July 11, 2006 - 5:00pm
Distance isn’t the only thing coming between BC’s rural communities and their future in the tourism industry.
A lack of available information is also a barrier according to Dr. Nicole Vaugeois of Malaspina University-College in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Nanaimo and leader of the new Tourism Research Innovation Project (TRIP).
In June, Vaugeois and a team of provincial partners pooled $600,000 from various government agencies, including the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), to work with rural communities to incorporate tourism as a form of economic development and to prepare for and benefit from the 2010 Olympic Games. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
A lot of research conducted in rural communities involves “experts” meeting with community members. They ask them specific questions about everything from traditional knowledge to social issues, and then leave. The community members often don’t see what becomes of their information and don’t feel they benefit from such visits. Vaugeois’ project is in reverse. Her team wants to bring information back to communities.
“There’s a wealth of information out there but much of that information doesn’t make it to the people who need it the most,” said Vaugeois.
“Reports often sit in academic institutions and provincial offices. The communities could use this information but right now there is little emphasis on getting that information out to them.”
“We’re going to communities and saying we’re not here to ask you questions, we’re here to see if you could use any research or resources to help develop tourism. We’re connecting them with existing information and the response has been phenomenal.”
The information she is specifically interested in helping people with is rural tourism development.
“Most of what makes BC attractive for visitors is generally found in rural areas,” said Vaugeois. “With the lead up to the 2010 Olympic Games we need to make sure rural communities are ready to benefit from the games."
According to Statistics Canada’s Rural and Small Town Analysis Bulletin, Canada’s rural regions were visited by half of Canadian visitors, 39 per cent of American and 33 per cent of overseas visitors last year.
So far Vaugeois has discovered every community is at different levels of tourism “readiness”.
“They are all over the map – there’s a lot to learn about what’s working and what’s not but there seems to be little or no connection between rural communities to share that information. We hope to document and share examples of innovation in tourism so that everyone can benefit".
At the end of the project, Vaugeois hopes rural BC communities will have developed social capacity through tourism development and will be in a strong position to welcome the world for the 2010 Olympic Games.
The first phase of the three-year project started this spring with a three-and-a-half week study tour to meet with community leaders and tourism operators in northern BC, Alberta and Northwest Territories.
Next year Vaugeois and her team will conduct a similar tour to rural communities in Central BC and in the final year she will focus on communities in Southern BC.
Besides the community visits, Vaugeois will also be developing a web-based portal for sharing resources on rural tourism development, writing a question and answer series in rural newspapers, tourism manuals, hiring student interns to work in different rural regions throughout the province to mobilize knowledge and host an annual conference called the BC Protected Areas Research Forum.
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