The plan to develop a new regional marketing strategy for Corner Brook and the surrounding area took another step forward Tuesday evening.
The recently formed Strategic Tourism or Areas and Regions (STAR) committee held the third of its three public consultation sessions in Corner Brook on the heels of similar sessions already conducted on the northern and southern shores of the Bay of Islands.
Around 60 people with an interest in the tourism industry attended the session at the civic centre. It was facilitated by Neil Dawe of Tract Consulting, who said the goal is to devise a draft plan by June to better market the Corner Brook, Bay of Islands and Lower Humber Valley region to the tourism industry.
The evening consisted of brief comments about the process of developing the plan from committee co-chairs Stelman Flynn and Craig Borden. That was followed by an exercise led by Dawe through which those in attendance helped compile an inventory of what the region has to offer in terms of amenities, accommodations, and so on.
The idea is to come up with a plan that identifies areas where capacity could be built upon and an implementation strategy to make those enhancements to the local tourism product become a reality.
The next step is for the committee to hold what it’s calling a visioning, benchmarking and idea generation session. The location of that has yet to be announced, but it will be held March 13-14.
Here is some of what was said during Tuesday’s session:
“A plan that can’t be implemented is just a waste of somebody’s money and somebody’s else’s good time … Most plans fail because there’s no means to effectively implement them. To implement, you need human resources, you need willing partners and you need financial resources … It can’t be fluff. It has to be real and it has to be based on the real conditions that exist out in the marketplace and in the communities and regions that support it.”
Neil Dawe, Tract Consulting
“(It’s) going to be six months from now or eight months when the real work begins … We hope to keep the enthusiasm going. The important thing about this is, at the end of the day, we are doing it for the business community, which is ultimately for the growth and development of the region.”
- Stelman Flynn, STAR committee co-chairperson
“There were over 20 people at the first meeting, all from different industries or walks of life. To see everyone come in and everyone want to work together is probably one of the most positive things I’ve seen since I’ve been involved in business in this area.
- Craig Borden, STAR committee co-chairperson
- Follow the STAR committee on social media by searching for STAR Humber Bay of Islands on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The STAR process
- The implementation of STAR consists of a seven-step process carried out over of a period of 12-18 months. The initiative will begin with initial regional research and site visits followed by visioning, benchmarking, and idea generation sessions.
Regional consultations will be carried out within the community followed by a draft plan and capacity building workshop session. The final plan will then be presented along with the follow up and interim reporting on the actionable items of STAR.
Funding
- Tourism development is largely seen as an effective means of sustainable economic development. As such, the STAR initiative is expected to provide the tools, knowledge, and strategy required to stimulate the local economy through tourism. In all, the average STAR program is executed at an estimated cost of $65,000-$90,000. Funding for this program is provided by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the provincial government and the City of Corner Brook.
Source: City of Corner Brook
