Whistler has spent 40 years developing its snow sports, biking, golf and outdoor recreation tourism base, but now it's time to start investing in another tourism sector: arts, culture and heritage.
Festivals, events and animation will be key factors in increasing visitor numbers in the future and the municipality is not holding back in its plans. According to John Rae, the RMOW is currently exploring the possibility of hosting residency programs with Berklee College in Boston and hosting a jazz festival over the Labour Day weekend, dubbed Jazz on the Mountain. They are also already "building relationships" with "high-profile brands" like the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Cirque Du Soleil, while trying to ensure that the programming remains unique to Whistler and "nurturing home-grown concepts and programs."
This plan, much of which is contingent on the province agreeing to continue the hotel tax transfer of funds, grew out of Whistler's cultural tourism development strategy.
Approximately $60,000 from Whistler's 2009 Cultural Capital funding ($500,000) was set aside for the creation of a Whistler Arts Culture and Heritage plan, which would provide a plan for the artistic community leading up to 2020. The report, entitled "A Tapestry of Place - Whistler's Cultural Tourism Development Strategy," was compiled by cultural tourism consultant, Stephen Thorne. Preliminary findings were presented to the media Monday.
Since Thorne's 80-page report is "proprietary" and contains "valuable competitive information," the RMOW has only released a five-page synopsis of the findings. The full report will be made available in the first quarter of 2011 once it is presented to council.
Now, the RMOW is in the process of examining Thorne's feasibility study, which includes short-, medium- and long-term recommendations, and trying to figure out what those findings mean for the community.
As the synopsis states: "This strategy is a first step; it's essentially a feasibility study; it is not the final plan. In taking this first step, Whistler is able to reflect on its past and present; its achievers and achievements; its visions and visionaries and recognize the opportunity to become a major cultural tourism destination."
RMOW communications manager, Michele Comeau, said the report contains "lots of interesting findings." Those findings include three key recommended short- and medium-term actions: "product development," which requires the completion of the inventory of cultural experiences, the identification of additional cultural experiences and the composition of "Whistler's tapestry of place" in its entirety; a "community cultural planning process," which includes assessment of the infrastructure needs of the arts, culture and heritage sector, formalization of municipal policies, practices and programs that nurture cultural development, and capacity-building for those sectors; and the creation of a "cultural tourism coordinating committee" to ensure place-based tourism informs current discussions that impact the community's planning and decision-making, and that recommendations are implemented in a timely manner.
The synopsis outlines the difference between "attraction-based" and "place-based" cultural tourism, and points out that because Whistler lacks iconic cultural institutions, the community's focus should be on "place-based" cultural tourism, which will appeal to a multitude of interests with "meaningful cultural experiences" - arts, human heritage, agricultural and industrial heritage, natural history and culinary - while offering a range of experiences to extend visitors' length of stay and capitalizing on Whistler's "sense of place."
It suggests marketing the "Whistler story"; building on our festivals, events and animation; promoting artisanal products; promoting and increasing First Nations cultural attractions; leveraging Whistler Olympic Plaza; engaging and training frontline staff to become cultural tourism ambassadors; and developing cultural infrastructure, like a public art museum. It also identified three central "threats" to cultural tourism in Whistler: underinvestment in arts, culture and heritage; a lack of understanding of non-profit organizations; and a current lack of cohesive cultural product to market.
In the face of increased competition in the outdoor recreation tourism market and other economic challenges, the cultural tourism sector is a viable source for economic diversification, especially during the summer months.
"But summer visitors are diverse, and they have a very broad demographic, and it's just a broader age group and a broader socioeconomic group, as well. What that leads us to is the whole notion that cultural tourism presents a major opportunity and importantly, and in very broad language, cultural tourism is anything that involves interpretation, information, potentially an educational experience, and it is unequivocally the single largest motivator of international travel," Rae said.
The synopsis states that in 2007, total trip spending by cultural tourists in Canada (including both domestic and international travelers) was valued at $8 billion, and that 17.6 per cent of Americans traveling to Canada report visiting historic sites, museums or art galleries as the main purpose for at least one of their trips in the past two years. Also, cultural travelers tend to earn higher incomes than a leisure traveler, are slightly older, and "spend money more freely," according to the synopsis.
Based on these findings, the RMOW plans to focus on an older primary demographic (46+), with a secondary demographic of 19 to 45-year-olds. They also plan to focus their investment in summer because it has the "greatest upside potential," and test the upside during the shoulder seasons, while cross promoting in the winter.
"We want to build our reputation as a destination for arts, culture and entertainment, but not at the expense of our positive reputation that already exists for us as a venue for sport," Rae said.
Rae explained that the allocation of Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funds (formerly referred to as the hotel tax) is currently under review by the provincial government. Whistler may receive about $6.5 million per year.
Of that $6.5 million, $1.685 million would be used for festivals and events, $600,000 for animation and $400,000 for administration, coordination and support, for a total of approximately $2.685 million annually for five years, though those numbers have not yet been finalized.
"It may look like a king's ransom, but in fact, if we look at competitive environments where festivals, events and animation are happening, it's enough to make a significant impact," Rae said. "But just to put it in context, it's about half the budget we had for Whistler Live!, which was a 27-day initiative."
Until the RMI funding is approved, the RMOW is moving forward with plans to step up their festivals, events and animation by building on existing events and considering "new and unique forms of village animation."
"It could eventually get to something as significant as a big top in Whistler for an extended period of time in the summer of 2012, 2013, 2014 or 2015," Rae said.
To see the five-page synopsis of Whistler's cultural tourism development strategy, visit whistler.ca and click the "business" tab.
