1. { The Role of Tourism in Positioning Vancouver Island for Long Term Prosperity Tourism Vancouver Island Professional Development Road Show 2014 – Sidney and Tofino Dr. Nicole L. Vaugeois BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development

2. The big picture – realities impacting the resilience of rural and coastal areas  the challenge of stabilizing the population base and attracting younger populations Attracting a new reality… The understated role of tourism in regional resilience Exposing alternate trajectories Enhancing regional collaboration in tourism The road ahead…

4. Pre-occupations for communities seeking to be resilient…  Stabilizing population dynamics  Stemming outward migration and population loss  Addressing population gains and associated development pressures  Attracting investment  Enhancing climate for small business success  Diversifying, integrating and managing different economies  Addressing aging infrastructure and services

5.  Not alone – stats on other coastal communities

6. Coastal community Population 2006 Population 2011% changeMedian age% over 15 Tofino 16551876 13.4 33.787.4 Sechelt 84549291 9.9 53.688.4 Ucluelet 14871627 9.4 38.185.6 Port Hardy 38224008 4.9 40.481.4 Parksville 2651827822 4.9 59.690.8 Campbell River 3470736096 4 45.884.2 Qualicum Beach 85028687 2.2 63.993.3 Powell River 1295713165 1.6 50.686.8 Sidney 11.31511,178 -1.2 56.989.6 Port Alberni 1754817743 1.1 46.683.9 Port Alice 821805 -1.9 48.990.4 Port McNeil 26232505 -4.5 3879.9 Gold River 13621267 -7 46.883.3 Sayward 341317 -7 53.686.8 Tahsis 366316 -13.7 52.586.9 Zeballos 189125 -33.9 48.786.4 BC Average Median Age 41.9 and % over 15 years of age 84.6

7. Coastal community Population 2006Population 2011% changeMedian age% over 15 Tofino 1655187613.4 33.7 87.4 Port McNeil 26232505-4.5 38 79.9 Ucluelet 148716279.4 38.1 85.6 Port Hardy 382240084.9 40.4 81.4 Campbell River 34707360964 45.8 84.2 Port Alberni 17548177431.1 46.6 83.9 Gold River 13621267-7 46.8 83.3 Zeballos 189125-33.9 48.7 86.4 Port Alice 821805-1.9 48.9 90.4 Powell River 12957131651.6 50.6 86.8 Tahsis 366316-13.7 52.5 86.9 Sechelt 845492919.9 53.6 88.4 Sayward 341317-7 53.6 86.8 Sidney 11,31511,178-1.2 56.9 89.6 Parksville 26518278224.9 59.6 90.8 Qualicum Beach 850286872.2 63.9 93.3 Above BC Average growth AND lower than BC average Median age

8. For interest sake Whistler’s median age is 32 yrs (younger than others) 57% are between the ages of 20-44 (BC is 34%) and 4% are over 65 (BC is 15%)

9.   Thinking of sectors   Providing subsidies   Viewing rural areas as places of production (resources)   Exporting goods Paradigm shift in regional development   Thinking of places (regions)   Making Investments in places   Viewing rural areas as places of consumption (amenities)   Importing people, ideas and investment Moving towards

10. { Despite overall trend of population loss, some are growing… This growth is highly correlated to the presence of amenities which are speculated to drive rural development. Why the shift?

11. { Amenities refer to the pleasurable aspects associated to natural and cultural features of rural areas. These make rural areas attractive places to visit, play, live and prosper.Amenities

12. { The use of valued amenities in rural regions to: 1) promote the attractiveness of rural areas for tourism, relocation and investment, 2) protect the future value of amenities, and 3) to create economies (directly and indirectly) from the presence of amenities. Amenity-based rural development

13. { Amenities that are based on the natural attributes of rural areas including climate, air quality, land and water and which provide the scenic settings and materials for work and leisure pursuits of residents. Natural amenities

14.   Amenities based in the cultural context of rural areas including heritage, recreation and sports, arts, work and community and which serve to enhance quality of life in rural regions. Cultural amenities

15. { Amenities that enable the development of natural and cultural amenities including infrastructure, services and connectivity. These enable and support rural areas to realize and manage impacts from in-migration, enterprise development or tourism activity. System amenities

16.  Visitors – attracted to experience the amenities and contribute to local economy;  Residents – attracted to live near the amenities and for overall quality of life;  Investors – attracted to create economic value from the amenities – directly or indirectly. The three audiences

17. How does tourism fit into this bigger picture?   It is the front door to most economic development efforts   People visit a place first, form an impression and consider relocating or investing…   This is often not fully recognized by stakeholders in economic development Tourism is a vehicle of change for communities – moves our thinking from a generator of economic impacts to its potential in addressing broader needs of communities.

18. Natural and Cultural Amenities of Regions Consumption through recreation as a driver for lifestyle Residents Visitors Investors, Entrepreneurs Visitors Tourism Development and Marketing ATTRACTIVE CAPACITY

19. Are you fully prepared with the right tools?   Who is involved in promoting your amenities? How are they being promoted to the outside world?   Are the visitors you are promoting to, the desired residents of tomorrow?   Who is involved in protecting your valued amenities? How are they currently protected? Are they protected enough or too much?

20. Tourism that enables residents to enjoy an enhanced quality of life by showcasing and sharing their amenities with outsiders in a way that infuses revenue into households, businesses and the tax coffers. This revenue is reinvested back into the amenities that are valued by local residents in ways that ensure core natural and cultural amenities withstand promotion and use over time. My definition of sustainable tourism…

22. Evidence from BC Resort Communities… The lifestyles provided by natural and cultural amenities are influencing labour mobility decisions… Love of leisure over labour mobility.

23. A structure to support future development in the VI region… 1. We need a unifying concept and approach for place based development 2. It is happening already without planning supports to guide it and without recognition of the links between tourism, population change and new economies. 3. Communities need a model that encourages regional collaboration;

24. { “Many communities are not yet equipped to deal with the planning consequences of amenity-led development. The explosion of impacts has caught many areas unprepared.” Word of caution Need for long term vision, planning and appropriate supports.

25. Why? Amenity Based Rural Development requires communities to think and act regionally 1. Amenity argument 2. Marketing argument 3. Visitor argument 4. Financial argument 5. Human capital argument 6. Planning argument

26. In other words…  Regions shared amenities can act as stronger attractors for visitors, residents, businesses;  Regions can share and create more wealth and stability for communities within;  Regions can absorb shocks better than individual communities;

27. 1. Complicated landscape of stakeholders 2. Unfamiliar partners and lack of trust 3. Protectionism and competition 4. Lack of political will 5. Lack of understanding about visitors in the region

28.  Political leaders  Leaders sharing priorities, building trust, thinking about what is best for the region, investing in regional structures, initiating regional planning around tourism amenities.  Businesses  Identifying similar businesses in adjacent communities, collaborative marketing, packaging  Tourism and economic development  Bringing stakeholders together to identify shared amenities, and goals. Defining working regions, supporting ground up regional initiatives, building trust, market research to understand visitor behavior, pool resources

29. Alternate trajectories Community as beneficiary Region as beneficiary Sector based focus – tourism vs. others Holistic Amenity Based Focus Resilient Regions – wealth and health Attractive anchors Industry or Sector towns Regional wealth Traditional Growth Model Innovative Resilience Model

30. Summary thoughts 1. 1. Think resilience vs. growth 2. 2. Identify attractive regional amenities 3. 3. Invest in recreation and leisure as ways to consume amenities 4. 4. Think about tourism not as a sector but a tool for exposure 5. 5. Promote amenities to visitors as potential new residents 6. 6. Balance promotion and use with protection 7. 7. Work with neighbors

31. { BC Regional Innovation Chair in Tourism and Sustainable Rural Development Vancouver Island University Phone 250-753-3245 Local 2772 Email: nicole.vaugeois@viu.ca