects of railway heritage. A number of railway heritage projects are highly participatory.

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Railway heritage enthusiasts are often willing to spend some vacation time volunteering to work on railway heritage projects such as refurbishing equipment or restoring railway heritage buildings such as stations.

These activities can be integrated with activities related to interpreting natural/ecological heritage sites and tours in the area.

ONTARIO'S RESOURCES

Ontario’s railway heritage resources are well documented and information is readily accessible on the Web. Ontario’s three significant rail tour excursions which were available in 2001 are the Polar Bear Express excursion operated by Ontario Northland Railway between Cochrane and Moosonee, the Agawa Canyon Tour Train run by the Algoma Central Railway out of Sault Ste. Marie, and the Timber Train rail tour excursion operated out of Mattawa.

These rail excursions make ideal packaging opportunities for resource-based operators located in reasonable proximity to either of the terminal points of these excursions. Descriptions of the latter two excursions follow.



Agawa Canyon Train Tour Excursion

Welcome aboard one of the most spectacular train excursions in North America. This one-day wilderness excursion will take you 114 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie, over towering trestles, alongside pristine northern lakes and rivers, and through the awesome granite rock formations and mixed forests of the Canadian Shield.

Through the large picture windows of your comfortable coach, you will experience the same vistas and panoramas that inspired the Group of Seven to create some of Canada's most notable landscape art.

Only the hardiest made this rugged land their home and the marks of the Ojibway, fur traders, lumberjacks and prospectors are barely discernible in this unspoiled wilderness. During your excursion our friendly tour attendants will tell you more about this fascinating country and its history.

Just when you thought you'd seen it all, we'll coast 500 feet down to the floor of the Agawa Canyon, where you will have two hours to experience the rugged beauty up close. The whole family can enjoy scenic walks on gravelled trails, four sets of waterfalls or an invigorating climb up over 300 stairs to the breathtaking Lookout platform, perched 250 feet above the tracks.

If you are looking for something more relaxing, you can stop in our Souvenir Car, enjoy a peaceful lunch in our groomed picnic areas or pull up a bench and watch the Agawa River flow by. Our park rangers will also be on hand to answer questions or possibly point out some local wildlife.

There will be plenty to photograph during your excursion so be sure to pack your camera and lots of film.

Taking the tour to a new level! Experience treetop views from our dome cars Algoma Country and Spirit of Superior. Dome Cars Both cars offer reserved seating; half-day in the upper dome and half-day in the lower lounge, bar service, private steward, as well as continental breakfast and a light lunch. Dome cars are open to riders 14 years of age and up.

Fall Colour Season

Algoma Country is ablaze with colour during the fall! Though peak colour varies with each season, the last two weeks of September and the first week of October can offer the most spectacular colour and should be considered when planning your fall tour. Due to popularity of the fall season, early bookings are recommended. (Source: Algoma Central Railway web site)



Timber Train – Mattawa

The Timber Train is a one-day rail excursion across the Ontario-Quebec border through the Laurentian Foothills. The 7 1/2 - hour journey takes you from Mattawa to Temiscaming and back after an enjoyable 3-hour stop. Take a journey on the Timber Train and learn about the rich history of the area’s aboriginal people, early explorers and other adventurers.

History and nature come alive on board the Timber Train as it rolls along the ‘Old Moccasin Line’ between Mattawa, Ontario and Temiscaming, Quebec.

The Timber Train is a one-day rail excursion across the Ontario-Quebec border through the Ottawa River Valley and the Laurentian Foothills. The whole trip takes about 7 1/2 hours, including a 2.5-hour tour stop in Temiscaming where you can sample the local culture.

Imagine

The Timber Train will bring you back in time on a journey you’ll not soon forget. Imagine life along this historic route at a time when it was a virtual highway for the ancestors of the local Algonquin people... or later when Samuel de Champlain and other famous European explorers navigated their way into the country’s interior… and later still when, at the turn of the last century, passengers travelled the old rail line in open air coaches pulled by wood-burning locomotives.

Our Roots

The Timber Train is a 100% local operation of the Mattawa-Temiscaming Excursion Company, a not-for-profit corporation run by a volunteer board of directors. 2000 is the rail excursion’s third year of operation. This highly successful initiative was recently selected by Attractions Canada as…Best New Ontario Attraction. (Source: Timber Train web site)

In addition to actual rail excursions, railway heritage packages could tie-in with other types of railway heritage historic sites and museums including the following:

Memory Junction

Brighton, ON

Classification: Depot museum

Location: We are located on Maplewood Ave. at Monk Street in Brighton on the way to Presqu’ile Provincial Park.



Comments: A former Grand Trunk Station, constructed in 1857. CNR #2534, originally Grand Trunk Railway, Class N-4-A built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1906. Renumbered #2534 is on display. A caboose is also on display.

Caledonia Grand Trunk Station

P.O. Box 2064 Caledonia, ON Telephone: (905) 765-5072 Fax: (905) 765-4125 E-mail: [email protected]

Classification: Museum with railroad display and model railroad display/museum

Location: Caledonia is located 15 minutes south of Hamilton and east of Brantford, Ontario, at the junction of Highways # 6 South and # 54.

Comments: Restoration of the Caledonia Grand Trunk Station began in September of 1996. A crew of about twelve dedicated volunteers worked Saturday mornings to bring the dilapidated station back to its former glory as built in 1913, with 'official' opening in November of 1997. Finishing touches are currently ongoing, as is the refurbishing of a wealth of Grand Trunk memorabilia. The Caledonia Chamber of Commerce offices and Tourist Information Centre occupy a portion of the Station building, with the majority of the space dedicated to various displays of Grand Trunk Railway, and other railway, artifacts, including an operating G Scale Model Railroad. The Station is generally open to the public daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. 'til noon.

Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Center 26 Bloor Street, Box 370 Capreol, ON P0M 1H0 Telephone: (705) 858-5050 Fax number: (705) 858-4539 E-mail: [email protected]

Classification: Museum with railroad display

Location: Located just 30 minutes north of the city of Sudbury, ON, Canada, the museum is next to Prescott Park in the heart of Capreol. Come into Sudbury and take Highway 69 North. Located at the park is a vintage CNR



Steam engine #6077, a Rule Instruction can and an old CNR wooden Caboose, plus many railroad artifacts and equipment.

Comments: The Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre is a not for profit organization, staffed mainly of volunteers committed to preserving the rich railroading heritage in northern Ontario. We strive to provide a positive individual learning experience to our guests

Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Center Homepage

Cochrane Railway & Pioneer Museum

P.O. Box 490 Cochrane, ON P0L 1C0 Telephone: (705) 272-3327

Classification: Museum

Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Society

26 Centre Street N. Huntsville, ON P1H 1X4 Telephone: (705) 789-4104 E-mail: [email protected]


Location: The rail compound is located on Muskoka Road #2(Ravenscliffe Road), Huntsville.

Comments: The Huntsville & Lake of Bays Railway Society has preserved two 0-4-0T MLW tank engines and other equipment related to the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway which ran from 1903 to 1959. The railway which had a 3'-6" gauge was called the "The smallest commercial railway in the world" having a total length of 1 1/8 miles. The society at this present time is only a static display but there is an active search at this time for property to build an operating tourist railway. Train compound can be visited by special arrangements.

Komoka Railway Museum, Inc.

P.O. Box 22, 133 Queen Street Komoka, ON N0L 1R0 Telephone: (519) 657-1912 E-mail: [email protected]




Location: 14 km west of London, Ontario on Middlesex Road 14 (Commissioners Rd. W). Halfway between Detroit and Toronto. Alternatively, Exit 82 on HWY. 402.

Comments: An all-volunteer operation, the Komoka Railway Museum displays the railway heritage of the Komoka and Southwestern Ontario areas (Canadian National, Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk Railways). The Museum is housed in a former CN railway station. A 1913 steam Shay logging locomotive is now undergoing restoration and a pre-1939 baggage car will soon house our redesigned model railroad and theater. Many artifacts are on display and both the casual visitor and the serious researcher are always welcome to use the extensive archives.

Timber Train

Box 147 Mattawa, ON P0H 1V0 Telephone: (800) 648-4446 E-mail: [email protected]

Classification: Diesel train excursions

Timber Train web site

Heritage Railway Company Mini-train

North Bay, ON

Classification: 15" gauge railroad

Heritage Railway Company Mini-train from the City of North-Bay web site

National Museum of Science and Technology – Canada

1867 Saint Laurent Blvd. Ottawa, ON K1G 5A3 Telephone: (613) 991-3044

Classification: National museum with a strong focus on transportation

Location: Museum is located about 10 minutes to the east and south of downtown Ottawa. Exit the Queensway at "St. Laurent South" and drive 1.6 km to Lancaster Road.

Owen Sound Marine-Rail Heritage Centre

1165 1st Avenue West Owen Sound, ON N4K 4K8



Telephone: (519) 371-3333 E-mail: [email protected]


Location: Located in the old Canadian National Railway Station on the west side of Owen Sound Harbour, just north of 10th St. West

Comments: Operated by the Owen Sound Historical Society with support from the City of Owen Sound. Has photographic records of both railways (CNR and CPR) plus the city's marine past associated with Great Lakes shipping. Archives contain research material used by both marine and rail historians.

Algoma Central Railway, Agawa Canyon tour train

129 Bay Street Sault Ste. Marie, ON Telephone: (800) 242-9287

Classification: Diesel excursions

Location: The station is in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, ON.

Comments: The Algoma Central is a normal railway, operating passenger trains from Sault Ste. Marie to Hearst as well as freight traffic. Of tourist interest is the Agawa Canyon trip: 114 miles each way through mostly forested uplands, taking 3.5 hours each way and providing 2 hours in the Canyon for picnicking, nature trails, etc. The park is not accessible by road. The trip is especially popular in fall when the forests show spectacular colors -- they can handle over 1500 passengers on one trip, but weekend dates still sell out more than a month ahead. The park can also be seen in winter from the Snow Train.

Reference: Algoma Central Railway by Charles Pierce.

Smiths Falls Railway Museum

P.O. Box 962 Smiths Falls, ON K7A 5A5 Telephone: (613) 283-5696 E-mail: [email protected]


Location: 90 William Street, West



Comments: The Smiths Falls Railway Museum is located in the former Canadian Northern railway station, built in 1914. It is open from May to October, seven days a week. The museum features the station building, exhibits and a variety of antique rolling stock. Rides are available in a Wickham track inspection car.

Ontario Northland Railway/Polar Bear Express

65 Front Street West Toronto, ON M5J 1E6 Telephone: (416) 314-3750 Fax number: (416) 314-3729 E- mail: [email protected] Classification: Excursions

The Heritage Railway Association represents more than 200 organizations engaged in preserving Britain’s railway heritage, ranging from more than 90 vertically integrated operating railways through steam centres and museums with substantial railway collections, to groups who own individual locomotives and items of rolling stock.

The heritage railway industry now has a turnover of over £43 million and attracts 9 million customers per year. It employs more than 1000 full-time staff, augmented by in excess of 23,000 volunteers. The total route mileage now exceeds 430 and extensions under construction and proposed should raise that to more than 600. The Resource Center is a worldwide site for sharing information about rail-trails.


To develop effective railway heritage packages, resource-based operators will need to partner with one or more of the previously listed rail excursions and railway heritage sites/museums. Other possible partners include:

Other tourist operators and communities, plus other provincial/national railway heritage organizations

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◆ Tour operators and wholesalers who are involved with railway excursion packages.



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An operator can host railway cultural heritage tour packages with very little change to their facilities. Basic accommodation and hospitality services and the provision of a guide/workshop speaker/ or lecturer might be all that is required.

There may be some opportunity, if located near significant railway heritage sites for operators to develop a more customized approach. Tourist operators promoting day trips out from their lodges to railway heritage sites can accommodate tourists with basic transportation equipment such as a van, motor boats, pontoon boats, or even canoes as part of the experience. Hiking or cycling to sites may also be part of the railway history interpretation experience.

Field Guides, Maps

Railway heritage is mapped with regard to existing and abandoned rail lines. A number of these have been converted to trails.

Human Resources

Guides who “interpret” or present this railway cultural/heritage theme to tourists can be recruited locally if possible (every community has a historian, or knowledgeable person) and from other sources – e.g. universities, or freelance professionals.

Guidelines

As with all cultural heritage resources, threats to railway heritage resources do exist and these are from two primary sources: cultural tourism, and the degradation of the environment through natural process or by human-induced environmental change.



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Care and respect for the resources need to be promoted by the tour operators to the visitors. Tourist operators situated near such heritage sites have a vested interest in ensuring the preservation of these resources, for they are non-renewable and can be destroyed very easily.


There is an opportunity to capitalize on the interest in Ontario’s railway heritage. As with other packages, these experiences can be promoted in a manner which integrates ecotourism and cultural heritage activities.

As with all themed packages, the most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a feature on the tourist operator’s web site that highlights proximity and activities related to railway cultural heritage.

Specific marketing initiatives would include:

• Marketing packages/products to railway heritage groups

• Establish links and partnerships with the railway heritage community, through their web sites, publications

• A tourist operator’s investment of at least $5,000 for marketing (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and some minimal advertising) would encompass some of the marketing tools essential for promoting cultural/heritage tourism packages.

• Some tour operators may specialize in historical or cultural heritage packages. Some of these operators could likely be identified through contact with railway heritage organizations in Canada and the U.S.

TARGET MARKETS

A wide range of possible markets could be tapped in to including the following:

U.S. market offers prospects in terms of customers willing to pay $100-$200 or more per person per day for a quality experience in a wilderness area which encompasses railway heritage and nature oriented tourism experiences



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Southern Ontario: focus on the mature travellers market (55+), who tend to have a stronger interest in cultural heritage experiences

Other geographic target markets would include Great Lakes border states such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania, although “railway buffs” could be recruited from all over Canada and the U.S. via effective Internet marketing.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area’s railway history, any related “legends” and folklore, identifying the key sites and experiences associated with this theme. There are a number of railway heritage organizations mentioned earlier that could provide assistance in this task.

2. Establish operational guidelines based on those used by the archaeological community. (There are accepted principles and ethics for both developing tourism to sensitive sites of archaeological significance.)

3. Plan an activity or tour around the area’s railway heritage resources, which may involve little change to the existing resource-based lodge product, but would add significant value to what you offer.

4. Look for opportunities to partner with rail tour excursion operators, railway heritage sites and museums, as well as organizations that may have some of the expertise and information resources you need to establish an effective railway heritage tourism package.

5. Use local people with an interest in railway heritage as guides and staff as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Quality guides and staff are key to business success.

6. Market your railway heritage packages as described earlier.


8.4 – FORESTRY AND MINING CULTURAL HERITAGE PRODUCTS AND PACKAGES


Target audience: Families, cultural heritage audience

Tourists with a specific interest in “industrial heritage

Tourists interested in outdoor, soft adventure, with visits to more remote sites

Activities which relate to this theme:

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Driving tours – “FIT travelers

Hiking, cycling

Group tours, walking tours

Recreational camping, canoeing to sites

Custom study tours for those with a more specific interest in forestry and mining

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Ontario has been dramatically shaped by its forestry and mining heritage over the past two centuries. Communities have developed because of these industries, and the industrial architecture, and in some cases, archaeology, have been left as a legacy for people to visit, and appreciate the history of.

There are opportunities for tourist operators to capitalize on this niche activity through accommodating and hosting visitors who are seeking personal enrichment and study of Ontario’s forestry and mining heritage. To date, activities related to this theme have not been specifically “packaged” (the Timber Train at Mattawa provides excursions which combines railway heritage with forestry and logging heritage)

The forestry and mining cultural heritage product can include:

Forestry and Mining Cultural Heritage Products and Packages Page 8.4-1


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Activities – guided tours, workshops, self-guided tours, which present sites, experiences, and interpretations that recall the heritage of forestry and mining.

The cultural heritage activities can actually be both water and land based and can be integrated with activities related to interpreting natural/ecological heritage

Tour packages can vary in price and content. All costs incurred while travelling to and from the project site are usually not included.

Forestry and Mining tour guides could be contracted to present workshops and tours. The cost of these people would be worked into the overall costs for the tour package that an operator would promote.

ONTARIO'S RESOURCES

Ontario Museums Association (www.museumsontario.com)

Lists all museums and museum organizations that interpret and present the forestry and mining heritage stories. The OMA also provides a Guide to Ontario museums:

On-line: The web version of the Guide to Ontario Museums contains contact details, collection and activity information, as well as e-mail and web links to museums.

Print: The Guide to Ontario Museums is also available in print with additional details on admission rates, visiting hours, gift shop and wheelchair accessibility information.

Travel and Tourism Resources

This list of Ontario travel and tourism organizations can help you plan your next trip to Ontario's many heritage and cultural attractions.

Forestry and Logging history sites are quite numerous on the Internet. The United States has dozens of museums and special events oriented to forestry heritage. British Columbia also has several forestry or logging museums.

The forest industry history can be interpreted as part of ecotourism activities, and there are many examples where the forest is interpreted as



part of an ecotour package, which also looks at the impact of the forest industry on the land. Forest industry companies also offer these, as listed below.

Forestry Interpretation Resources

The Town of Latchford

This is an old logging community and is home to the House of Memories Museum. The community’s annual Logging Days celebration offers entertainment for everyone

Museums: A Link Between Living Cultural Heritage and the Tourism Industry Marc Patry, International Coordinator Eastern Ontario Model Forest Kemptville, Ontario

Forestry Tours in Ontario, by Community and Company

Apple Hill (20 km. north of Cornwall), Domtar Forest Resources

Type of Tour Dates & Times Contact Phone #

Self-guided woodland trails, outdoor education centre, free fun, family events, forestry museum.

Year-round, groups by appointment, 1 hour or more

Domtar Forestry Centre

613-528-4430 or 800-663-6342

Chapleau, Domtar Inc.


Sawmill June 2 - August 18 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., 1-1/2 hours, Age 12+, no sandals, open toed or high-heeled shoes, no photos

Chapleay Cici Centre

705-864-0154



Dryden, Weyerhaeuser Company Limited


Kraft pulp and fine paper mill

June through August, 9:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., and 2:30 p.m., 1 to 1.5 hours, Age 10+ Maximum 12 persons, Reservations needed for larger groups.

Main gate personnel

807-223-9202

Jayne Murray 807-223-9035 Ontario Forestlands

June through August, 4 hours, Age 10+ Maximum of 12 persons. By appointment.

Espanola, Domtar Inc.


Pulp and paper mill

July and August, weekdays 1:00 p.m., 3 hours, Age 12+ for mill tours, no sandals, open-toed or high-heeled shoes

Plant administrative office

1-800-663-6342

School visits of the Silviculture trail and Espanola mill

May-June, September-October, Half or full day, Age 12+ for mill tours; no sandals, open-toed or high-heeled shoes


1-800-663-6342

Silviculture Trail - self-guided tour

Year-round depending on the weather, 3 hours, Vehicle needed to travel between 3 trails


1-800-663-6342



Fort Frances, Abitibi-Consolidated Inc.

Type of Tour Dates & Times Contact Name Phone #

Paper mill June, July and August, weekdays, 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., 1 hour, Ages 12+, no cameras or open-toed shoes; Maximum group size: 15 persons

Sherry George 807-274-5311 ext. 1878

Highway 11, between Atikokan and Fort Frances, Abitibi-Consolidated Inc.


Self-guided forest tour - "The Forest is More Than Just Trees"

Year round - ungroomed in winter, 1 - 2 hours

807-274-5311 ext. 1876 or [email protected] (brochure available)

Highway 144, 90 minutes north of Sudbury, Domtar Inc.


Self-guided woodlands tours (The Jack Pine Project)

Ungroomed in winter, 20 minutes

1-800-663-6342

Iroquois Falls, Abitibi-Consolidated Inc.


Pulp and Paper path

July and August, Weekdays, Two tours daily 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., (2 hours) Cost: $10 adults, $8 Seniors, $8 Students (Children under 12 free)

Rose Peever (Iroquois Falls Chamber of Commerce)

705-232-4656



Kapuskasing, Tembec - Spruce Falls Inc.


Newsprint mill, tour of the secondary treatment, recycling facility, and mill operations

July and August, Mon., Tues., and Fri., 9:30 a.m., 1.5 to 2 hours, 12 persons per tour; Age 12+; no cameras

Kapuskasing Chamber of Commerce

705-335-2332

Nairn Centre, Domtar Inc.


Sawmill July and August, 8:30 a.m., Bus departs from Espanola, 3 hours, Age 12+, no sandals or open-toed shoes

Domtar offiice 1-800-663-6342

Red Rock, Domtar Forest Resources


Self-guided woodland trail

Year-round, 2 hours or more

Domtar office 1-800-663-6342

Thorold, Abitibi Consolidated Inc. (Donohue)


Paper mill Fridays, May through September; by appointment, 1.5 to 2 hours, Age 12+, no sandals or open-toed shoes

George Gasbarino

905-227-5000 ext. 6254



Thunder Bay, Abitibi-Consolidated Inc., Fort William Div.


Value-added products mill

Year-round, by appointment, Approximately 1 hour, Age 12+; no pacemakers, no shorts, no photos, no long loose hair

Gwen Garbutt 807-625-7315

Timmins, Domtar Inc.


Sawmill Tuesdays and Thursdays in June, July and August or year round appointment, 1-1/2 hours, Age 12+, no sandals, open toed or high-heeled shoes no photos

Norma Moore 1-705-267-3339 ext. 404

White River, Domtar Inc.


Sawmill June 1 - August 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 1-1/2 hours, Age 12+, no sandals, open toed or high heeled shoes, no photos

Tourism Information Centre in White River

1-807-822-2794

White River, Domtar Forest Resources


Self-guided back country walking woodland trails

Year-round (1 hr.) Walking tour (skiing in winter)

Plant office 1-800-663-6342



Mining Heritage Resources There are numerous abandoned mine sites and related heritage features throughout the province, especially in Northern Ontario. In addition, some significant tourist attractions have been developed around the mining heritage theme including the popular Timmins Gold Mine Tour and the Heritage Silver Trail (the latter is described below). Heritage Silver Trail:

Silver was discovered at Cobalt in the early 1900’s, and the town became known as The Silver Capital of Canada. Skeletons of abandoned mines remain in the community to remind us of days gone by. The "Heritage Silver Trail" features six historical mining sites from the early 1900’s. It is a self-guided tour including picnic tables, viewing platforms, and walking trails.

Realizing the unique contribution that the discovery and development of the Cobalt silver mining camp has made to the mineral industry in Canada and the world, the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines conceived a pilot project designed to preserve and illustrate some of the historical attributes of the area. The result is the Heritage Silver Trail, a self-guided drive along the backroads of Cobalt and through some of the more historical mining sites in the camp. A 6 km loop within the existing road system east of Cobalt Lake provides typical examples of mining at the turn of the century. Five principal sites were chosen to illustrate the many features associated with mining in the early l900's. Through a system of billboards, route markers, site signs and information points, visitors are able to travel through the past and experience the history of the Cobalt mining camp. Each stop illustrates a different aspect of the Cobalt story and consists of a parking area, picnic tables, look-out platforms and/or walking trails. The McKinley-Darragh Mill Site introduces the processing stage of a

mining operation. The Little Silver Vein Site offers a spectacular view of an open "stope" or

cut which remains after a vein is mined out. The Cart Lake Tailings Lookout offers a panoramic view of a tailings pond

bordered by a number of old headframes.



Further up the hill, the Nipissing Mine Site provides the visitor with a variety of interesting features including a look-out.

The Right-of-Way Mine Site presents a different style of mine building

and includes a display of old mining machinery used in the past. The trail ends at Northern Ontario s Cobalt Mining Museum in the heart of the Town of Cobalt. It houses one of the country's finest collections of silver samples. This tour is maintained and managed by Northern Ontario's Mining Museum with the good will of Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd. http://www.nt.net/cobalt/trail.htm

Haileybury School of Mines Haileybury is host to the world famous Haileybury School of Mines, a mining and technology college that attracts students from many different countries. The Haileybury Fire Museum offers excellent displays depicting early life in the community located on the shores of Lake Temiskaming. http://www.duenorth.net/marshbayresort/

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

These include:

Tourist lodge operators working with community museums and historical associations who have a focus on mining and forestry heritage

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Tourist operators linking up with tour operators and wholesalers who provide cultural heritage experiences.


Facilities and equipment An operator can host forest industry/mining cultural heritage tour packages with very little change to their facilities. Basic accommodation and hospitality services and the provision of a guide/workshop speaker/ or lecturer might be all that is required.

Tourist operators promoting day trips out from the establishment to forestry and mining sites can accommodate tourists with basic equipment



such as motor boats, pontoon boats, or canoes as part of the experience. Hiking or cycling to sites may be additional forms of access to unique forestry sites and abandoned mines.

Field Guides, Maps

Regional travel guides all list museums, sites and special events associated with forestry and mining heritage.

Travel to more remote forestry heritage and mining sites may be problematic because of property ownership/management issues. Tourist operators would have to identify locations and clear access issues with the Ministry of Natural Resources, or Ministry of Northern Development and Mines regional offices.

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Human Resources

Guides who “interpret” or present the forestry and mining cultural/heritage theme to tourists should be recruited locally if possible (every community has a historian, or knowledgeable person) and from other sources – e.g. Universities, or freelance professionals.

Guidelines

Care and respect for the resources need to be promoted by the tourist operators to the visitors. Tourist operators situated near the forestry heritage or mining heritage sites have a vested interest in ensuring the preservation of these resources, for they are non-renewable, and can be destroyed very easily.


There is an opportunity to capitalize on the growing interest in Ontario’s cultural heritage, especially the unique forestry and mining heritage which is widely spread throughout the province. As in other examples, these experiences can be promoted in a manner which integrates ecotourism and cultural heritage activities.

Again, as with all themed packages, the most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a feature on the tourist operator’s web site which



highlights proximity and activities related to forestry heritage and mining cultural heritage.

Specific marketing initiatives would include:

• Marketing packages/products to groups

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• Establish links and partnerships with the local or regional museums, historical organization, forestry companies and mining companies. Where possible, it may be appropriate to partner with their marketing of events.

• The tourist operator’s investment of at least $5,000 for marketing could be used for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and some minimal advertising.

TARGET MARKETS

U.S. market offers the best prospects in terms of customers willing to pay $100-$200 or more per person per day for quality experiences in wilderness areas which are focused on forestry and mining heritage.

The American market contains 93 million people who in 2000 participated in cultural heritage tourism activities.

Target markets would include the border states such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

European, particularly from Germany, France, and UK may be possible target markets for Ontario forestry and mining heritage experiences. Germany has a specific connection with Ontario’s forestry heritage – thousands of German prisoners-of-war actually worked for forest industry companies in northern Ontario during World War II when they were interned at prison camps (e.g. Espanola plant).

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area’s forestry and mining history as well as current activities, identifying the key sites and experiences associated with this theme. There are a number of government and private sector organizations mentioned earlier that could provide assistance in this task (see above Resources section), as well as



tourism/economic development and cultural organizations that can assist in this process.

2. Establish operational guidelines based on those used by the heritage community. (There are accepted principles and ethics for developing tourism to sensitive sites of heritage significance.)

3. Plan an activity or tour around the area’s current and/or historical forestry and mining resources, which may involve little change to the existing product, but would add significant value to what you offer.

4. Look for opportunities to partner with mining and forestry companies, as well as heritage oriented organizations that may have some of the information resources you need to establish effective mining and forestry heritage tourism packages.

5. Employ local people with an interest in forestry and mining heritage (perhaps retired workers) as guides and as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Quality guides and staff are key to business success.

6. Market your forestry and mining heritage packages as described earlier.


8.5 – ARTS AND CRAFTS WORKSHOPS


Increasingly travelers are looking for getaway packages that “enrich” or educate, as well as entertain, and provide recreational activities. The Arts and Crafts tourism product matches these interests.

Activities which relate or can be integrated into to this theme:

Recreational canoeing, kayaking

Hiking, cycling, cross country skiing, snowshoeing.

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THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Ontario’s landscape and history provide for opportunities to promote arts and crafts experiences throughout the province.

There are opportunities for tourist operators to capitalize on this niche activity through accommodating and hosting visitors who are seeking personal enrichment. An operator would benefit by teaming up with artists, artisans or crafts professionals to deliver workshops, lectures, and outings. These are really classic “learning vacations” which is a growing market segment.

Arts and crafts cultural heritage products can include:

Activities – art and crafts workshops, self-guided art tours. The cultural heritage activities can actually be both water and land based and can be integrated with activities related to interpreting the cultural and natural/ecological heritage of the area.

Arts and craft tour packages vary in price and content. A couple of typical examples are shown below.

Arts And Crafts Workshops Page 8.5-1


Arts and Crafts Packages

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Group of Seven Hikes and Paddles – Algonquin Academy Each Wednesday during July and August, 2001 in Algonquin Park Guided hike $25.00 Paddlers $40.00

Concept Two different summer programs in world famous Algonquin Park. Acclaimed instructors take guests on a sketching hike along one of Algonquin's well-known hiking trails. There, they receive expert tutorial advice, take time to sketch the wilderness sights and learn how to turn the wilderness into a studio. The afternoon paddle embarks from Canoe Lake, and guests paddle with an instructor and other students to a famous site dedicated to the memory of Tom Thomson. Guests do some sketching on their own and receive tutorial advice from instructors skilled in wilderness and wildlife art techniques.

Package Included Features Instruction Sketch kit Light snack Use of an Algonquin Park season pass for the hike or paddle

Art Camp in the Wilderness $1,950 (includes 6 days, 5 nights) Concept

Deep in the wilderness, guests enjoy and learn oil painting, watercolor technique, or photography. All levels of skill are welcome. The advanced learn from the beginners and beginners advance rapidly. Six days dining on superb food and then at night sit with your classmates around the campfire discuss the day’s learned art and techniques, including oil painting, watercolor, or photography.

Itinerary Each day focuses on visual art classes and opportunities to paint

and photograph in an outstanding natural setting. Nature



appreciation hikes are included features, as well as accessing unique sites by boat, canoe, kayak, or even mountain bike.

Package Included Features Instruction by a noted artist or art teacher Lodging Meals

* Special rates available for non-participating guest or spouse

ONTARIO'S RESOURCES

The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership (OTMP) has developed the Arts in the Wild program. Tourist operators interested in pursuing this aspect of their business would be advised to contact the staff associated with this innovative approach. The contact is through the OTMP.

Arts in the Wild web site is:

http://www.artsinthewild.com

The program offers over 60 getaways to northern lodges, art academies, parks, galleries, cultural sites, and lakeside resorts.

The program is marketed with these activities:

Painting and sketching

Photography

Art Adventures

PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

These would include the following:

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Sculpture and carving

Creative arts – traditional and new media – “basketry, build a canoe”

Performing arts



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Tourist lodge operators and local arts and crafts organizations (both non-aboriginal and First Nations communities)

Local and regional art galleries, art schools and colleges (including Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, and White Mountain Academy of the Arts in Elliot Lake), regional Community Colleges with visual arts programs, and University fine arts programs

Tourist operators with the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership’s Arts in the Wild initiative.




An operator can host arts and crafts cultural heritage tour packages with very little change to their facilities. Basic accommodation and hospitality services and the provision of a guide, workshop speaker or lecturer may be all that is required, as well as a meeting or banquet room type space that could be used for indoor arts and crafts instruction (this could be done outdoors on warm summer days).

Tourist operators promoting sketching, painting or photography excursions to unique sites and natural settings can accommodate tourists with their motor boats, pontoon boats, or even travel via canoes or kayaks as part of the experience. Hiking or cycling to sites may also be part of the program, where appropriate.

Field Guides, Maps

Excellent maps, guides exist for all areas, including trails, canoe routes and portages, and historic sites that may be of interest to those learning the visual arts.



Human Resources

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Arts and crafts workshop leaders may be locally based or contracted from universities and colleges, or be freelance professional artists (or even high school art teachers during the summers).


There is an opportunity to capitalize on the growing interest in arts and crafts experiences. As in other examples, these experiences can be promoted in a manner which integrates ecotourism and cultural heritage activities.

Again, as with all themed packages, the most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a feature on the tourist operator’s web site which highlights the arts and crafts activities and appropriateness of the local natural setting and unique physical and cultural features of the area.

Specific marketing initiatives would include participating in the Arts in the Wild initiative, or a venture similar to this on a local or regional basis.

Marketing packages/products to provincial and regional arts and crafts groups (such as members of major art galleries).

As noted previously, the tour operators investment of at least $5,000 for marketing could be used for web site enhancements, arts and crafts packages brochure, and some limited advertising. Operators could promote a mix of ecotourism and arts and crafts cultural heritage activities – northern Ontario possesses a richness of both natural and cultural heritage for resource-based operators to capitalize upon.

Target Markets

These would include the following:

U.S. market offers good prospects in terms of customers willing to pay $100-$200 or more per person per day for a quality experience in a wilderness area which encompasses both eco, and arts and crafts cultural heritage tourism experiences



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The American market contains 93 million people who in 2000 participated in cultural heritage tourism activities.

Europeans, particularly from Germany, France, and UK would be a target audience for Ontario wilderness arts and crafts experiences

Southern Ontario – the mature travellers market, interested in learning vacation type experiences.

Target markets would include the border states such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area’s visual arts heritage (e.g Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven painted extensively throughout Northern Ontario, which is the setting for many of their famous works). There are a number of government and non-government organizations mentioned earlier that could provide assistance in this task. First Nations have an outstanding visual arts heritage and partnerships with their communities would rely on elders, tourism/ economic development and cultural organizations.

2. Establish appropriate operational guidelines for the arts and crafts packages and workshops working closely with partners who will provide the artistic expertise.

3. Plan art field trips around the area’s natural and cultural heritage resources, taking advantage of unique natural settings and beautiful views.

4. Look for opportunities to partner with existing operators as well as arts oriented organizations that may have some of the resources you need to establish an effective arts and crafts tourism package.

5. Employ local artists, crafts-persons and artisans whenever possible as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Well-known guest artists can also help you to attract package participants.



9.1 – SNOWMOBILE SAFARI TOURS

SNOWMOBILING MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Nearly 60 million Americans over the age of 16 participate in snow and ice related activities in the winter. With the exception of downhill skiing, snowmobiling is the most popular winter activity with an estimated 13.2 million Americans riding sleds in 2000.

In Canada there are over half a million people participating in snowmobiling activities in natural areas (Environment Canada, 1996).

Over 95% of American snowmobilers consider snowmobiling to be a family sport.

The typical snowmobiler has an average household income of US$60,000, is married with children living at home, and has a median age of 41 years.

Approximately 80% of snowmobilers use their machines for trail riding and touring on marked and groomed trails. The other 20% use them for work and ice fishing.

Minnesota and Michigan are the two key states in the U.S. for snowmobiling. Minnesota boasts the largest network of trails in the United States with 16,000 kilometres (only a third of what Ontario offers) of groomed riding. It also has just under 300,000 snowmobile registrants (just less than Michigan). Minnesota also has two of the four major snowmobile companies manufacturing within the state – Polaris in Rosseau and Arctic Cat in Thief River Falls.

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Snowmobiling is already offered by a number of existing resource-based tourist operators in Ontario, either as an additional activity to complement their product or as a core winter activity.

Snowmobile Safari Tours Page 9.1-1

Snowmobiling product should focus on the trail network in your immediate area, usually administrated by a local club under the umbrella of the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC).

Individual operators can distinguish their products by adding value to the snowmobiling experience in some way.

Thus, guided snowmobiling can be integrated with other components such as interpretation of natural, heritage, cultural features, bird and wildlife viewing. However, wildlife viewing activities are better suited to non-motorized forms of winter transport such as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

Typically a snowmobiling package would include accommodations, some or all meals, guided sledding and perhaps some other additional activities such as ice fishing, or snowshoeing.

There are a number of options for providing guided snowmobiling experiences, and these include:

Lodge-based day trips on trails nearby

Multi-day trips from cabin-to-cabin

Multi-day trips with a winter camping component

There is also the option to provide self-guided product, where operators provide snowmobilers with a sled and help them plan a local route.

These trips could all be adapted to suit a particular audience or group by varying the distance covered and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on snowmobiling with other complementary activities like ice fishing and snowshoeing.

For lodge-based snowmobiling, operators will have to design numerous itineraries and routes that will keep snowmobilers interested for a number of days in one area. Offering a more complete winter experience that includes other activities like snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and ice fishing will help increase the package's appeal.

Providing services and facilities to Snowmobilers with their own sleds is also a potential market for those operators located in close proximity to existing trails. Many Canadians and U.S residents use their own snowmobiles, but rely on trailside services and facilities for accommodation, food and other items. Services would be primarily focused on:

Accommodations


Food and Beverage services

For snowmobilers on overnight trips, distances travelled usually range from 160 to 240 kilometers.

Route planning is an important aspect of creating a snowmobiling product. The route should endeavour to incorporate the area's key features that will provide a talking point for interpretation during the journey. However, in practice operators will be limited to using the existing trails network in the area.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a snowmobile safari tour, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Snowmobile Safari Tours


An all-inclusive package offering guests daily guided snowmobile touring with an interpretive guide to provide insight into the area’s winter flora, fauna and heritage.

Itinerary The first day commences with an orientation to review safety

precautions and teach guests about the snowmobiles they will be riding. Daily guided snowmobile tours vary in duration from 2 to 6

hours with longer rides including a hot picnic lunch prepared by the guide. Guests on the shorter duration rides have lunch at the lodge. Other activities such as ice fishing and snowshoeing are also

incorporated into the package, depending on guest participation. Guides provide interpretation of the surrounding landscape,

culture and heritage, as well as any mammals (e.g. caribou, deer) and birds spotted along the way. Guests are free to either go on the guided snowmobile safaris or

utilize the other facilities that the lodge has to offer (e.g. snowshoes, cross-country skis) or simply relax in front of the fire. At the end of each day’s activities, guests retreat to the comfort

of the lodge for dinner and hot drinks by the fire. Package Included Features Transport to and from the lodge from the nearest airport All accommodation at the lodge


Snowmobile Safari Tours

All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge Daily guided snowmobile safaris Full use of other lodge facilities, canoes, mountain bikes and

hiking trails Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes for snowmobile safaris are kept small (8 or less) to

minimize the impact on the environment and winter wildlife. For longer stays operators offer a greater array of snowmobile

routes. Some proceeds go towards preservation of the local flora and

fauna, and to the local snowmobile club that maintains the trails. * Higher price points are achieved with a higher standard of



Ontario has one of the best snowmobile trail networks in the world with over 49,000 kilometres of groomed trails, triple that of Minnesota, which has the highest in the U.S. Managed by individual clubs under the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), these trails provide excellent access to the winter wilderness across most parts of Ontario except in the far north, although communities in the north do have their own trails that they use on a regular basis.

Classic trails have been developed from this network that include the Round Algonquin Park (RAP tour), where snowmobilers travel the circuit stopping at various accommodations facilities along the way and operators offer guided tours of the circuit (see map).


Another popular trail is the Superior Snow Challenge Loop (North of Superior), as well as a 3-day loop in the Near North encompassing Lake Nipissing.

There is certainly the opportunity to expand the number of circle or one-way tours/circuits in Ontario and give more operators the opportunity to participate directly in snowmobile tourism. The OFSC publishes the Ontario provincial snowmobile map that illustrates the entire trail network and will help with product planning.


Snowmobiling can be easily combined with other activities and as a result, offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators, depending on their location and existing product:


Accommodations

Attractions

Restaurants/cafés

Other similar providers to help form a circuit tour (e.g., Superior Snow Challenge Loop)

Other activity providers (e.g., snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and wildlife viewing, although the activities themselves would need to be kept quite separate from the snowmobiling).

Other useful contacts, resources or promotional partners include:

• Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs

• http://www.ofsc.on.ca

• Canadian Council of Snowmobile Organizations

•

http://www.ccso-ccom.ca/contente.htm

• American Council of Snowmobile Associations

• http://www.acsa.org

• International Snowmobile Manufacturers Association

• http://www.snowmobile.org

• VIA Rail packages • http://www.viarail.ca • Tracks & Trails Snowmobile

Excursions • Algoma Central Railway, Sault Ste

Marie (705) 946-7300



Snowmobiles are expensive and generally start at around the $5,000 for a basic sled.

The use of 4-stroke engines, first introduced by Arctic Cat in 2000, has created a substantial reduction in noise and increased the fuel efficiency. Operators should endeavour to purchase 4-stroke machines and work on updating their existing 2-stroke fleets.

Some form of support vehicle (a large 4x4 pickup) would likely be required to assist snowmobilers on the trails and carry sleds.

Winter camping equipment may also be required if the tours are accessing wilderness areas with little or no infrastructure.


Human Resources

Guides

Guides should be competent snowmobilers, have some knowledge of the machinery, depending on the distances covered and available infrastructure. They should also have Wilderness First Aid certification.

Interpretation is a vital component to increasing a snowmobile excursion’s appeal, so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.

Guides may also require other skills such as cooking, depending on the type of product offered.


The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC) has a set of environmental tips for the trail; these are detailed in the appendix.

Motorized forms of adventure are potentially high risk, which leads to significant liability and insurance issues. Operators should consult with qualified lawyers and insurance professionals to address these issues early on in the development process and certainly prior to any marketing initiatives or actual operations of new products and packages.


General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the snowmobiling activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to snowmobilers through specific snow-based publications. American Snowmobiler, U.S

www.amsnow.com

Snowtech Magazine, U.S www.snowtechmagazine.com Snow Goer, Canada www.snowgoercanada.com SnoRiders


2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost-effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with snowmobiling and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

3. Market to local, national and international snowmobile clubs and associations, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.

4. There are also a couple of snowmobile television networks that focus primarily on snowmobiling – these include Snowtrax TV and STV-Snowmobiler TV.

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in snowmobile-oriented publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

The American market contains just over 13 million snowmobilers.

The target markets would include Ontario’s traditional key rubber tire visitors, which include the Border States such as Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York and Pennsylvania. These markets have a large number of avid snowmobilers that regularly use Ontario’s excellent trails networks.

The international marketplace also contains countries that offer potential for snowmobiling packages. For example, Germany and Austria were the two countries at Rendez-vous Canada that displayed the highest interest in winter outdoor products.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

1. Initially the process would involve some research into the area's resources (natural, cultural and historic) that lie along existing or potential trail networks.

2. Contact the OFSC and other various snowmobile groups to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product (see above partnerships section).

3. Plan out your trip itinerary around your area’s trails, as well as its key natural, historic and cultural features.


4. Demonstrate/publicize commitment to principles of sustainable tourism, especially important for motorized forms of tourism.

5. Look for opportunities to partner with existing snowmobile operators, as well as other lodges and outfitters that could form part of a circuit route.




Snowmobile Safari Tours Appendix

Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC)

OFSC – Environmental Tips

Snowmobile Safari Tours Appendix Page A9.1-1

9.2 - LODGE-TO-LODGE CROSS-COUNTRY SKI EXPEDITIONS

CROSS-COUNTRY SKI MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Nearly 60 million Americans over the age of 16 participate in snow and ice related activities in the winter. After downhill skiing and snowmobiling, cross-country skiing is the third most popular winter activity with an estimated 11 million Americans skiing in 2000.

In Canada there are almost 1 million (826,000) people participating in cross-country skiing and snowshoeing activities in natural areas (Environment Canada, 1996).

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

Cross-country skiing is already offered by a number of existing resource-based operators in Ontario, either as an additional activity to complement their product, or as a core winter activity. However, there is considerable scope to expand this market, especially a lodge-to-lodge product.

The cross-country lodge-to-lodge product would focus on the trail network in the immediate area.

Lodges would work together to form a package where skiers could travel from lodge to lodge as part of an all-inclusive package.

The routes should try to incorporate significant features that could be interpreted as part of the product and would include any natural, cultural and historic features.

The package could be for guided or self-guided ski touring. Operators would be able to guide their own groups but stay at a number of different lodges.

Guided cross-country skiing can be integrated with other components such as interpretation of natural, heritage, cultural features, bird and wildlife viewing.

Typically a cross-country touring package would include accommodations, some or all meals, guided skiing and perhaps some other additional activities such as ice fishing, or snowshoeing.

Lodge-to-Lodge Cross-Country Ski Expeditions Page 9.2-1


These trips could all be adapted to suit skiers of different abilities by varying the daily distance covered and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on skiing with other complementary activities like wildlife viewing, ice fishing and snowshoeing.

For single lodge based cross-country skiing, operators will need numerous trails of differing lengths and difficulty to keep skiers interested for a number of days in one area. Offering a more complete winter experience that includes other activities like snowshoeing, wildlife viewing and ice fishing will help increase the packages appeal.

There is also potential to expand this product to include snowshoeing, which likely requires less investment, is easier for participants to learn, and is covered by the same associations and nordic clubs as cross-country skiing. They could be marketed to a same audience, though snowshoeing would likely have a great appeal to the general interest market.

Snowshoeing would also require a smaller scale route, as the distances covered would not be as great as those by cross-country skiing.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a lodge-to-lodge cross-country ski expedition package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Lodge-to-Lodge Cross-Country Ski Expeditions


An all-inclusive package offering guests fully guided cross-country ski tours to a different lodge each day, with an interpretative component to provide an insight into the area’s winter flora, fauna and heritage.

Itinerary Guests trek from lodge to lodge via the existing cross-country

ski trail network, with guides pointing out natural, cultural and heritage features along the way. Winter wildlife viewing and looking for wolf or deer tracks

make for exciting detours, as does birding, since many species are still active in the winter months.



Lodge-to-Lodge Cross-Country Ski Expeditions

Lunch breaks are located at lodges along the way or guides come prepared with hot snacks on the trail. Other activities such as ice fishing and snowshoeing are

incorporated into the package. At the end of each day’s skiing, guests retreat to the comfort

of the lodge for dinner and hot drinks by the fire. Package Included Features Transport to and from the starting lodge from the nearest

airport All accommodations on the touring route All meals and snacks while staying at the various lodges Cross-country skis, boots and poles Snowshoes or fishing gear as activities are offered Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes are small (8 or less) to minimize impact on the

trails and winter wildlife. Some proceeds go towards preservation of the local flora and

fauna and to the local Nordic club that maintains the trails. * The difference between the lower per day rate and the higher reflects

the quality/standard of accommodations and meals.


Ontario also as a wealth of Nordic and cross-country ski centres and clubs/associations that maintain a large network of trails for Nordic enthusiasts, including snowshoers.

A number of Ontario’s Provincial Parks are open year round and offer numerous opportunities for Nordic participants with extensive trail networks (e.g. Arrowhead, Algonquin, Silent lake, Sleeping Giant, Pinery and Wasaga Beach).



The following table is a list of some of the Nordic/cross-country ski areas in Ontario, although there are many more clubs and associations that also maintain trails.

Some of Ontario’s Nordic Areas

Hardwood Hills XC Ski Centre, Oro Station

www.hardwoodhills.ca

Highland Nordic, Duntroon www.highlandsnordic.on.ca Horseshoe Resort, Barrie www.HorseshoeResort.com Sault Trails & Recreation 800-361-1522/705-945-6444 Stokely Creek, Goulais River www.stokelycreek.com Bracebridge Resource Management Centre Trails, Porcupine

Ridge, South Monck Trails Algoma Searchmont Area Trails Algonquin Provincial Park Minnesing Trail Mountain View Ski Area Dundas Valley Conservation Area

Bruce Trail

Durham Forest - Area Trails Ganaraska Forest - Area Trails Haliburton Forest trails Northumberland Forest - Area Trails Thunder Bay - Area Trails Wabos Wilderness - Area Trails

Source: Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) & http://www.trailsource.com


Lodge-to-lodge cross-country skiing can be easily combined with other activities and as a result offers a multitude of partnership opportunities for operators depending on their location and existing product:

Other accommodations

Attractions

Restaurants/cafés

Other activity providers (e.g. snowshoeing, ice fishing and wildlife viewing)

The following organizations can provide useful information on trail networks, through both their own listings of trails and those under local and region cross



country or nordic associations/clubs. These organisations also provide a vehicle through which Ontario operators can reach a potentially large market of Nordic participants.

• Cross Country Canada • http://canada.x-c.com • Cross Country Ski Areas

Association (CCSAA) • http://www.xcski.org/

• Ontario Guide (x-c) • http://www.ontarioguide.com/cc-ski.htm • Canadian Masters Cross

Country Ski Association • http://x-c.com/clubs/masters/masters.htm

• Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors

• http://www.cansi.ca/cansi2.htm

• Trail Source • http://www.trailsource.com provides a worldwide database of cross country trails, including Ontario.



To offer guided cross-country skiing operators will need to purchase skiing equipment. Although some avid skiers may use their own gear, many may find it to cumbersome to take on holiday and would prefer to rent.

Cross-country skiing requires equipment such as:

• Touring Skis (from $90) and binding (from $50)

• Light touring boots (from $100)

• Poles (from $16) or adjustable poles (80cm to 140cm) from $39

Operators would need to have a reasonable selection of sizes for skis (180cm to 210cm), boots (sizes 36-47), poles and probably children’s gear too.

Winter camping equipment may also be required if the tours are accessing wilderness areas with little or no infrastructure.

Operators could also look at the possibly of renting/leasing equipment for the season initially. It is also worth bearing in mind that equipment will likely need replacing/updating after 2 to 3 seasons.



Human Resources

Guides

Guides should be competent cross-country skiers and depending on the distances covered and available infrastructure should also have Wilderness First Aid certification.

Teaching participants to ski could also be incorporated into the product, where guides spend the first morning helping participants master the art of cross-country skiing. Group sizes would need to be small with no more than 8 per guide.

Most local clubs offer a variety of lesson programs. Many of these programs are offered by certified Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors (CANSI) instructors.

Interpretation is a vital component in creating a unique lodge-to-lodge skiing product, so guides should ideally be local with a keen interest in natural, historical and cultural features.



General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the paddling activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to Nordic enthusiasts through specific snow-based publications. Ski Trax (x-c skiing), CA Toronto based publisher Cross Country Skier, U.S http://www.crosscountryskier.com/

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with Nordic and other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

3. Marketing to local, national and international Nordic Trails Associations and clubs, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States.



An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in cross-country skiing oriented publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

Target markets

The American market contains 11 million cross-country skiers.


The international marketplace also contains countries that offer potential for Nordic lodge-to-lodge skiing packages. For example, Germany, Austria and France are all countries that have to large numbers of avid Nordic skiers.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS


2. Contact Cross Country Canada and other various Nordic groups to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product (see above partnerships section).

3. Plan out routes based on the area’s trails as well as its key natural, historic and cultural features.

4. Approach other lodge owners with comparable properties (consistency of product) in the vicinity that could be part of a lodge-to-lodge circuit tour.

5. Employ local ski guides, where possible, as this enhances the quality and authenticity of the product. Quality guides and staff are key to business success.



Lodge-to-Lodge Cross-Country Ski Expeditions Appendix

Cross Country Canada

Lodge-to-Lodge Cross-Country Ski Expeditions Appendix Page A9.2-1

9.3 – WINTER GETAWAY PACKAGES

WINTER MARKET CHARACTERISTICS

Nearly 60 million Americans over the age of 16 participate in snow and ice related activities in the winter. After downhill skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling, cross-country skiing is the third most popular winter activity with an estimated 11 million Americans skiing in 2000. Other popular winter activities include snowshoeing, dog sledding, ice fishing, winter birding and wildlife viewing.

In Canada there are almost 1 million (826,000) people participating in cross-country skiing and snowshoeing activities in natural areas (Environment Canada, 1996).

THE PRODUCT CONCEPT

This product would focus on providing visitors with a variety of winter activities from a lodge base camp. These activities could be offered by that same lodge or in partnership with other activity providers.

Core activities that could be incorporated into the winter getaway package would include:

Snowshoeing – lessons and guided treks to explore the surrounding around. This could be combined with northern lights viewing, birding and wildlife viewing. Snowshoe making workshops is also an option.

Cross-country skiing – lessons and guided skiing on nearby trails. This could also be integrated with wildlife viewing and birding activities.

Dog sledding – this would likely be provided by an existing operator nearby because of the specialized nature of keeping and maintaining a dog team. Visitors would go out for a couple of hours or up to a day and again this could be combined with other activities while out mushing.

Northern lights viewing – depending on the lodges location (i.e. further north the better, and low ground light) northern lights viewing is potentially a very strong product and would enhance the evening activities list.

Winter Getaway Packages Page 9.3-1


Winter birding – depending on location there are a number of species that provide good viewing opportunities through the winter months including: owls, northern finches, woodpeckers and grouse. This product would involve guided treks (by snowshoe) to view birds.

Wildlife viewing and tracking – winter wildlife tracking would involve guided treks (likely by snowshoe) to study animal tracks, signs and view wildlife (likely moose, deer and wolves).

Ice Fishing – this activity could also be combined with a snowshoe trek or cross-country ski outing.

Skating – if there are nearby lakes that offer good ice skating conditions this could also be offered and would include a lesson option.

Operators may choose to emphasize one or many of these products in their promotional materials, depending on their own strengths and the surrounding area’s resource base.

The guided route(s) should try to incorporate significant features that could be interpreted as part of the product and would include any natural, cultural and historic features.

The package could be for guided or self-guided ski touring. Operators would be able to guide their own groups but stay at a number of different lodges.

Typically a winter getaway package would include accommodations, meals (e.g., hot soup lunches), and both guided and non-guided activities.

Group sizes would need to be small with no more than 8 guests per guide.

Guided Trek Planning

The guided treks could all be adapted to suit skiers/snowshoers of different abilities by varying the distance covered and increasing or decreasing the emphasis on skiing/snowshoeing with other complementary activities like wildlife viewing, tracking and birding.

Operators will need numerous trails of differing lengths and difficulty to keep skiers/snowshoers interested for a number of days in one area.



Snowshoeing generally requires less investment is easier for participants to learn and potentially has a wider market appeal than cross-country skiing. Snowshoeing would also require smaller scale route(s), as the distances covered would not be as great as those by x-c skiers. Incorporating other aspects of the local area (natural, cultural and historical features) into the guided treks through interpretation would also enhance the product’s appeal.

The following example provides an illustration of the components of a winter getaway package, including marketplace price levels as of 2001.

Winter Getaway Packages


An all-inclusive package offering guests a selection of daily-guided activities during their stay, including snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and dog sledding. These activities also have an interpretive component to enable guests to learn about the area’s winter flora, fauna and heritage attributes.

Itinerary Each day guides provide a different activity or route for guests,

these activities are either half-day or full-day excursions from the lodge. During full-day excursions guides prepare a hot lunch for guests

on the trail. Other lodge-based activities include traditional snowshoe-making

workshops, northern lights viewing, winter birding, wildlife tracking, ice fishing and possibly skating. At the end of each day’s activities, guests retreat to the comfort

of the lodge for dinner and hot drinks by the fire. Package Included Features Transport to and from the lodge from the nearest airport All accommodation at the lodge All meals and snacks while staying at the lodge One two-hour dog sled ride Daily guided activities (e.g. snowshoeing, cross-country skiing,

wildlife viewing, etc.) All equipment associated with the activities that guests are



Winter Getaway Packages

participating in. Any applicable taxes and user fees

Other Product Characteristics Group sizes depend on the size of the lodge and the number of

participants in any one activity comfortably, usually somewhere between 5 to 10. Some proceeds from the package go towards preservation of the

local flora and fauna, or to a local snowmobile/Nordic club that maintains the trails.



Operators near existing trail networks would have the advantage of being able to utilize the existing resource. However, activities such as snowshoeing, wildlife viewing and birding do not really require groomed trails to the same extent as cross-country skiing and could, therefore, be offered pretty well anywhere.

Ontario also as a wealth of Nordic and cross-country ski centres and clubs/associations that maintain a large network of trails for Nordic enthusiasts, including snowshoers.

A number of Ontario’s Provincial Parks are open year round and offer numerous opportunities for Nordic participants with extensive trail networks (e.g. Arrowhead, Algonquin, Silent lake, Sleeping Giant, Pinery and Wasaga Beach)

The following table is a list of some of the Nordic areas in Ontario, though there are many more clubs and associations that also maintain trails at the local level.



Some of Ontario’s Nordic Areas

Hardwood Hills XC Ski Centre, Oro Station

www.hardwoodhills.ca

Highland Nordic, Duntroon www.highlandsnordic.on.ca Horseshoe Resort, Barrie www.HorseshoeResort.com Sault Trails & Recreation 800-361-1522/705-945-6444 Stokely Creek, Goulais River www.stokelycreek.com Bracebridge Resource Management Centre Trails, Porcupine

Ridge, South Monck Trails Algoma Searchmont Area Trails Algonquin Provincial Park Minnesing Trail Mountain View Ski Area Dundas Valley Conservation Area

Bruce Trail

Durham Forest - Area Trails Ganaraska Forest - Area Trails Haliburton Forest trails Northumberland Forest - Area Trails Thunder Bay - Area Trails Wabos Wilderness - Area Trails

Source: Cross Country Ski Areas Association (CCSAA) & http://www.trailsource.com


Winter getaway packages offer multitude opportunities to partner with other operators, associations and individuals:

Other accommodations

Attractions (natural, cultural and historic)

Restaurants/cafés

Other activity providers (e.g. dog-sledding)

Naturalists to lead birding and wildlife viewing treks

The following organizations can provide useful information on trail networks, through both their own listings of trails and those under local and region cross country or Nordic associations/clubs. These organizations also provide a vehicle through which Ontario operators can reach a potentially large market of Nordic participants.



• Cross Country Canada • http://canada.x-c.com • Cross Country Ski Areas

Association (CCSAA) • http://www.xcski.org/

• Ontario Guide (x-c) • http://www.ontarioguide.com/cc-ski.htm • Canadian Masters Cross

Country Ski Association • http://x-c.com/clubs/masters/masters.htm

• Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors

• http://www.cansi.ca/cansi2.htm

• Trail Source • http://www.trailsource.com provides a worldwide database of cross country trails, including Ontario.



Cross-country skiing

To offer guided cross-country skiing operators will need to purchase skiing equipment. Though some avid skiers may use their own gear many may not or may find it to cumbersome to take on holiday.

Cross-country skiing requires equipment such as:

• Touring Skis (from $90) and binding (from $50)

• Light touring boots (from $100)

• Poles (from $16) or adjustable poles (80cm to 140cm) from $39

Operators would need to have a reasonable selection of sizes for skis (180cm to 210cm), boots (sizes 36-47), poles and probably children’s gear too.

Snowshoeing

Guests would be expected to bring their own winter or tramping boots, but the operator would supply the snowshoes (from $110 a pair). Poles could also be an optional extra, but not really necessary.



Birding, Wildlife Viewing & tracking

Though many avid birders and wildlife viewers bring their own binoculars and scopes it would be a good idea to have a few pairs on hand (reasonably good binoculars start at around $80 each).

Dog sledding could be provided in partnership with an existing local operator.

Operators could also look at the possibly of renting/leasing equipment for the season initially. It is also would bearing in mind that equipment will likely need replacing/updating after 2 to 3 seasons.

Human Resources

Guides

Guides should be competent cross-country skiers and/or snowshoers that could also offer lessons to guests. Canadian Association of Nordic Ski Instructors (CANSI) certification and Wilderness First Aid would be a bonus.

Interpretation is a vital component especially for the birding and wildlife tracking products; guides should have a good knowledge of bird species and be able to easily identify birds, animals and the signs they leave.




General marketing/promotion and packaging guidelines have been provided earlier in this document. The most effective marketing would be via the Internet with a good web site, which highlights the winter activities. Specific marketing initiatives would include:

1. Market your packages/products to a cross-section of enthusiasts through specific publications, with an emphasis on one or more of the products offered and general adventure mediums.



General Adventure

http://massbird.org/birdobserver/

Wildlife Journal, U.S

Explore Magazine - Canada

www.wildlifejournal.com

www.explore-mag.comCanadian Geographic

Cross-Country Skiing and Snowshoeing Ski Trax (x-c skiing), CA Toronto based publisher

www.canadiangeographic.ca Outside, U.S

Cross Country Skier, U.S

www.outsidemag.com

http://www.crosscountryskier.com/

2. Make use of marketing tools like the Internet that provide a cost effective method for reaching a large audience. To make your site effective establish links and partnerships with other related sites (see the websites mentioned earlier).

National Geographic, U.S www.nationalgeographic.com

3. Marketing to local, national and international associations and clubs, with a focus on bordering provinces and US Border States. These clubs would relate to the types of products offered (i.e. birding and nordic activities)

An overall marketing investment of at least $5,000 (for web site enhancements, packages brochure, and classified ads in appropriate outdoor and winter sports oriented publications) would likely be the minimum required to seriously enter this market.

National Geographic Adventure, U.S


National Geographic Traveler, U.S


Condé Nast Traveler, U.S www.cntraveler.com Backpacker, U.S www.backpacker.com

Wildlife Viewing & Birding Birders Journal, Canada http://www.birdersjournal.com Birder’s World, U.S www.birdersworld.com Birding, American Birding Association, U.S


Bird Watchers Digest, U.S http://www.birdwatchersdigest.com WildBird Magazine, U.S CA (714) 855-8822 Virtual Birder - Internet magazine

http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder/

Bird Observer, U.S (MASS, NE)



Target markets

The American market contains:

• 81 million birders and 108 wildlife viewing participants and

• Over 60 million people who participate in ice and snow activities.


The international marketplace also contains countries that offer potential for winter packages. For example, Germany and Austria are countries that showed a keen interest in winter product at Rendez-vous Canada.

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS


2. Identify and make an inventory of wildlife/birds in the immediate area and plan routes that encompass some of the best viewing sites. Ensure that this does not impact their winter-feeding patterns.

3. Contact Cross Country Canada and other various Nordic groups to assess potential partnering opportunities and the resources available to help you establish your product (see above partnerships section).

4. Plan out a route based on the area’s trails as well as its key natural, historic and cultural features.

5. Approach other local activity providers if you are unable to offer some of the products.




Resource Based Tourism Product Development Opportunities

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