Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

- 84 -that the region has “some of the world’s toughest land-use and building codes. In sceniczones, local regulation limit buildings to two stories, inhibit subdivision and govern aestheticsincluding which colours you can paint your house”, showing strong sensitivity to “preservingsense of place”. (National Geographic Traveller, March 2004, Page 62)Insights and Lessons Learned re Tourism Product DevelopmentOur review of the various product development initiatives of other destinations, as well as ourexperience in tourism product development provides a variety of insights, as follows:o Destinations are placing increasing emphasis on extending their tourism seasons toinclude both shoulder season and winter season activities, recognizing the criticalimportance of a longer season to the overall viability of the industry.o There is also increasing emphasis on developing tourism focussed around experiences anda shift away from touring as a primary focus. This was led by New Brunswick in the1990s with programs such as its Day Adventure and Multi-Day Packages. PEI is also agood example of a destination that has been able to shift its tourism from an almost totaldependence on the summer season, family, beach and traditional touring markets to morehigher yield and longer season markets based around golf.o New Brunswick’s initiatives around packaging have had some success, particularly ininforming consumers about the range of things to see and do in the province. However,many of the packages did not sell as well as had been hoped – we believe that this was duein part to insufficient appropriate coaching of the industry on developing packages thatfeature compelling experiences and an undue emphasis on discounting prices rather thanadding value.o Many destinations are placing increasing emphasis on Quality Assurance efforts, not onlyfor accommodations but for many other sectors of the industry. New Zealand andAustralia are seen to be leaders in this movement, with programs such as Qualmark inNew Zealand. The Tourism Council of Australia offers a tourism accreditation programfor all types of tourism businesses, which is designed to establish and continually improveindustry standards for conducting a tourism business. Quebec has made a significantinvestment in developing quality assurance guidelines and criteria for some 10 differenttypes of tourism businesses, following a self-evaluation model similar to the one used inAustralia. It is not clear, however, whether Quebec will have the resources to implementthis initiative.In Atlantic Canada, Canada Select and Camping Select, though not still withoutchallenges, are seen as having helped bring the industry along and provide a usefulframework for properties under development or upgrading. Increasingly there isdiscussion in the other Atlantic provinces about quality assurance programs and standardsfor other sectors of the industry.THE ECONOMIC PLANNING GROUP of Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product DevelopmentD. W. Knight Associates Strategy and Accommodation Needs Study